Early predictions did not have France and Portugal struggling to qualify, but then a little drama is okay if it all turns out in the end!
FRANCE-IRELAND
The first tie was played at Croke Park in Ireland. Seen as underdogs, the Irish side (with United's John O'Shea and Darren Gibson) fought hard in front of 81,000. The match was largely uneventful until with 18 minutes left, Yohann Gourcuff passed to Nicolas Anelka at the top of the box and he smashed one off of Irish defender, St. Ledger, which deflected in for a goal. The Irish had a chance to level late in the match, but French keeper, Lloris, made a spectacular save.
The two sides will meet Wednesday in Paris, with France having a one goal advantage, and a precious away goal at that. Ireland will need to score 2 and hope that France doesn't score any if they hope to make it to South Africa.
ADVANTAGE: France. France had more chances to win and at times just outclassed the Irish. I predict a home win for les bleus and a ticket to Africa.
Thierry Henry congratulates Nicolas Anelka on his goal
Playing without their star, Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal needed the home advantage to eke out a 1-0 win against Bosnia. It was perhaps ironic that Ronaldo's replacement for the match, former United teammate Nani, played with the most fervor. Situated in the palco of the Estadio da Luz, Ronaldo watched with his mom and manager, wincing when Bosnia hit two shots off the crossbar. An inch lower and those balls would have been two much-needed away goals for Bosnia, and the disastrous nail in the coffin for Portugal. With that said, Portugal must now travel to Bosnia (where the weather is not as nice) and put on a better display if they are to advance to Africa. A goal in the 31st by Bruno Alves assured the Portuguese that they didn't leave empty-handed, but it might not be enough.
ADVANTAGE: Portugal (only slightly). By and large, the Portuguese have a better team, if they play together. But Portugal's year-long goal drought might prove advantageous to the Bosnian side. Both defenses played very well in Lisbon. A home lift for Bosnia might keep the world's most expensive player out of the world's biggest tournament.
"Duda" Valente celebrates with Bruno Alves
CR, his mom (L), and his manager, Jorge Mendes, celebrate Alves' goal
Other news from the pitch:
I detest "friendlies!!!!" And although I'm not an Arsenal supporter, I had to feel for Robin van Persie yesterday as he was chopped in the ankle by a player from...of course...Italy!! He has sustained tears in the ligaments and could be out for months. Arsenal has had a renaissance this season, scoring an insane amount of goals (largely due to van Persie's 7 goals and 7 assists) and find themselves tied for second with United. Losing van Persie after already losing Bendtner to surgery this week, will only serve to put Arsene Wenger in the looney bin! Zut alors! I'm sure he wishes he had purchased Chamakh in the summer, no matter what Bordeaux were asking.
Probably the same look on Arsene Wenger's face!
Diego Maradona, the "coach" of the Argentinian national team was given a two-month suspension by FIFA for his remarks during a press conference, following Argentina's narrow escape from missing South Africa.
His crude, vile comments were befitting of his small stature. This train-wreck should never have been given the reigns of the Albicelestes. Although watching them squirm through their qualifying was a treat to me (never a fan of them), his appointment smacked (no pun intended) in the face of decency. Run out of footy because of his drug-taking (his own countrymen call him "Maladroga"..."bad drug"), he has been a lightning rod for controversy ever since. Shame on the hoodlums who run the AFA (with purported mafia links). Missing South Africa would have been just desserts for you.
The Special One, Jose Mourinho, former manager of Chelsea and current manager of Inter Milan, has announced that he would like to return to the Prem League. Long thought of as the replacement for Sir Alex when he retires, the Portuguese manager waxed prosodic as usual:
"Clearly it is unrealistic to expect to stay at a club as long as Sir Alex, but I am ready for the next phase of my career," Mourinho told the Times. "I want to work with a different perspective.
"At Porto, my objective was to win to earn the right to go abroad. At Chelsea, my ambition was to create a bit of history. But I always knew Chelsea lacked the normal English culture of stability.
"I was never under any illusions. I understood the personality of Roman and the culture of the people around him and knew it was not a job for ten years. My role was to give this man what he wanted - victory - knowing that, sooner or later, my time would finish, because there were too many things going on around me.
"In Italy, I was coming to the motherland of tactics, the country of catenaccio and defensive football. The objective was to win not only in a third different league but a place where they say foreign coaches have had little success. But the time will come for stability.
"I love Inter and would love to build for the future here. In fact, I am doing it now, because I am not a selfish coach and I'm thinking about the future in terms of youth development and the age structure of my first team - but Italy is not the country for this. England is the country. And my football is English football."
"Shut up, Sven!...Be Champions!"
No comments:
Post a Comment