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Capello getting down to business

WC2010 Roundup

Although most teams have only managed three or four games in their groups so far, only three teams have managed to obtain maximum points.

Holland, England and Spain are the only 100% teams so far but it has to be said, Spain left it late to maintain their winning start to life under the coaching of Vincent Del Bosque.

It’s interesting to note all three teams who boast a winning run so far all started this qualification process with a new manager in charge but given that Spain are the reigning European Championship holders, they were expected to carry on in a rich vein of form.

Spain Left It Late
For a spell tonight, their form looked to have run out as they were trailing 1-0 away to Belgium in Group 5.

Belgium had made a solid start to their campaign with 2 wins and a draw from their opening three games and things looked good when Sonck fired the home team in front inside the opening ten minutes.

Spain managed to grab a leveller through Iniesta before half-time but there was no scoring for most of the second half and it looked as though the spoils would be shared. That was until David Villa popped up in the 88th minute to steal all three points for the Spanish team and strengthened the teams’ hold of the top of group 5. Second placed Turkey could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Estonia so it was a very good night for the Spanish and there doesn’t appear to be much doubt about them booking their place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

England Stroll While Holland March On

Group 6 saw the only other team reach 12 points as England followed up Saturday’s high scoring triumph over Kazakhstan with a strong triumph in Belarus. Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard opened the scoring but the half-time score was 1-1 as Belarus threatened a shock result.

Two second half goals from Wayne Rooney secured all three points for England and Fabio Capello’s men appear to be joining Spain on the road to South Africa.

Holland may have only played three group matches so far but a 1-0 away victory over Norway has enabled them to open up a five point gap in Group 9 already. The race for qualification in that group already seems over but the battle for the runner up spot is looking as though it will be a close one. Sadly, with one runner up spot not being rewarded with a play-off place and each team looking capable of dropping points to each other, it may well be that the only five team group in the qualification process turns out to be the one that doesn’t have a play-off qualifier.

Portugal in Terrible Form
Portugal continued their horrid run of form in Group 1 where they could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to Albania. To make matters worse, Albania played for 50 minutes reduced to 10 men and still the Portuguese could not find a way past them which sees them two points off the top of the table having played a game more than Denmark. Sweden currently sit second bottom of the group but with a game in hand over most of the teams above them and such is the close nature of the group that victory in this outstanding match would see them rocket up the table.

Greece Shocked by Swiss
Greece entered their midweek encounter with Switzerland with a 100% record but a shock 2-1 Swiss victory in Greece smashed that run like a plate in a Greek Taverna. Given that this is the same Swiss team who very recently were defeated by Luxembourg, it has to be said that any predictions made for Group Two may end up very wide of the mark.

Israel narrowed the gap behind Greece but missed the chance to leapfrog them when they could only draw away to Latvia. Israel were in front thanks to a Yossi Bennayoun strike just after half-time but an 88th minute equaliser dashed Israeli hopes.

Slovakia claimed top spot in Group 3 by coming from behind to beat Poland 2-1 at home in a result which sees the Poles slip to second in the table. The Czech Republic and Northern Ireland both managed their first wins of the campaign with home victories over Slovenia and San Marino respectively.

Germany Remain Top in Group 4
Germany needed a 72nd minute goal to overcome a strong Welsh rearguard but now find themselves top of Group 4 on 10 points, with a four point lead over Wales and Russia, although the Russians do have a game in hand to play. A convincing 3-0 victory over Finland kept the Russians neatly tucked in behind the Germans knowing that Germany have a trip to Russia still to come.

Serbia and Lithuania both took strong advantage of the top teams not playing in Group 7 as both teams extended the gap between themselves and the chasing pack to 5 points. Serbia were convincing 3-1 winners in Austria and Lithuania defeated the Faroe Islands 1-0 at home.

Italy and Ireland Sit Proudly on Top
Group 8 sees another tie at the top as Italy and the Republic of Ireland both stand on 7 points after 3 matches played. Ireland have an early Robbie Keane goal to thank for giving them a 1-0 triumph over Cyprus at home which moved them up alongside the Italians who were not in match day action.

The other game in the group saw Georgia and Bulgaria draw 0-0 as Bulgaria notched up yet another draw in their campaign.

What Lies Ahead?
San Marino versus the Czech Republic on the 19th November is the only remaining European World Cup qualifier to be played in 2008 with another three matches scheduled for February 2009. Malta versus Albania in Group 1 takes place whilst Georgia travel to the Republic of Ireland for their Group 8 encounter. The country lying North of the Republic of Ireland travel to San Marino on the same date and will be hoping for a repeat of their 4-0 triumph.

There is a lot of time and there is a lot of football to be played before the majority of international teams come back to the qualification process for 2010 but with only three teams holding a 100% record there is no doubt that the road to South Africa is getting tougher for a great number of nations.

by Andrew Reilly

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

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