World Cup 2014 Qualification

Lawrence1895

Germany 1:0 up. Mario Goetze scores

Charisteas

citytillidie wrote: »

Just thought i would bump this thread since European team start Qualification today

Cheers bud, delighted that this thread is still going strong. Let's keep it going until 2014

Charisteas

Lars1916 wrote: »

Germany 1:0 up. Mario Goetze scores

Shocked that it's only 1-0 after 30 minutes, expecting Germany to hit at least 5. On the other hand, Faroes are much improved since 10 years ago.

gnfnrhead

I reckon Germany could be under-estimating them. They got a few walk overs last time out so probably expected the same this time around so havent gone at it like they could.

klose

belgium 1 up v wales, brilliant header by kompany, team is full of house hold names!

Charisteas

Anyone fancy Belgium's chances to qualify this time?

They are in a tough group with Croatia, Serbia, Scotland, Macedonia, and Wales, and haven't qualified for the last five tournaments.

But they seem to have a decent young squad now with the likes of Van Buyten, Hazard, Vermaelan, Kompany, Vertongan and Dembele the two new Spurs players, Witsel, Fellaini, and Miralles the new Everton guy who looked great on his debut (albiet against Orient), and Courtis the Atletico Madrid goalie.

And with the exception of Van Buyten, they're all between 21-25. Worth keeping an eye on.

mike65

You say that like you have only just spotted that Belgium are a team full of talent!

Easily their best squad since the mid 80s.

Charisteas

whippedcream wrote: »

belgium 1 up v wales, brilliant header by kompany, team is full of house hold names!

We must have come to the same conclusion about this Belgium team. And with the average age of the team, they got a promising few years ahead of them.

They'll probably go on to lose 1-2 to wales now :pac:

Lawrence1895

Charisteas wrote: »

Shocked that it's only 1-0 after 30 minutes, expecting Germany to hit at least 5. On the other hand, Faroes are much improved since 10 years ago.

1:0 at half time. Apparently, the Faeroe goalie with the match of his life

Charisteas

mike65 wrote: »

You say that like you have only just spotted that Belgium are a team full of talent!

Well they have been off the radar for 10 years.

Charisteas

Lars1916 wrote: »

1:0 at half time. Apparently, the Faeroe goalie with the match of his life

Is that the Manchester City goalie? Forget his name, Nelson is it?

Lawrence1895

Charisteas wrote: »

Is that the Manchester City goalie? Forget his name, Nelson is it?

G.Nielsen. Heard he is 42 years of age, but don't know, if he plays for City

Charisteas

Just checked up on it, Faroes have Gunner Neilsen who is playing tonight (plays for Man City) and 42 year old Mikkelsen on the bench.

Podolski on the bench for Germany, that's good for Arsenal keep him fresh

Hercule Poirot

Luxembourg are drawing 1-1 at home to Portugal going into the second half :eek:

Lawrence1895

Charisteas wrote: »

Just checked up on it, Faroes have Gunner Neilsen who is playing tonight (plays for Man City) and 42 year old Mikkelsen on the bench.

Podolski on the bench for Germany, that's good for Arsenal keep him fresh

Sport1.de don't even mention Podolski

Lawrence1895

2:0 Germany, scored by Ozil

Anyone

Charisteas wrote: »

Anyone fancy Belgium's chances to qualify this time?

They are in a tough group with Croatia, Serbia, Scotland, Macedonia, and Wales, and haven't qualified for the last five tournaments.

But they seem to have a decent young squad now with the likes of Van Buyten, Hazard, Vermaelan, Kompany, Vertongan and Dembele the two new Spurs players, Witsel, Fellaini, and Miralles the new Everton guy who looked great on his debut (albiet against Orient), and Courtis the Atletico Madrid goalie.

And with the exception of Van Buyten, they're all between 21-25. Worth keeping an eye on.

Probably one of the best 1st 11 team around right now. I dont know how deep their squad goes, but they should easily qualify from that group. Trick is getting them all to play together. I havent seen them play before but on paper its some team.

