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Maradona: victory for the new coach..

International Round-Up November

It was mainly a night of International friendlies but there was one World Cup qualifier taking place in Europe and San Marino were playing hosts to the Czech Republic.

Not many people would have given the minnows a chance of grabbing any points from the match but at half-time they were doing as well as could be expected as they kept the game goal-less up to that point.

Relief for the Czech Republic came just two minutes into the second half when Kovac opened the scoring and when Pospech netted another shortly after, there may have been a feeling that the away side could do some damage. It never really turned out that way and only one more goal was added in the final ten minutes when Necid notched to give the Czech Republic a satisfactory 3-0 lead and improve their standings in the Group Three standings.

Admittedly, they are only in third place but they sit on equal points with Poland and Slovenia and lie only two points behind the group leaders Slovakia. The Czech Republic will be fancying their chances of progressing from the group and although they got off to a sticky start, there is every likelihood they will rebound strongly in 2009 and book their place in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

Elsewhere around Europe, the matches were of a less competitive nature but there was still a lot of good football on show.

Unhappy Wenger
One man who may not be too happy with international matches this week will be Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Wenger has not had his troubles to seek this season with Arsenal being highly inconsistent so far so the news that Theo Walcott fell during an England training session and dislocated his shoulder must have had the Frenchman feeling like crying.

Walcott has been one of Arsenals best players so far and he will feel his loss much more than England international coach Fabio Capello will. Even without the star who scored a hat-trick in Croatia, Capello guided his team to another triumph in foreign soil with a 2-1 victory in a pulsating match.

England always looked in control of the match and took a first half lead when centre half Matthew Upson opened the scoring for the visiting side. Just after the hour mark, Germany pulled level when Helmes stuck the ball away but any thoughts that both teams would settle for the draw was blown away when John Terry gave England the lead once more on the 84th minute as Capello’s travelling squad were victorious on the road once more.

The game may not have offered any points on the road to South Africa but it would have given Capello, his team and all the English supporters an immense feeling of satisfaction at once again triumphing over the Germans.

Maradona Starts with Win
The big story of the night was always going to be Diego Maradonas first game in charge of Argentina and his team gave their new boss a welcome starting gift with a 1-0 victory over Scotland at Hampden.

In a match that was entertaining and spirited if not exactly evenly matched, the Argentines opened the scoring early on with an extremely well worked goal eventually tucked away by Rodriguez and after that, the visiting South Americans looked more interested in playing nice football as opposed to scoring another goal. Scotland huffed and puffed all they could but to no avail.

5-Goal Thriller in Ireland
Any fan who went to the Republic of Ireland versus Poland match who left early will be kicking themselves at the moment as the majority of the action took place right at the death.

The visiting side were two goals up entering the 88 minute when suddenly the game sparked into life. Stephen Hunt scored a penalty with two minutes to go to pull the score back to 2-1 but just when Irish fans were beginning to dream of an amazing comeback,

Poland marched up the park and made it 3-1 with a goal from Lewandowski, his second of the evening. However, this wasn’t the last of the scoring as debutant Andrews notched a goal in injury time to ensure he never forgets his first cap and to give Ireland a bit more respectability from the evening. The success the Republic of Ireland have achieved so far under the coaching of Trappatoni has been built on solid defensive play so no doubt the loss of three goals will give the Italian a sleepless night or two but with plenty of time before the next competitive match, there is plenty of time to rectify matters.

Italy travelled to Greece but the match finished 1-1 and at the same time, France welcomed Uruguay but neither of these sides could be separated in a game that finished 0-0. France especially were in need of a moral boosting victory but both Italy and France have failed to capture the imagination in recent times and both nations will have an air of concern about the current plight of their international teams. Both sides have a habit of squeezing through the qualification tournaments but there will be many hoping for an upturn in fortunes and performances very soon.

Bulgaria Bullied in Serbia
The biggest triumph of the evening saw Serbia defeat Bulgaria by 6 goals to 1, which will come as a shock for the Bulgarian team but one of the best results of the evening came when Wales travelled to Denmark and returned home with a 1-0 victory. A Craig Bellamy goal with just over ten minutes to go of the night was enough to separate the sides and give further evidence that John Toshack is building a squad that could see Wales being a proper match for a number of nations in the next few years. Part of the problem with Craig Bellamy is that the striker suffers from injuries almost repeatedly but when he is match fit, he is a key player for Wales and at the moment West Ham United.

There have been rumours this week indicating that Bellamy will be moving clubs yet again in January and if he can stay match fit, there is no doubt that Bellamy would be a wonderful acquisition for a great number of squads in England or at a Champions League placed side in Scotland.

There was not too much hope or expectations being placed on a round of international friendlies in November but the football offered up were enough to please the vast majority of fans who braved the elements and went along to support their nation.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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