Archive for August 31st, 2009

FIFA World Cup European Qualification Details

August 31st, 2009

A total of 53 European countries are fighting to qualify for the finals of the FIFA World Cup in 2010. The countries have been divided into 9 groups, namely Group 1 to Group 9. Group 1 to Group 8 consists of 6 teams each, and Group 9 has 5 teams.
Denmark who are so far unbeaten, top Group 1 with 16 points followed by Hungary on 13 points. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal is in 3rd place with 9 points and can face elimination from the South Africa finals. Sweden is just behind Portugal on goal difference with 4 matches remaining.

Group 2 has Greece and Switzerland on 13 points, followed by Latvia at 10 points. Israel can still qualify as they have 9 points with 4 games still to be played.

Group 3 is probably the most uncertain as 5 of the 6 teams still having a possibility of qualifying. Slovakia tops the group with 15 points and is followed by Northern Ireland with 13 points.

Group 4 is dominated by Germany and Russia. Germany sits comfortably on the top with 19 points followed by Russia in second place with 15 points.

Group 5 sees European champions Spain with 18 points from 6 games followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina on 2nd place with 12 points.

England have registered 7 wins of 7 games played and have logically booked a place in next year’s finals. They are followed by Croatia in 2nd place with 14 points in Group 6.

Group 7 has Serbia at the top with 18 points followed by France at 13 points, who also have a game in hand as compared to Serbia.

World champions, Italy are topping group 8 with 14 points, and are being closely followed by Rep of Ireland at 2nd place with 13 points.

Netherlands have become the first team to qualify in the 2010 Fifa World cup finals from Europe. They have registered 7 wins out of 7 and are followed by Macedonia with 7 points in Group 9.

No comments »

Posted in Football Results, World Cup

Tags:

Scottish Premier League table

August 31st, 2009

This week started with the game between Rangers and Hamilton at the Ibrox stadium. The Rangers went on to win the match with a 4-1 score sheet. Whittaker and Boyd both scored a goal in each half for Rangers. McLaughlin got a consolation goal for his team, late in the 87th minute. The defeat left Hamilton at the bottom of the table with no points.

Kilmarnock lost the game to St Mirren at home, in spite of leading the game at half time. Sammon scored for Kilmarnock in the 4th minute but two goals from 20 year old midfielder, Stephen McGinn saw St. Mirren winning its first match of the season.

Dundee United kept its unbeaten run this season by winning 2-1 in front of home fans against Falkirk. The game between Aberdeen and Motherwell ended in a goalless draw. St. Johnstone was playing Hearts who like St. Johnstone had not won a game this season. The match saw 4 goals and a total of 7 yellow cards. The high octane match ended in a 2-2 draw with a late goal from 33 year old Martin Hardie of St Johnstone in the 93rd minute.

The last game of the week saw two clubs, Hibernian, and Celtic battle it out for a possible top of the table finish for the winner. The game saw 6 yellow cards from referee Dougie McDonald and a red card to Aiden McGeady for a second bookable offence. A goal from 24 year old Greek footballer Georgios Samaras in the 41st minute sealed the game for Celtic. The win gave moved them to 9 points but left them on the second spot on the table only to be behind Rangers on goal difference.

No comments »

Posted in Scottish Premier League

Tags:

Italian Serie A this week

August 31st, 2009

The 2nd week at Serie A saw the two heavy weights of Italy fighting it out at San Siro. AC Milan lost the match 0-4 to their city rivals Inter Milan. The high profile match saw goals from Thiago Motta, Diego Milito (Pen), Maicon and Dejan Stankovic in the 29th, 36th, 46th and 67th minute respectively. Mourinho’s team unarguably outdid the seven times European Champions AC Milan in possibly every aspect of the game. This match also saw Gattuso being handed a 2nd yellow in the 40th minute which left AC Milan to play the remaining 50 minutes with 10 men.

Another big match was being played at the Roma stadium. AS Roma was playing against the Old Lady of football, Juventus. The match saw goals from both sides. Diego opened the scoring for Juventus in the 25th minute and an equalizer was scored eleven minutes later by Daniele De Rossi in the 36th minute. Later in the second half, Diego and Felipe Melo scored a goal each in the 68th and 93rd minute ending the match 1-3 to Juventus.

The match between newly promoted Bari and Bologna ended in a goalless draw. Napoli won against AS Livorno by 2-1. Team Fiorentina won at home against Palermo by a goal to nil. Cagliari, Atalanta and Chievo lost in front of their home fans against AC Siena, Genoa and Lazio respectively. Elsewhere Samdoria and Parma scored a win at home against Udinese and Catania. Both matches ended 2-1 to the home teams. This week’s play left Juventus at the top of the league table with 6 points, and AS Roma at the bottom with no points.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Juventus

Tags: