JUst minutes after finishing the last post, I checked the match tracker and Spain has scored from a direct free kick!!! Come on South Africa, make this game even more interesting!!!!!!!
Score now 3-2 for Spain in the second extra time period.
If there are any Americans out there who still think the world's game is boring, you must be crazy!!!!!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Confederations Cup 3rd Place Update: South Africa and Spain at a 2-2 tie; all goals scored within the last 20 minutes
90 minutes is now up in the third place playoff. I managed to watch most of the match, but I was only able to watch the first Spain goal in the 88th minute. The guys over at ESPN were actually ready to write Spain off. Haven't they learn their lesson yet?
South Africa scored the first goal of the match in the 73rd minute. Spain answered in the 88th making it 1-1 and again in the 89th to make it 2-1 within 2 minutes but South Africa tied it up again in stoppage time.
Extra time has begun! I will try to update more, but I cannot promise it as I have to get ready because my friend is picking me up at around 1 pm eastern time to get some food and get ready for the USA-Brazil final. Believe it or not, I don't really care who wins this one. I am born in America with Croatian parents and my brother is married to a Brazilian. My niece is Croatian and Brazilian also born in the States. I respect the Brazilian team while being extremely happy that the United States has made it this far.
I have been a big critic of allowing countries to host a World Cup while not being very good teams. I always looked at South Africa has a pretty weak side. Many people look at me as crazy for watching the Confederations Cup calling it a minor tournament but I use it so I can give the future World Cup host nation a fair shake and I see now that South Africa is not only a good host but you cannot count them out. Thank you ESPN for showing every match here in the United States.
Something tells me that the United States and South Africa will unlikely contenders in 2010 (at least I would not have believed this if you told a few months ago). HOwever, a part of me will be missing if Croatia does not qualify for next summer's World Cup.
Anyway, the first period of extra time is now over. Score is still tied at 2-2. I smell penalty kicks. If you want to track the match minute by minute and talk about the match with other soccer/football fans, cllck here.
I can't wait for the World Cup!
South Africa scored the first goal of the match in the 73rd minute. Spain answered in the 88th making it 1-1 and again in the 89th to make it 2-1 within 2 minutes but South Africa tied it up again in stoppage time.
Extra time has begun! I will try to update more, but I cannot promise it as I have to get ready because my friend is picking me up at around 1 pm eastern time to get some food and get ready for the USA-Brazil final. Believe it or not, I don't really care who wins this one. I am born in America with Croatian parents and my brother is married to a Brazilian. My niece is Croatian and Brazilian also born in the States. I respect the Brazilian team while being extremely happy that the United States has made it this far.
I have been a big critic of allowing countries to host a World Cup while not being very good teams. I always looked at South Africa has a pretty weak side. Many people look at me as crazy for watching the Confederations Cup calling it a minor tournament but I use it so I can give the future World Cup host nation a fair shake and I see now that South Africa is not only a good host but you cannot count them out. Thank you ESPN for showing every match here in the United States.
Something tells me that the United States and South Africa will unlikely contenders in 2010 (at least I would not have believed this if you told a few months ago). HOwever, a part of me will be missing if Croatia does not qualify for next summer's World Cup.
Anyway, the first period of extra time is now over. Score is still tied at 2-2. I smell penalty kicks. If you want to track the match minute by minute and talk about the match with other soccer/football fans, cllck here.
I can't wait for the World Cup!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Score alert: Columbus Crew leads Red Bulls 1-0 at halftime in MLS Cup rematch
The New York Red Bulls have had a horrible season so far but tonight they at least have a chance to get their revenge (on the road) from the Columbus Crew, the club that defeated them in last season's MLS Cup final.
It is now the 56th minute as I am writing this and the Red Bulls are down a goal.
The Columbus Crew scored at the end of the 1st half.
More to come soon if there is more scoring.
It is now the 56th minute as I am writing this and the Red Bulls are down a goal.
The Columbus Crew scored at the end of the 1st half.
More to come soon if there is more scoring.
Confederations Cup 2009: Overview and Predictions for tomorrow's third place playoff and final
I haven't been able to watch too much of the Confederations Cup since the second round of Group matches, but I was really amazed when I found out that the United States was able to make it out of the Group after a 3-0 win against Egypt (especially since Egypt came back against Brazil to tie it 3-3 until Kaka was able to get one last opportunity in the final minutes). The United States was able to get the exact situation they needed in order to progress--a 3 goal win for both Brazil and the United States. As I am writing this, I am watching the re-airing of the USA-Spain semifinal on ESPNU. Now, of course, I thought Spain was going to win and if I was betting, I would have bet on a Spain win for sure. As many of you are aware, the United States beat Spain (the best team in the world according to FIFA's rankings) 2-0. Not only did they win a spot in the final and force Spain to play for third place, the Americans also ended Spain's unbeaten streak in their last 35 matches (15 wins, 0 losses, 20 ties). Spain's last loss before this was against Sweden in a Euro 2008 Qualifier, a 2-0 loss in July 2007. Their last tie was against Italy in the Euro 2008 knockout round which forced them to rely on penalty kicks to progress and eventually win the Euro 2008 title, which qualified them to the 2009 Confederations Cup.
Here's a video from youtube with the reactions and opinions of players currently in the US Development Academy regarding the US National Team at the Confederations Cup. For more coverage from US Soccer regarding the Confederations Cup, check out the US Soccer channel on youtube.
Now, I don't want to get into too much into the USA-Spain match or any of the other matches that didn't cover since I missed so many of them. Instead, I'm going to use this post to quickly give my overview and prediction of tomorrow's third place playoff between host nation South Africa and European champions Spain as well as the USA-Brazil match for the title. In you are in the United States, both matches are being broadcasted live on ESPN (title match between the United States and Brazil at 2:30 pm) and ESPN2 (third place playoff between Spain and South Africa at 9 am).
Third place match: hosts South Africa vs Euro 2008 champions Spain: I don't think the Euro 2008 champions really thought they were going to end up settling for the third place playoff. They were in a fairly weak group with the hosts South Africa, Asian champion Iraq, and Oceanian champion New Zealand, so it was not really difficult for Spain to get out of this group. They already beat South Africa once in the Group Stage 2-0 but the hosts never really caused any upsets in the tournament and their only goals scored were the two against New Zealand while their match against Iraq was a scoreless draw. With a 1-1-1 record in the group stage, they managed to crawl out Group A and into a semifinal match against Brazil which I saw part of and they played fairly well but could not find the back of the net and it ended with a 1-0 loss against the team ranked 5th in FIFA's rankings. This was all thanks to the South African defense as Spain's only goal was scored in the 88th minute. Check out the official match report for more on this match. The way South Africa has played throughout the competition, I would say that Spain will win it but the match will be tight. Like the match against a Brazil, who from what I saw did not give it their usual full force against the hosts, I think Spain will score a late goal or else it will go into overtime. Both teams will play well but I think Spain will dominate on possession. I'll probably be live blogging this match for as much of it as I can.
Title match (USA vs Brazil): I would never have believed it if you told me that the United States would have beaten Spain to qualify themselves for this match tomorrow. If you told me that they were going to beat Italy in their first group match, I would not have been as shocked as I always thought Italy was an overrated team. I didn't watch the match against Egypt and I didn't find out until the day after that the United States was progressing to the knockout round. The stars and planets were definitely aligned exactly as the United States wanted as they snuck past Italy and Egypt in the Group B standings with the exact number of goals they needed (3 against Egypt and a 3 goal win for Brazil against Italy). A mere tie in the Brazil-Italy match would have eliminated the "stars and stripes" no matter how they did against Egypt so they owe quite a bit to Brazil for their qualification to the semifinals although the Americans did play amazingly well against the African champs. Even if they do lose to Brazil, the Confederations Cup has given the Americans quite a bit of confidence as they continue through World Cup 2010 qualifying and as they make their return trip to South Africa for the World Cup next summer if they qualify. In the CONCACAF Zone, the United States is currently in 2nd place with 10 points (3-1-1) and 2 points behind Costa Rica who is in 1st place. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup directly. The fourth place team has to play the fifth place team from South America in a two legged home and away play off in order to earn a spot. More on this later. Now back to the Brazil-USA match. The United States already lost to Brazil in the group stage 3-0 so the United States will have a very tough match tomorrow but recent matches for the United States have ended with good results so tomorrow's match may be tighter than the match in the Group stage. The United States goes in to this match with quite a bit of confidence but Brazil will definitely come out to win this match. Even though the Confederations Cup is not a very important competition and is not near as important as the World Cup, Brazil will definitely want to win it and they are going to want to defend their 2005 Confederations Cup title so I expect Kaka to be in the starting line up. However, with the United States playing better than I have seen them play in a while, anything can happen.
Here's a video from youtube with the reactions and opinions of players currently in the US Development Academy regarding the US National Team at the Confederations Cup. For more coverage from US Soccer regarding the Confederations Cup, check out the US Soccer channel on youtube.
Now, I don't want to get into too much into the USA-Spain match or any of the other matches that didn't cover since I missed so many of them. Instead, I'm going to use this post to quickly give my overview and prediction of tomorrow's third place playoff between host nation South Africa and European champions Spain as well as the USA-Brazil match for the title. In you are in the United States, both matches are being broadcasted live on ESPN (title match between the United States and Brazil at 2:30 pm) and ESPN2 (third place playoff between Spain and South Africa at 9 am).
Third place match: hosts South Africa vs Euro 2008 champions Spain: I don't think the Euro 2008 champions really thought they were going to end up settling for the third place playoff. They were in a fairly weak group with the hosts South Africa, Asian champion Iraq, and Oceanian champion New Zealand, so it was not really difficult for Spain to get out of this group. They already beat South Africa once in the Group Stage 2-0 but the hosts never really caused any upsets in the tournament and their only goals scored were the two against New Zealand while their match against Iraq was a scoreless draw. With a 1-1-1 record in the group stage, they managed to crawl out Group A and into a semifinal match against Brazil which I saw part of and they played fairly well but could not find the back of the net and it ended with a 1-0 loss against the team ranked 5th in FIFA's rankings. This was all thanks to the South African defense as Spain's only goal was scored in the 88th minute. Check out the official match report for more on this match. The way South Africa has played throughout the competition, I would say that Spain will win it but the match will be tight. Like the match against a Brazil, who from what I saw did not give it their usual full force against the hosts, I think Spain will score a late goal or else it will go into overtime. Both teams will play well but I think Spain will dominate on possession. I'll probably be live blogging this match for as much of it as I can.
Title match (USA vs Brazil): I would never have believed it if you told me that the United States would have beaten Spain to qualify themselves for this match tomorrow. If you told me that they were going to beat Italy in their first group match, I would not have been as shocked as I always thought Italy was an overrated team. I didn't watch the match against Egypt and I didn't find out until the day after that the United States was progressing to the knockout round. The stars and planets were definitely aligned exactly as the United States wanted as they snuck past Italy and Egypt in the Group B standings with the exact number of goals they needed (3 against Egypt and a 3 goal win for Brazil against Italy). A mere tie in the Brazil-Italy match would have eliminated the "stars and stripes" no matter how they did against Egypt so they owe quite a bit to Brazil for their qualification to the semifinals although the Americans did play amazingly well against the African champs. Even if they do lose to Brazil, the Confederations Cup has given the Americans quite a bit of confidence as they continue through World Cup 2010 qualifying and as they make their return trip to South Africa for the World Cup next summer if they qualify. In the CONCACAF Zone, the United States is currently in 2nd place with 10 points (3-1-1) and 2 points behind Costa Rica who is in 1st place. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup directly. The fourth place team has to play the fifth place team from South America in a two legged home and away play off in order to earn a spot. More on this later. Now back to the Brazil-USA match. The United States already lost to Brazil in the group stage 3-0 so the United States will have a very tough match tomorrow but recent matches for the United States have ended with good results so tomorrow's match may be tighter than the match in the Group stage. The United States goes in to this match with quite a bit of confidence but Brazil will definitely come out to win this match. Even though the Confederations Cup is not a very important competition and is not near as important as the World Cup, Brazil will definitely want to win it and they are going to want to defend their 2005 Confederations Cup title so I expect Kaka to be in the starting line up. However, with the United States playing better than I have seen them play in a while, anything can happen.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Confederations Cup 2009 Group A Update
The second round of Confederation Cup Group A matches were today and nothing out of the ordinary occurred-- no real upsets, the teams that were supposed to win won. As promised I am posting this entry to give an overview of the day and give my prediction for tomorrow's Group B matches.
Group A (Wednesday June 17)
Match 1: Spain vs Iraq: As I predicted, Euro 2008 champions Spain beat Iraq and predicted the score correctly too (1-0). Iraq plays well and I was pretty sure the match was going to remain tight. The win gives Spain the points they needed to qualify for the semifinals no matter how they finish their match against the host nation South Africa. Spain is currently at the top of the group with 6 points in their two matches. Iraq opened up with a chance early in the match in the 9th minute that would have put them in front. However, Spain did dominate on possession. Despite this, Iraq was just as stubborn as in their 0-0 tie against South Africa. In other words, Iraq did not make the match easy for the European champions. Spain is on their way to breaking another record. They are currently tied with three other national teams for longest winning streak in international football/soccer-- 14 wins in a row. For the complete FIFA match report, click here..