Charisteas

Dammit Portugal just went 2-1 up.

Greece winning 2-1 but may have a fight with Bosnia to win that group.

Lawrence1895

Ozil on target again. 3:0 Germany

JPA

2 hat tricks and a brace as Bosnia beat Liechtenstein 8-1

Lawrence1895

Now watch, Arsenal. Podolski on as a substitute. Strange, he was not in the Sport1 line up

Charisteas

Anyone wrote: »

but they should easily qualify from that group.

I wouldn't say it will be easy because Croatia are also a very good team and Serbia may cause problems too.

Only the group winners qualify, the 8 best 'second place' teams get a play-off spot.

Roger Sterling

Charisteas wrote: »

Anyone wrote: »

but they should easily qualify from that group.

I wouldn't say it will be easy because Croatia are also a very good team and Serbia may cause problems too.

Only the group winners qualify, the 8 best 'second place' teams get a play-off spot.

I think Belgium have a job on their hands to go through. Having a group of good players doesnt necessarily mean theyll gel into a good team. Theyve gone very quickly from talented dark horses to a bit overhyped IMO.

Charisteas

Falcao is on fire, hat-trick against Chelsea last week, just scored for Colombia now.

Lawrence1895

3:0 Germany in the end. The 500th win in a competitive match, according to Sport1.de

kitakyushu

Lars1916 wrote: »

3:0 Germany in the end. The 500th win in a competitive match, according to Sport1.de

That number seems very high to me. If you all all their WC and EC games you only get around 200 wins.

dsmythy

Anyone wrote: »

Probably one of the best 1st 11 team around right now. I dont know how deep their squad goes, but they should easily qualify from that group. Trick is getting them all to play together. I havent seen them play before but on paper its some team.

They didn't manage to make the Euros.

Lawrence1895

kitakyushu wrote: »

That number seems very high to me. If you all all their WC and EC games you only get around 200 wins.

You're right there. I checked again, 500 including friendlies

stealinhorses

Some finish from Narsingh in that Holland - Turkey game!

Charisteas

Lars1916 wrote: »

3:0 Germany in the end. The 500th win in a competitive match, according to Sport1.de

Lars I assume you're German, why are Germany playing all their homes games in different stadiums?

The only reason I can think of is that it gives a chance for Germans in every major city to see the team play, but I would have thought that it's an advantage for a team to have a 'home' stadium, familiar surroundings if you will (which I know sounds hypocritical because Germany always qualify).

Absolutely loved the Olympic Stadium in Berlin when I visited recently.

Lawrence1895

Apart from the draw between Bulgaria and Italy no big surprises, imo

G.K.

whippedcream wrote: »

wales down to 10 men, straight red for collins

He should never play for us again. Darcy Blake is the way forward...

Lawrence1895

Charisteas wrote: »

Lars I assume you're German, why are Germany playing all their homes games in different stadiums?

The only reason I can think of is that it gives a chance for Germans in every major city to see the team play, but I would have thought that it's an advantage for a team to have a 'home' stadium, familiar surroundings if you will (which I know sounds hypocritical because Germany always qualify).

Absolutely loved the Olympic Stadium in Berlin when I visited recently.

I am German indeed

I don't remember the German FA ever thinking about a 'National Stadium', but why? Maybe it is because of the fact, that every part of the country should get a fair slice of the cake, when it comes to see the national team.

Berlin though host the cup final every year since 1985

But did you ever visit Dortmund? The Westfalenstadion (forget about fancy new names) is much more impressive

Anyone

Charisteas wrote: »

I wouldn't say it will be easy because Croatia are also a very good team and Serbia may cause problems too.

Only the group winners qualify, the 8 best 'second place' teams get a play-off spot.

Personally I think Scotland will be a tougher challenge than Serbia. As I said, I think they will qualify, and with a bit in hand.

dsmythy wrote: »

They didn't manage to make the Euros.

Whats that supposed to show, we made the Euros, does that make us a top team? Euro qualifiers are over the previous 2 years, that Belgian team are all two years older and more experience. I think they will turn into a very very good side, top 3 or 4 in Europe at least.

