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“Capello - winning but still not good enough”

FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifying (Europe)

There is clearly a long way to go in the race to South Africa 2010 but already France look to be facing an uphill struggle in their battle to be at the next World Cup.

Their last qualifying campaign was hardly littered with magic moments and any team that loses twice to Scotland in one campaign needs to have a look at themselves, but after they sneaked through, it seemed as though normal service would be resumed.

French Fail Again
If anything, the performance in Euro 2008’s Group of Death was abysmal and was even worse than their efforts during qualifying.

A tepid 0-0 draw with Romania in their opening match was followed by a 4-1 thrashing by Holland which left France needing a victory in their final match against Italy to have any chance of making it to the knock out stages. A 2-0 defeat was fully deserved as the French meekly rolled over and were bundled out of the tournament with no great fanfare or recognition. Talk of how to improve and rectify these issues were immediately put into action but Raymond Domenech remained in charge of the national team.

The sense of that decision may be being revised at the moment after France slumped to a 3-1 defeat in Austria. It has to be said, Austria were not very impressive during the summer tournament but at least no one expected them to be any good. Participating in the tournament as they were joint hosts was going to be the only way they made it to a major football event and it showed but the team was full of honest endeavour, if not brimming with skill and confidence.

Defeats to Croatia and Germany and a fortunate draw with Poland never brought many points to the host nation but some of the performances were better than expected. This raised hopes rather than expectations about an improved performance in Group 7 but after a stunning opening day result, who knows where Austria and France will end up at the end of the campaign.

Bright Start For Austria
Austria were 2-0 up by half time but French hopes were raised when Sydney Govou pulled one back with an hour on the clock. Knowing there were thirty minutes still to play should have galvanised the French side but when another goal came later on, it once again fell home to the home team.

Andreas Ivanschitz coolly slotted home a penalty on 72 minutes and there was to be no further reply from the French. One game is not enough to make or break a campaign but the alarm bells must be ringing for the French national team. Talk of the team being too good to play poorly for a long period is becoming harder to believe and this is a prolonged slump or period of poor play by the French.

The pressure on Les Bleus to get a positive result in their next match is major and the match versus Serbia in France on Wednesday will go a long way to determining if this current French team have the quality to bounce back from a poor start.

Anything other than a win will place serious doubts over whether the world will be witnessing the French superstars at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. A game against Romania in October will not be looked forward to either so France really need to get themselves back on the road with a home victory this coming midweek.

Austria face a trip to Lithuania in their next match where they will face a home team buoyed by a 3-0 victory in Romania, which means that both of the Euro 2008 qualifiers who are now in Group 7 for this campaign got off to terrible starts.

Big Guns Manage Victories
Elsewhere around Europe, the big guns managed to get their campaigns off to solid starts as the number of shocks and surprises were limited. Reigning European champions Spain made heavy work of Bosnia Herzegovina in Vincente Del Bosque’s first competitive match in charge but a 1-0 victory ensured the Spanish notched up an early 3 points in their campaign to lift both of the major national trophies available to them.

Reigning World Cup holders Italy also got off to a sluggish start but an injury time winner helped them grab all three points as they overcame Cyprus 2-1 away from home. On paper, this should have been a match that was comfortable for the Italians but a stuffy and resolute performance from Cyprus nearly caused a major upset.

Other notable results from Italy’s group saw the Republic of Ireland grab a 2-1 away victory over Georgia in Trappatoni’s first competitive match in charge. The game was held in Germany due to the current situation in Georgia but this should take nothing away from the Irish who fully deserved their three points which will hopefully act as a springboard to a successful campaign. Also in group 8, Bulgaria managed to grab a point in a 2-2 draw away to Montenegro.

Perennial underachievers England earned 3 points but little plaudits with a 2-0 victory away to Andorra, in a match played at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. The teams trooped off goal-less at half time and the English side were forced to hear boos and jeers similar to what happened in 2007 when again they failed to break down the small side in the opening 45 minutes.

Joe Cole bagged two goals near the start of the second half to ensure victory but with a tie against Croatia looming, England need to up their game considerably. Croatia kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 victory at home to Kazakhstan.

Germany Goal Crazy
The highest scoring side of the weekend was Germany, who smashed in six goals during their 6-0 victory away to Liechtenstein. No one expected anything other than an away victory but given how some of the major nations struggled against lesser opposition, plaudits must go to Germany for turning in a very professional performance. A sterner test away to Finland awaits the Germans in midweek but it would be no surprise to see them complete the job and finish the week with six points on the board.

With a long way to go in the qualifying campaign for 2010, no team is going to be knocked out at this stage but it is clear that many teams will be nervously looking at their upcoming games and possibly re-appraising what points they need to pick up to remain in the hunt.

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