Match 2: South Africa vs New Zealand: As with their match against Spain, New Zealand did not stand much of a chance against the South Africans. Although my prediction was that South Africa would definitely win, I forgot to predict the score (I apologize for that, by the way!). The ESPN commentators were saying before the match that South Africa has been put on a lot of pressure hosting a tournament like this (if this is true, the pressure of next summer will be really high as they are getting set to host the World Cup). The coach, Brazilian Joel Santana, is also under a lot of pressure because his job is supposedly on the line if he unable to South Africa out of this group. This is a bad move on the part of the South African Football Federation right before the big competition next summer being that a new coach might not be able to organize the team properly in one year. However, South Africa should be able to move on the knockout round after defeating New Zealand 2-0. For more information regarding the match, see the official FIFA match report.
Group A Standings (as of Wednesday June 17)
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Spain 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 6
2. South Africa 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4
3. Iraq 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
4. New Zealand 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
As you can see, Spain is still in the top spot and has already qualified for the semifinals. The top two teams advance. The only way Spain will not finish in first place is if South Africa beats them on Saturday. If that happens, South Africa will have 7 points and Spain will stay at 6. In this situation, Iraq would be eliminated no matter how they do against New Zealand. New Zealand is already eliminated. If Spain and South Africa tie, Spain will keep the top spot and South Africa will still qualify no matter how Iraq does against New Zealand. Iraq could advance only if they win against New Zealand--shouldn't be too hard. However, Spain must win against South Africa in order for this to happen. If Spain and South Africa tie, South Africa will have 5 points which would make it impossible for Iraq to catch up with them. However an Iraq win and South Africa loss is the only way Iraq could have a chance but this would put South Africa and Iraq tied on points. This is the most probable situation since Iraq is most likely going to beat New Zealand and Spain already has the momentum and will most likely stay undefeated throughout the tournament. What Iraq would need is a superior goal difference over South Africa (4 or 5 goals against New Zealand would be good) and pray that Spain's defense keeps South Africa out of the net.
Predictions for next match day (Thursday June 18th)
Group B will have their second round of matches tomorrow with CONCACAF Champion United States facing South American champion/Confederations Cup defending champion Brazil and African champion Egypt going up against reigning World Champions Italy. Both matches will be shown on ESPN or ESPN2 if you are in the United States at 10 am and 2:30 pm.
Match 1 (10 am): USA vs Brazil: This will be a very tough match for the United States but seeing that Egypt was able to come back after going into halftime down 3 goals and were able to come from behind to make 3-3 by the final minutes, the United States could come out of this match with a point, but it is pretty hard to predict. Brazil is definitely beatable but with Kaka on the field, it will definitely be a tough one. 2-1 for Brazil is my prediction.
Match 2 (2:30 pm): Italy vs Egypt: I was really surprised by the way Egypt came back against Brazil. I turned on the TV just before halftime to check the score and noticed that it was 3-0 for Brazil. I was ready to count Egypt out. I had to turn off the TV to get some work done and when I checked the score online when it was over, it was 4-3 for Brazil. The match will not be an easy one for Italy and I expect Egypt to play very well as they did in the second half against Brazil. A 1-1 tie is my prediction in this one.
Group B is the most exciting of the two groups. Right now all teams are still in it. The results of tomorrow's matches should make it a little bit clearer.
My next post regarding the 2009 Confederations Cup will be a little earlier tomorrow night, probably at around 7 pm eastern time. The next post will include an overview of tomorrow's Group B matches and predictions for Saturday's Group A matches.
Group A (Wednesday June 17)
Match 1: Spain vs Iraq: As I predicted, Euro 2008 champions Spain beat Iraq and predicted the score correctly too (1-0). Iraq plays well and I was pretty sure the match was going to remain tight. The win gives Spain the points they needed to qualify for the semifinals no matter how they finish their match against the host nation South Africa. Spain is currently at the top of the group with 6 points in their two matches. Iraq opened up with a chance early in the match in the 9th minute that would have put them in front. However, Spain did dominate on possession. Despite this, Iraq was just as stubborn as in their 0-0 tie against South Africa. In other words, Iraq did not make the match easy for the European champions. Spain is on their way to breaking another record. They are currently tied with three other national teams for longest winning streak in international football/soccer-- 14 wins in a row. For the complete FIFA match report, click here..
Match 2: South Africa vs New Zealand: As with their match against Spain, New Zealand did not stand much of a chance against the South Africans. Although my prediction was that South Africa would definitely win, I forgot to predict the score (I apologize for that, by the way!). The ESPN commentators were saying before the match that South Africa has been put on a lot of pressure hosting a tournament like this (if this is true, the pressure of next summer will be really high as they are getting set to host the World Cup). The coach, Brazilian Joel Santana, is also under a lot of pressure because his job is supposedly on the line if he unable to South Africa out of this group. This is a bad move on the part of the South African Football Federation right before the big competition next summer being that a new coach might not be able to organize the team properly in one year. However, South Africa should be able to move on the knockout round after defeating New Zealand 2-0. For more information regarding the match, see the official FIFA match report.
Group A Standings (as of Wednesday June 17)
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Spain 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 6
2. South Africa 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4
3. Iraq 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
4. New Zealand 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
As you can see, Spain is still in the top spot and has already qualified for the semifinals. The top two teams advance. The only way Spain will not finish in first place is if South Africa beats them on Saturday. If that happens, South Africa will have 7 points and Spain will stay at 6. In this situation, Iraq would be eliminated no matter how they do against New Zealand. New Zealand is already eliminated. If Spain and South Africa tie, Spain will keep the top spot and South Africa will still qualify no matter how Iraq does against New Zealand. Iraq could advance only if they win against New Zealand--shouldn't be too hard. However, Spain must win against South Africa in order for this to happen. If Spain and South Africa tie, South Africa will have 5 points which would make it impossible for Iraq to catch up with them. However an Iraq win and South Africa loss is the only way Iraq could have a chance but this would put South Africa and Iraq tied on points. This is the most probable situation since Iraq is most likely going to beat New Zealand and Spain already has the momentum and will most likely stay undefeated throughout the tournament. What Iraq would need is a superior goal difference over South Africa (4 or 5 goals against New Zealand would be good) and pray that Spain's defense keeps South Africa out of the net.
Predictions for next match day (Thursday June 18th)
Group B will have their second round of matches tomorrow with CONCACAF Champion United States facing South American champion/Confederations Cup defending champion Brazil and African champion Egypt going up against reigning World Champions Italy. Both matches will be shown on ESPN or ESPN2 if you are in the United States at 10 am and 2:30 pm.
Match 1 (10 am): USA vs Brazil: This will be a very tough match for the United States but seeing that Egypt was able to come back after going into halftime down 3 goals and were able to come from behind to make 3-3 by the final minutes, the United States could come out of this match with a point, but it is pretty hard to predict. Brazil is definitely beatable but with Kaka on the field, it will definitely be a tough one. 2-1 for Brazil is my prediction.