Bob the Seducer

Lars1916 wrote: »

Apart from the draw between Bulgaria and Italy no big surprises, imo

There were a few others here and there; Iceland beat Norway 2-0 and Lithuania drew 1-1 with Slovakia.

monkey9

Belgium fans at the Wales match tonight!!

G.K.

monkey9 wrote: »

Belgium fans at the Wales match tonight!!

That's class, really heartwarming to see that.

Roger Sterling

Anyone wrote: »

Charisteas wrote: »

I wouldn't say it will be easy because Croatia are also a very good team and Serbia may cause problems too.

Only the group winners qualify, the 8 best 'second place' teams get a play-off spot.

Personally I think Scotland will be a tougher challenge than Serbia. As I said, I think they will qualify, and with a bit in hand.

dsmythy wrote: »

They didn't manage to make the Euros.

Whats that supposed to show, we made the Euros, does that make us a top team? Euro qualifiers are over the previous 2 years, that Belgian team are all two years older and more experience. I think they will turn into a very very good side, top 3 or 4 in Europe at least.

Top 3 or 4 in Europe indeed! Maybe we should hold off on the plaudits till they actually make a major finals?

mike65

Lars1916 wrote: »

I don't remember the German FA ever thinking about a 'National Stadium', but why? Maybe it is because of the fact, that every part of the country should get a fair slice of the cake, when it comes to see the national team.

I always thought when England were on their travels during the Wemberly rebuild it was much more atmospheric even if the grounds only held half as many punters, bar OT which is why it got the Lions share of course.

ArmaniJeanss

Columbia 4 Uruguay 0 in South American qualifying must be the 'shock of the day' result.

grenache

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Columbia 4 Uruguay 0 in South American qualifying must be the 'shock of the day' result.

Bloody hell! I was thinking of putting Uruguay in my accumulator bet but opted not to. They had 3 wins and 2 draws before today. Saw them hammer Chile a few months back. Really surprised at this result. Colombia are handy but with Cavani, Suarez, Forlan, Gargano, Ramirez, etc you really would have expected Uruguay to have too much for them.

Disappointing result for Italy. They should have closed out the game when 2-1 up. That Bulgarian team is poor and it's a bad two points dropped.

Charisteas

Winning (or even drawing) away from home in South American qualification seems to be a rare occurrence. So far in 29 games, there have been 19 home wins, 5 draws, 5 away wins.

Charisteas

Is there any reason why Scotland always play their home games on Saturday afternoons when everyone else plays Friday nights?

greendom

Charisteas wrote: »

Is there any reason why Scotland always play their home games on Saturday afternoons when everyone else plays Friday nights?

Sky needing its fix of weekend football ?

Brussels Sprout

The US got beaten last night 2-1 in Jamaica despite Dempsey scoring in the first minute. No doubt they'll still get through to the final round.

Good result for Canada, beating Panama 2-1. They're one of those countries, like China, who really should be doing better down the years. They're well placed to make the final round now.

citytillidie

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Columbia 4 Uruguay 0 in South American qualifying must be the 'shock of the day' result.

Don't forget you get shock results in South America when teams have to play in altitude like Uruguay did last night

ArmaniJeanss

citytillidie wrote: »

Don't forget you get shock results in South America when teams have to play in altitude like Uruguay did last night

You sure, wiki has the game down as being played in the Northern sea port of Barranquilla so the altitude should be close to zero.

Mars Bar

Alan Hutton with a typically robust challenge.

Fight_Night

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

The US got beaten last night 2-1 in Jamaica despite Dempsey scoring in the first minute. No doubt they'll still get through to the final round.

Good result for Canada, beating Panama 2-1. They're one of those countries, like China, who really should be doing better down the years. They're well placed to make the final round now.

Their youth system is really good, the kind we should be trying to model imo. I expect them to start producing good players within the next 10 years.

noodler

Just finished watching Scotland 0-0 Serbia.

Rousing stuff.