I would like to start off by offering condolences to the family and friends of Robert Enke, the German keeper, who tragically committed suicide this week. Enke was combating with bouts of depression for the past few years and is succeeded by his wife and his adopted daughter. In lieu of his demise the friendly between Germany and Chile scheduled for 14th November has been called off.
The last round of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2010 kicks off at the weekend. 23 of the 32 slots have already been booked for the trip to South Africa in the summer and the last 9 will be known to us by Wednesday night. 4 of those 9 spots would be going to European teams who will lock horns with each other in their first leg on Saturday.
IRELAND Vs FRANCE
Ireland were surprisingly one of the five undefeated teams in all of their qualifying games. Trappatoni's side managed to hold world champions Italy in both the home and away legs of their fixtures. The Irish however showed their inability to get a result on numerous occasions in the other games too as they were drew against the likes of Montenegro and Bulgaria. The team's performance particularly against Italy in Dublin was highly praiseworthy and only a last minute Gilardino strike denied them a famous victory. They take on France in the first leg at home and will hope to get a good result in their backyard. The team has always been strong on home soil and has the quality in its ranks to stand up against the French. Trappatoni will use all his wile to ensure that they are in with a fighting chance for the second leg. Robbie Keane will lead the attack and should be most probably accompanied by Kevin Doyle. The important thing for the Irish will be to keep their concentration through the game as they are in the habit of conceding late.
France on the other hand will come into the match in much better form than the one they started their qualifying campaign. Tolouse striker Gignac has proved to be a revelation this season and scored three goals in his last three appearances for the Les Blues. Thierry Henry also seems to be performing much better for the national side and with Madrid striker Karim Benzema too in the squad, the French boast of an attack which will trouble most defences. The goal phobia which the team had contracted in the middle of qualifying, when they scored just five times in five games, was finally in their last two games when they found the net eight times. Against the Irish the strategy has to be to find that decisive away goal. The Irish are terribly goal shy themselves and if they are forced to score in France they will indeed be facing an uphill task. Raymond Domenech despite all his detractors, within the squad and outside, is a master at getting the right results and one can expect the finalists from the last edition to make it through this time as well.
PORTUGAL Vs BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
The Cristiano Ronaldo less Portuguese side will welcome Bosnia in Lisbon for the first leg on Saturday. The Portuguese looked a shadow of the side which impressed in Germany and made it into the play-offs by the skin of their teeths. They have now been greatly helped by Sepp Blatter's decision to seed teams for the play-offs. Carlos Quieroz will have to rethink team strategy a bit because of his captain's absence and also that of Jose Bosingwa, who injured his knee in Chelsea's game against Manchester United. Simao is most likely to take Ronaldo's place and he should play behind Hugo Almeida. The defence will have to be alert against the Bosnians who scored seven times against Estonia during qualifying. It would be rather unwise for the Portuguese to invite the Bosnians on if they are to take the lead.
Bosnia & Herzegovina were quite spectacular in their qualifying campaign. The team from the former Yugoslavia defied all expectations and got second place ahead of the likes of Turkey and Belgium in Group 5. As mentioned earlier the team has no problems scoring the goals and will have Wolfsburg stars, Misimovic and Edin Dzeko, lining up for them. The national team has failed to qualify for any major tournament so far and came closest to qualifying for the European Championships in 2004. In Portugal they face a tough opponent but they have the ability to trouble the big teams as they have displayed in the past. If they can somehow sneak a goal in Portugal they will have a big chance to create history in front of their passionate fans in the return leg at home.
GREECE Vs UKRAINE
This is the third game of the qualifiers and the most unpredictable. Both Greece and Ukraine had decent qualifying campaigns. Greece just missed out by only a point the top spot in Group 2 and Ukraine exhibited glimpses of the form that took them to the quarterfinals of the last World Cup in Group 6. But to put truthfully at the risk of sounding blunt, both these teams look like spent forces. There is no new exciting blood in either side and both of them are still hanging onto the glory days of their old and this is no more evident than in the captains of the two sides. Giorgos Karagounis at 32 and Andriy Shevchenko at 33 are players who have seen the best days of their playing lives well past them. Both teams are however capable of playing some excellent football and one can never discount them. The return leg in Ukraine will be played in freezing conditions and if the tie is balanced after the first leg it will be heavily tilted in Ukraine's favor for the second. The Greeks will be aware of this dilemma and so one can expect to see them attack in the first leg on Saturday. Charisteas and Karagounis will still be the main threats in this Greek side while for Ukraine apart from 'Captain Fantastic', Artem Milevskiy, will be a potent weapon in both games.
RUSSIA Vs SLOVENIA
Like Bosnia, Slovenia too exceeded expectations as they finished second in Group 3 which had Czech Republic and Poland in its ranks. However they will have to really perform out of their socks to beat Hiddink's Russians. The Russian team won many plaudits for its display in the Euros and in particular their performance against the Dutch and the team has continued on from there successfully. The only two losses of their qualifying came against Germany and on both occasions the team fought on right until the end. The first leg in Russia will make life easier for them as they can really exert pressure on Slovenia if they get a good result. The Slovenians will find it hard to overcome this Russian side even on their own territory. Andrei Arshavin should lead his side out and look to translate his domestic form on the international scene as well. To me this one is in no doubt. Russia will book their passage to Africa.
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