Match 2 (2:30 pm): Italy vs Egypt: I was really surprised by the way Egypt came back against Brazil. I turned on the TV just before halftime to check the score and noticed that it was 3-0 for Brazil. I was ready to count Egypt out. I had to turn off the TV to get some work done and when I checked the score online when it was over, it was 4-3 for Brazil. The match will not be an easy one for Italy and I expect Egypt to play very well as they did in the second half against Brazil. A 1-1 tie is my prediction in this one.
Group B is the most exciting of the two groups. Right now all teams are still in it. The results of tomorrow's matches should make it a little bit clearer.
My next post regarding the 2009 Confederations Cup will be a little earlier tomorrow night, probably at around 7 pm eastern time. The next post will include an overview of tomorrow's Group B matches and predictions for Saturday's Group A matches.
Basketball meets Soccer as NBA players get ready for the Steve Nash Charity Soccer Game in New York City
NBA players Steve Nash and Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns, Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors, and Raja Bell of the Charlotte Bobcats will join Claudio Reyna (retired American international), French international and FC Barcelona player Thierry Henry, Argentine international and player for Italy's Serie A club Inter Milan Javier Zanetti, Chelsea player and Ivory Coast international Salomon Kalou, Dutch international and Liverpool striker Ryan Babel, Dutch international Giovanni "Gio" Van Bronckhorst, French international and AC Milan player Mathieu Flamini, Colombia international and Inter Milan player Ivan Cordoba, and Romanian striker and player for Italian club Fiorentina Adrian Mutu for a soccer match at Sara D. Roosevelt Park on Chrystie and Houston Streets in New York City. THe match will take place on Wednesday June 24 at 6 pm (the night before the NBA Draft).
Steve Nash is a big fan of soccer and plays the sport a lot in the NBA off season, especially during the summer. In doing so, he has become good friends with former Red Bull player and long time US national team captain Claudio Reyna, who was born and raised in Livingston, New Jersey. Together they decided to start this annual charity event inviting NBA players as well as soccer stars from throughout the world. The first was last year. Nash also has a good relationship with Henry of France who was invited to both last year's and this year's event. However, last year Henry did not expect to make it due to Euro 2008, but did due to France's early elimination from the tournament. France scored only one goal in the competition which came from Henry.
Nash became a fan of the sport because his father, John, played soccer professionally in England and South Africa. His younger brother also plays for the Canadian national team as well as the Vancouver Whitecaps of the United Soccer Leagues, the league underneath Major League Soccer in the American Soccer Pyramid. Steve Nash was born in the Vancouver area.
Steve Nash, himself, plans on being involved in the "world's game" when his NBA career is over. Last year, Nash revealed that he dreams of getting involved in the sport through the ownership of his favorite club in the English Premier League-- Tottenham Hotspur (my favorite club as well after my favorite player--Luka Modric--started playing for them). He was also a big part of bringing a Vancouver team to Major League Soccer as an expansion team, which is set to happen in the 2011 season. Vancouver will be one of three Northwest region clubs in Major League Soccer. The other two are the Seattle Sounders, currently in the middle of their first season this year in MLS, and the Portland Timbers which will also have their expansion year in 2011. Nash also joined former Yahoo! president Jeff Mallet as an investor for the struggling Women's Professional Soccer League. He hopes to use the women's soccer league as something that would give his own twin daughters role models in his other favorite sport besides basketball.
More information regarding this charity event will be provided as more information becomes available.
Stay tuned to my blog as I update the 2009 Confederations Cup tonight at around 10:30 p.m. eastern time. I was able to catch the second half of the Spain-Iraq match which has ended a little over 90 minutes ago. My prediction was right. Spain was only able to get 1 goal passed Iraq for a final score of 1-0. More on this match, the upcoming South Africa-New Zealand match at 2:30 pm eastern time (on ESPN 2), and predictions for tomorrow's Group B matches will come at around 10:30 tonight.
Steve Nash is a big fan of soccer and plays the sport a lot in the NBA off season, especially during the summer. In doing so, he has become good friends with former Red Bull player and long time US national team captain Claudio Reyna, who was born and raised in Livingston, New Jersey. Together they decided to start this annual charity event inviting NBA players as well as soccer stars from throughout the world. The first was last year. Nash also has a good relationship with Henry of France who was invited to both last year's and this year's event. However, last year Henry did not expect to make it due to Euro 2008, but did due to France's early elimination from the tournament. France scored only one goal in the competition which came from Henry.
Nash became a fan of the sport because his father, John, played soccer professionally in England and South Africa. His younger brother also plays for the Canadian national team as well as the Vancouver Whitecaps of the United Soccer Leagues, the league underneath Major League Soccer in the American Soccer Pyramid. Steve Nash was born in the Vancouver area.
Steve Nash, himself, plans on being involved in the "world's game" when his NBA career is over. Last year, Nash revealed that he dreams of getting involved in the sport through the ownership of his favorite club in the English Premier League-- Tottenham Hotspur (my favorite club as well after my favorite player--Luka Modric--started playing for them). He was also a big part of bringing a Vancouver team to Major League Soccer as an expansion team, which is set to happen in the 2011 season. Vancouver will be one of three Northwest region clubs in Major League Soccer. The other two are the Seattle Sounders, currently in the middle of their first season this year in MLS, and the Portland Timbers which will also have their expansion year in 2011. Nash also joined former Yahoo! president Jeff Mallet as an investor for the struggling Women's Professional Soccer League. He hopes to use the women's soccer league as something that would give his own twin daughters role models in his other favorite sport besides basketball.
More information regarding this charity event will be provided as more information becomes available.
Stay tuned to my blog as I update the 2009 Confederations Cup tonight at around 10:30 p.m. eastern time. I was able to catch the second half of the Spain-Iraq match which has ended a little over 90 minutes ago. My prediction was right. Spain was only able to get 1 goal passed Iraq for a final score of 1-0. More on this match, the upcoming South Africa-New Zealand match at 2:30 pm eastern time (on ESPN 2), and predictions for tomorrow's Group B matches will come at around 10:30 tonight.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Confederations Cup begins in South Africa
The 2009 Confederations Cup began on Sunday with Group A action and continued Monday with Group B. Today (Tuesday) has no matches on the schedule. The Confederations Cup will continue Wednesday with Group A.
In this post, I am going to give my overview and analysis of the matches of the last two days and my prediction for the next match day, which will take place on Wednesday.
Group A (Sunday June 14, 2009)
Match 1: South Africa vs Iraq: The host nation South Africa (ranked 72nd in the world, 17th in Africa) met Asian Champions Iraq (77th in the world, 7th in Asia) for the first time in world soccer/football history in the city of Johannesberg. The host clearly dominated over their Middle Eastern opponent but a stubborn Iraqi side refused to allow South Africa to find the back of the net as the match ended in a stalemate. I only got to watch the first half, but from what I saw, it was a very good start for Iraq under the Serbian coach that also coached the MetroStars in Major League Soccer a while ago. With Spain in the same group, I think South Africa and Iraq will have to battle for second place and a spot in the knockout round since Oceanian Champion New Zealand does not have much of a chance. For more on the match, see FIFA's official match report.
Match 2: Spain vs New Zealand: The second match that took place on Sunday was a little more one sided. Spain (ranked 1st in the world) did not have much of a challenge against Oceanian champion New Zealand, the weakest team in the Confederations Cup. Although New Zealand is ranked #1 in Oceania, a spot that Australia used to have before becoming a member of the Asian Confederation, they are 82nd in the world. Spain dominated the match throughout from beginning to end. One Confederations Cup record was actually broken in this match: Fernando Torres scored the fastest hat trick in the history of the competition, scoring three goals inside the first 20 minutes of the match (6th minute, 14th minute, 17th minute). Cesc Fabregas scored at the 24th minute making it 4-0 at half time. he second half saw only one goal for Spain and the match ended 5-0. For the official match report, click here.
Group A Standings (as of Tuesday June 16)
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Spain 1 1 0 0 5 0 +5 3
2. Iraq 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
3. South Africa 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
4. New Zealand 1 0 0 1 0 5 −5 0
As you can see, Spain is clearly at the top of the group with 3 points. Iraq and South Africa are tied with no clear tiebreaker since their match ended in a scoreless draw. New Zealand is at the bottom, but with Spain--European champions and the strongest team in the competition--out of the way, the champions of Oceania still have to play South Africa and Iraq. Although they are a weak team, I wouldn't count New Zealand out yet. They could be the spoiler of the group and affect South Africa's or Iraq's chances of taking the second place spot to advance.
Group B (Monday June 15)
While opening day for Group A ended with a pretty clear picture of who will most likely be the group champion, Group B is still a little bit hazy. It was also the most exciting of the two match days.
Match 1: The first match of the day saw a determined African side take on one of the best (I would say THE best) and highest paid player in the world in Kaka as African champions Egypt (ranked 40th in the world, 5th in Africa) took on South American champions Brazil (5th in the world, 1st in South America). Now, this match may seem one sided but it was anything but. The first half saw a strong Brazilian side score 3 goals. The scoring started with Kaka's goal in the 5th minute. Egypt tied it up 4 minutes later. However, Brazil dominated the rest of the first half scoring two more goals, ending the first 45 minutes with a score of 3-1. The second half was very different however. At the 54th minute, Brazil started to lose their dominance and Egypt became the better team. Egypt scored two goals in the 54th and 55th minute to tie the match 3-3. This score stuck until the very end of the match when Brazil earned a penalty kick in the 90th minute. Kaka scored the penalty ending this exciting match 4-3 for Brazil.
Match 2: USA vs Italy: This was a rematch of the 1-1 tie that these two teams played in the 2006 World Cup as the CONCACAF champions USA (14th in the world, ranked 1st in CONCACAF) faced the World champions Italy (4th in the world, 4th in UEFA). American citizens scored 3 of the 4 goals in this match but two of them were scored for Italy. No, no own goals occurred in this match. How can this be, you may ask? Well, Giuseppe Rossi was born in the United States and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, but when he was 13 year old, him and his father moved to Italy because he entered a football academy there. He kept his American citizenship but also became a citizen of Italy. This made him eligible to play for both teams, but while he always respected American soccer, he always dreamed of playing in (he plays for a club Italy) and for the county of his father's birth. Landon Donovan was the other American that scored. He scored in a penalty kick chance in the 41st minute. The Americans did not play that well in the first half hour or so of the match until a red card sent off Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark, who was playing in his first major international match for the United States in his career, in the 33rd minute. This was pretty harsh red card, in my opinion, and the commentators on ESPN agreed. A yellow card would have been more than enough, but anyway, the Americans played the remainder of the match with 10 men but they played the rest of the 1st half very well, but their only goal was off Donovan's penalty kick in the 41st minute (this was Donovan's 40th career goal for the "stars and stripes". Italy scored all of their goals in the 2nd half. Final score was 3-1 for the Italians.
Group B Standings (as of Tuesday June 16)
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Italy 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 3
2. Brazil 1 1 0 0 4 3 +1 3
3. Egypt 1 0 0 1 3 4 −1 0
4. United States 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0
At this time, Italy and Brazil are tied for 1st place with 3 points after one win a piece. Since Brazil snuck by Egypt with Kaka's penalty in the final minutes of the match, Italy winsthe tiebreaker because of goal difference. Unless the United States pulls off some kind of miracle against Brazil, they will most likely miss out on the knockout round. I think the United States has what it takes to defeat Egypt but they shouldn't take the African champions for granted.
Predictions for next match day (Wednesday June 17th)
Group A will go back into action tomorrow at 10 am and 2:30 pm eastern time in the United States. If you are watching the matches in the United States, ESPN2 will be showing both matches live.
The first match will be between Spain and Iraq. I don't expect Spain to have too much trouble with Iraq but Iraq will be a tougher opponent than New Zealand was. Iraq is not the same team that won the Asian Cup in 2007 and they were already eliminated from 2010 World Cup. However, Iraq is a stubborn team and I think the score will be tight. I predict a score of 1-0 for Spain.
The 2:30 pm match will see the hosts South Africa face New Zealand. South Africa should easily defeat the Oceanian champions unless South Africa messes up with a draw. I don't see South Africa losing to New Zealand though.
My predictions for the next Group B match day (Thursday) will come tomorrow when I wrap up tomorrow's matches.
In this post, I am going to give my overview and analysis of the matches of the last two days and my prediction for the next match day, which will take place on Wednesday.
Group A (Sunday June 14, 2009)
Match 1: South Africa vs Iraq: The host nation South Africa (ranked 72nd in the world, 17th in Africa) met Asian Champions Iraq (77th in the world, 7th in Asia) for the first time in world soccer/football history in the city of Johannesberg. The host clearly dominated over their Middle Eastern opponent but a stubborn Iraqi side refused to allow South Africa to find the back of the net as the match ended in a stalemate. I only got to watch the first half, but from what I saw, it was a very good start for Iraq under the Serbian coach that also coached the MetroStars in Major League Soccer a while ago. With Spain in the same group, I think South Africa and Iraq will have to battle for second place and a spot in the knockout round since Oceanian Champion New Zealand does not have much of a chance. For more on the match, see FIFA's official match report.
Match 2: Spain vs New Zealand: The second match that took place on Sunday was a little more one sided. Spain (ranked 1st in the world) did not have much of a challenge against Oceanian champion New Zealand, the weakest team in the Confederations Cup. Although New Zealand is ranked #1 in Oceania, a spot that Australia used to have before becoming a member of the Asian Confederation, they are 82nd in the world. Spain dominated the match throughout from beginning to end. One Confederations Cup record was actually broken in this match: Fernando Torres scored the fastest hat trick in the history of the competition, scoring three goals inside the first 20 minutes of the match (6th minute, 14th minute, 17th minute). Cesc Fabregas scored at the 24th minute making it 4-0 at half time. he second half saw only one goal for Spain and the match ended 5-0. For the official match report, click here.
Group A Standings (as of Tuesday June 16)
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Spain 1 1 0 0 5 0 +5 3
2. Iraq 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
3. South Africa 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
4. New Zealand 1 0 0 1 0 5 −5 0
As you can see, Spain is clearly at the top of the group with 3 points. Iraq and South Africa are tied with no clear tiebreaker since their match ended in a scoreless draw. New Zealand is at the bottom, but with Spain--European champions and the strongest team in the competition--out of the way, the champions of Oceania still have to play South Africa and Iraq. Although they are a weak team, I wouldn't count New Zealand out yet. They could be the spoiler of the group and affect South Africa's or Iraq's chances of taking the second place spot to advance.
Group B (Monday June 15)
While opening day for Group A ended with a pretty clear picture of who will most likely be the group champion, Group B is still a little bit hazy. It was also the most exciting of the two match days.
Match 1: The first match of the day saw a determined African side take on one of the best (I would say THE best) and highest paid player in the world in Kaka as African champions Egypt (ranked 40th in the world, 5th in Africa) took on South American champions Brazil (5th in the world, 1st in South America). Now, this match may seem one sided but it was anything but. The first half saw a strong Brazilian side score 3 goals. The scoring started with Kaka's goal in the 5th minute. Egypt tied it up 4 minutes later. However, Brazil dominated the rest of the first half scoring two more goals, ending the first 45 minutes with a score of 3-1. The second half was very different however. At the 54th minute, Brazil started to lose their dominance and Egypt became the better team. Egypt scored two goals in the 54th and 55th minute to tie the match 3-3. This score stuck until the very end of the match when Brazil earned a penalty kick in the 90th minute. Kaka scored the penalty ending this exciting match 4-3 for Brazil.
Match 2: USA vs Italy: This was a rematch of the 1-1 tie that these two teams played in the 2006 World Cup as the CONCACAF champions USA (14th in the world, ranked 1st in CONCACAF) faced the World champions Italy (4th in the world, 4th in UEFA). American citizens scored 3 of the 4 goals in this match but two of them were scored for Italy. No, no own goals occurred in this match. How can this be, you may ask? Well, Giuseppe Rossi was born in the United States and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, but when he was 13 year old, him and his father moved to Italy because he entered a football academy there. He kept his American citizenship but also became a citizen of Italy. This made him eligible to play for both teams, but while he always respected American soccer, he always dreamed of playing in (he plays for a club Italy) and for the county of his father's birth. Landon Donovan was the other American that scored. He scored in a penalty kick chance in the 41st minute. The Americans did not play that well in the first half hour or so of the match until a red card sent off Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark, who was playing in his first major international match for the United States in his career, in the 33rd minute. This was pretty harsh red card, in my opinion, and the commentators on ESPN agreed. A yellow card would have been more than enough, but anyway, the Americans played the remainder of the match with 10 men but they played the rest of the 1st half very well, but their only goal was off Donovan's penalty kick in the 41st minute (this was Donovan's 40th career goal for the "stars and stripes". Italy scored all of their goals in the 2nd half. Final score was 3-1 for the Italians.
Group B Standings (as of Tuesday June 16)
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Italy 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 3
2. Brazil 1 1 0 0 4 3 +1 3
3. Egypt 1 0 0 1 3 4 −1 0
4. United States 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0
At this time, Italy and Brazil are tied for 1st place with 3 points after one win a piece. Since Brazil snuck by Egypt with Kaka's penalty in the final minutes of the match, Italy winsthe tiebreaker because of goal difference. Unless the United States pulls off some kind of miracle against Brazil, they will most likely miss out on the knockout round. I think the United States has what it takes to defeat Egypt but they shouldn't take the African champions for granted.
Predictions for next match day (Wednesday June 17th)
Group A will go back into action tomorrow at 10 am and 2:30 pm eastern time in the United States. If you are watching the matches in the United States, ESPN2 will be showing both matches live.
The first match will be between Spain and Iraq. I don't expect Spain to have too much trouble with Iraq but Iraq will be a tougher opponent than New Zealand was. Iraq is not the same team that won the Asian Cup in 2007 and they were already eliminated from 2010 World Cup. However, Iraq is a stubborn team and I think the score will be tight. I predict a score of 1-0 for Spain.
The 2:30 pm match will see the hosts South Africa face New Zealand. South Africa should easily defeat the Oceanian champions unless South Africa messes up with a draw. I don't see South Africa losing to New Zealand though.
My predictions for the next Group B match day (Thursday) will come tomorrow when I wrap up tomorrow's matches.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
World Cup Qualifying Update: Ukraine win against Kazakhstan puts Ukraine neck and neck with Croatia for second place battle in Group 6
UEFA's Group 6 World Cup Qualifying competition is heating up as Croatia is neck and neck with Ukraine for second place and England is still in first with one more win needed to qualify.
Croatia failed to get 3 much needed points in their match against Ukraine on Saturday. They did gain 1 point as a result of a 2-2 tie at home in Zagreb. While Ukraine was in action on Wednesday against Kazakhstan, Croatia did not have a match scheduled.
Ukraine defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 on Wednesday giving them 3 points. This leaves them in second place with 11 points tied with Croatia. Croatia is till in second place after a superior goal difference breaks their tie with Ukraine.
Based on these recent results, here is how the Group 6 standings look right now with some of my own analysis (the percentage included is the superior points percentage):
1. England (7-0-0; 21 pts; 100.0%): England is in perfect form right now at the top of the group. They played two qualification matches this month in which they conceded no goals and scored 10 in total against Kazakhstan and Andorra. England only has 3 matches left against Croatia at home, Ukraine on the road, and Belarus at home. One more win and they are on their way to South Africa next summer. Their next qualifying match is not until September 9 against Croatia at home.
2. Croatia (3-1-2; 11 pts; 61.1%): Croatia has not been as lucky. They only had one match in their qualifying schedule this month and that was a 2-2 tie against Ukraine at home on Saturday-- a match they needed to win in order to dig themselves out of a deep hole that they put themselves in. Although Croatia did begin their qualifying campaign with a strong 3-0 win against Kazakhstan (which is pretty weak team I might add) at home, their second match was a 4-1 loss to England at home. Ever since then, Croatia was never really able to get back on track with a scoreless tie at Ukraine, a 4-0 win against a weak Andorran side at home, and a 2-0 away win against Andorra. With 6 matches down, Croatia has four left to go and it is not the easiest schedule. They get back to action on August 12 in Belarus, a team that Croatia should not take lightly. Belarus is a tricky team and although qualifying would be a long shot for them, they can act as a spoiler in the group. My prediction is that they tie against Belarus on the road. Croatia then goes back home on September 5 to play Belarus again. I expect a win out of this match. After this, they travel to London to play England. Croatia will have Eduardo da Silva back for this match and the English Premier League season would have started already so Eduardo da Silva should get a few matches in for Arsenal to warm up for this qualifying match. Injuries have screwed up Eduardo's chance to play in Euro 2008 so he is definitely eager to play for Croatia. Hopefully, nothing happens to him between then and now. My birthday happens to be on the day Croatia plays England in London so it would be awesome if Croatia can beat them although I understand that it is a long shot. Wayne Rooney, who was injured for the Euro 2008 qualifying match in which Croatia beat them and eliminated them from the competition, is in very good form with 8 goals scored already for England so this will be a very tough match for Croatia. The last match is away at Kazakhstan which shouldn't be much of a problem. With England almost unstoppable, Croatia should be focusing on keeping second place but this is easier said that done. Not all second place teams in the 9 qualifying groups in UEFA are guaranteed a place in South Africa. Only 13 teams out of a total of 53 teams competing are getting spots. This includes the 9 group winners+ 4 runner ups. These four runner ups are determined through a playoff round that will take place after the group stage is over. Only 8 of the 9 second placed teams can play in the two legged playoffs which will take place in November. However, since one group only has 5 teams (8 matches) and the rest have 6 (10 matches), an alternative way to rank the runner ups has been established: the teams that are in second place in group 1 through 8 (group 9 is the group with only 5 teams) will not have results against the last placed team counted so everything will be equal. With a rather tough schedule left to play and being that Croatia has already played and beaten Andorra twice, coach Bilic and company really have to play as well as they can and leave it up to fate. As it is now, Croatia is 9th out of the 9 second place teams. Mathematically, they are not eliminated from first place but they can only do it if England loses all of their remaining matches. Also, Croatia cannot lose or tie any of their matches. This scenario looks like a long shot so Croatia should set second place as their goal. If they lose to Belarus in their next qualifying match then Croatia can only qualify through the playoffs. Croatia should not only win but should win with high goal differentials to ensure that they have better results than the other second placed teams. If Belarus does win or tie any matches, they could play a part in spoiling either Croatia's or Ukraine's chances. Belarus is still very much in the race to South Africa.
3. Ukraine (3-1-2; 11 pts; 61.1%): Ukraine has the same record as Croatia, but a schedule that is a bit easier. Croatia wins the tie breaker because although the Croatians tied both meetings against the Ukrainians (0-0 in Ukraine and 2-2 in Croatia), Croatia has a better goal difference than them (+6 to Ukraine's +3). Ukraine also has 4 matches left: Andorra home and away, Belarus on the road, and England at home. Just like Croatia already did, Ukraine should be able to pocket 6 easy points against Andorra-- a loss or tie would be humiliating to Ukraine but good for Croatia, but Ukraine should be able to take care of business against the Andorrans. Ukraine opened up their qualifying campaign against Belarus at home. In this match, they had quite a bit of trouble finding the back of the net. It took all 90 minutes plus stoppage time in the second half to finally earn a penalty kick ending the match 1-0 for Ukraine (this is proof that Belarus is a tricky team as I stated already above). Ukraine does have to play England but they do have home field advantage. This may seem like a tough schedule, but while Croatia has Belarus twice and England at home, Ukraine gets to plays the worst team in the group twice and Belarus only once.
4. Belarus (3-2-0; 9 pts; 60.0%): Belarus is still very much in this race to qualify for South Africa. Any slip up from Ukraine or Croatia could give Belarus a chance to sneak through to second place. They do still have to play both Ukraine and Croatia at least once. It probably won't happen but at this point, I don't want to dismiss the possibility. However, I don't think Belarus will ever get enough points to make it into the top 8 of the second placed finishers. They also played only 5 matches so they still have half of their qualifying campaign in front of them. Their remaining schedule looks like this: Croatia home and away, Ukraine at home, Kazakhstan at home, and England on the road. England should be able to defeat Belarus, but Belarus could cause a little bit of trouble for the other teams.
5. Kazakhstan (1-6-0; 3 pts; 14.3%): Kazakhstan has officially been eliminated from the World Cup after a 4-0 loss to England. However, what Kazakhstan does in the 3 matches they have left to play could help Croatia. Here is how Kazakhstan's schedule looks: on the road vs Andorra, on the road vs Belarus, and at home vs Croatia. The match against Andorra means nothing since Andorra has been eliminated too. If Belarus beats Kazakhstan (they already did once 5-1 at Kazakhstan), it could complicate things for Croatia depending on how Croatia does in their two matches against Belarus. Belarus is currently only 2 points behind Croatia.
6. Andorra (0-7-0; 0 pts; 0.0%): Andorra is obviously eliminated with no wins or ties and only 3 matches left to play. None of Andorra's remaining schedule is easy. They are, after all, the worst team in the group so it makes sense. Two out of three teams that they have to play on their remainder of their schedule are teams that are still in the competition and not yet eliminated (they have to play (they have to play Ukraine twice). Their other match against Kazakhstan means nothing as mentioned above.
For more information and standings regarding Group 6, click here.
For official information about qualifying matches, groups, and news from FIFA, click here.
As I stated above, one of the second placed teams will be eliminated early and will not go to the play off to determine the final 4 qualifiers for next summer's World Cup. Below are the current standings for second place teams. Top 8 will go to the playoff round where they will play a two legged home and away aggregate series. I am only going to include the standings here. I will give my analysis in a future post.
1. Russia (4-1-0; 12 pts; 80.0%)
2. France (3-1-1; 10 pts; 66.7%)
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-2-0; 9 pts; 60.0%)
4. Hungary (2-1-1; 7 pts; 58.3%)
5. Switzerland (2-1-1; 7 pts; 58.3%)
6. Ireland (1-0-4; 7 pts; 46.7%)
7. Northern Ireland (2-2-1; 7 pts; 46.7%)
8. Scotland (2-2-1; 7 pts; 46.7%)
9. Croatia (1-1-2; 5 pts; 41.7%
Croatia failed to get 3 much needed points in their match against Ukraine on Saturday. They did gain 1 point as a result of a 2-2 tie at home in Zagreb. While Ukraine was in action on Wednesday against Kazakhstan, Croatia did not have a match scheduled.
Ukraine defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 on Wednesday giving them 3 points. This leaves them in second place with 11 points tied with Croatia. Croatia is till in second place after a superior goal difference breaks their tie with Ukraine.
Based on these recent results, here is how the Group 6 standings look right now with some of my own analysis (the percentage included is the superior points percentage):
1. England (7-0-0; 21 pts; 100.0%): England is in perfect form right now at the top of the group. They played two qualification matches this month in which they conceded no goals and scored 10 in total against Kazakhstan and Andorra. England only has 3 matches left against Croatia at home, Ukraine on the road, and Belarus at home. One more win and they are on their way to South Africa next summer. Their next qualifying match is not until September 9 against Croatia at home.
2. Croatia (3-1-2; 11 pts; 61.1%): Croatia has not been as lucky. They only had one match in their qualifying schedule this month and that was a 2-2 tie against Ukraine at home on Saturday-- a match they needed to win in order to dig themselves out of a deep hole that they put themselves in. Although Croatia did begin their qualifying campaign with a strong 3-0 win against Kazakhstan (which is pretty weak team I might add) at home, their second match was a 4-1 loss to England at home. Ever since then, Croatia was never really able to get back on track with a scoreless tie at Ukraine, a 4-0 win against a weak Andorran side at home, and a 2-0 away win against Andorra. With 6 matches down, Croatia has four left to go and it is not the easiest schedule. They get back to action on August 12 in Belarus, a team that Croatia should not take lightly. Belarus is a tricky team and although qualifying would be a long shot for them, they can act as a spoiler in the group. My prediction is that they tie against Belarus on the road. Croatia then goes back home on September 5 to play Belarus again. I expect a win out of this match. After this, they travel to London to play England. Croatia will have Eduardo da Silva back for this match and the English Premier League season would have started already so Eduardo da Silva should get a few matches in for Arsenal to warm up for this qualifying match. Injuries have screwed up Eduardo's chance to play in Euro 2008 so he is definitely eager to play for Croatia. Hopefully, nothing happens to him between then and now. My birthday happens to be on the day Croatia plays England in London so it would be awesome if Croatia can beat them although I understand that it is a long shot. Wayne Rooney, who was injured for the Euro 2008 qualifying match in which Croatia beat them and eliminated them from the competition, is in very good form with 8 goals scored already for England so this will be a very tough match for Croatia. The last match is away at Kazakhstan which shouldn't be much of a problem. With England almost unstoppable, Croatia should be focusing on keeping second place but this is easier said that done. Not all second place teams in the 9 qualifying groups in UEFA are guaranteed a place in South Africa. Only 13 teams out of a total of 53 teams competing are getting spots. This includes the 9 group winners+ 4 runner ups. These four runner ups are determined through a playoff round that will take place after the group stage is over. Only 8 of the 9 second placed teams can play in the two legged playoffs which will take place in November. However, since one group only has 5 teams (8 matches) and the rest have 6 (10 matches), an alternative way to rank the runner ups has been established: the teams that are in second place in group 1 through 8 (group 9 is the group with only 5 teams) will not have results against the last placed team counted so everything will be equal. With a rather tough schedule left to play and being that Croatia has already played and beaten Andorra twice, coach Bilic and company really have to play as well as they can and leave it up to fate. As it is now, Croatia is 9th out of the 9 second place teams. Mathematically, they are not eliminated from first place but they can only do it if England loses all of their remaining matches. Also, Croatia cannot lose or tie any of their matches. This scenario looks like a long shot so Croatia should set second place as their goal. If they lose to Belarus in their next qualifying match then Croatia can only qualify through the playoffs. Croatia should not only win but should win with high goal differentials to ensure that they have better results than the other second placed teams. If Belarus does win or tie any matches, they could play a part in spoiling either Croatia's or Ukraine's chances. Belarus is still very much in the race to South Africa.
3. Ukraine (3-1-2; 11 pts; 61.1%): Ukraine has the same record as Croatia, but a schedule that is a bit easier. Croatia wins the tie breaker because although the Croatians tied both meetings against the Ukrainians (0-0 in Ukraine and 2-2 in Croatia), Croatia has a better goal difference than them (+6 to Ukraine's +3). Ukraine also has 4 matches left: Andorra home and away, Belarus on the road, and England at home. Just like Croatia already did, Ukraine should be able to pocket 6 easy points against Andorra-- a loss or tie would be humiliating to Ukraine but good for Croatia, but Ukraine should be able to take care of business against the Andorrans. Ukraine opened up their qualifying campaign against Belarus at home. In this match, they had quite a bit of trouble finding the back of the net. It took all 90 minutes plus stoppage time in the second half to finally earn a penalty kick ending the match 1-0 for Ukraine (this is proof that Belarus is a tricky team as I stated already above). Ukraine does have to play England but they do have home field advantage. This may seem like a tough schedule, but while Croatia has Belarus twice and England at home, Ukraine gets to plays the worst team in the group twice and Belarus only once.
4. Belarus (3-2-0; 9 pts; 60.0%): Belarus is still very much in this race to qualify for South Africa. Any slip up from Ukraine or Croatia could give Belarus a chance to sneak through to second place. They do still have to play both Ukraine and Croatia at least once. It probably won't happen but at this point, I don't want to dismiss the possibility. However, I don't think Belarus will ever get enough points to make it into the top 8 of the second placed finishers. They also played only 5 matches so they still have half of their qualifying campaign in front of them. Their remaining schedule looks like this: Croatia home and away, Ukraine at home, Kazakhstan at home, and England on the road. England should be able to defeat Belarus, but Belarus could cause a little bit of trouble for the other teams.
5. Kazakhstan (1-6-0; 3 pts; 14.3%): Kazakhstan has officially been eliminated from the World Cup after a 4-0 loss to England. However, what Kazakhstan does in the 3 matches they have left to play could help Croatia. Here is how Kazakhstan's schedule looks: on the road vs Andorra, on the road vs Belarus, and at home vs Croatia. The match against Andorra means nothing since Andorra has been eliminated too. If Belarus beats Kazakhstan (they already did once 5-1 at Kazakhstan), it could complicate things for Croatia depending on how Croatia does in their two matches against Belarus. Belarus is currently only 2 points behind Croatia.
6. Andorra (0-7-0; 0 pts; 0.0%): Andorra is obviously eliminated with no wins or ties and only 3 matches left to play. None of Andorra's remaining schedule is easy. They are, after all, the worst team in the group so it makes sense. Two out of three teams that they have to play on their remainder of their schedule are teams that are still in the competition and not yet eliminated (they have to play (they have to play Ukraine twice). Their other match against Kazakhstan means nothing as mentioned above.
For more information and standings regarding Group 6, click here.
For official information about qualifying matches, groups, and news from FIFA, click here.
As I stated above, one of the second placed teams will be eliminated early and will not go to the play off to determine the final 4 qualifiers for next summer's World Cup. Below are the current standings for second place teams. Top 8 will go to the playoff round where they will play a two legged home and away aggregate series. I am only going to include the standings here. I will give my analysis in a future post.
1. Russia (4-1-0; 12 pts; 80.0%)
2. France (3-1-1; 10 pts; 66.7%)
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-2-0; 9 pts; 60.0%)
4. Hungary (2-1-1; 7 pts; 58.3%)
5. Switzerland (2-1-1; 7 pts; 58.3%)
6. Ireland (1-0-4; 7 pts; 46.7%)
7. Northern Ireland (2-2-1; 7 pts; 46.7%)
8. Scotland (2-2-1; 7 pts; 46.7%)
9. Croatia (1-1-2; 5 pts; 41.7%
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