I've had a real mixed day as a supporter ...
Bad new first:
ZAMBIA (coz that's where I'm from) vs. Egypt
we still had an outside chance of getting to the World Cup if we pulled off a stunning upset and won against the reigning African Champions ... as it turned out, we actually controlled the match, but could not put the ball in the back of the net ... and then, wouldn't you know it, Egypt take their chance and that's that ... Zed is now officially out ...
Denmark vs. SWEDEN (coz of Zlatan)
OK, Zlatan is my favourite player ... he has joined my favourite team ... he is already playing well at his new club, and will get better ... I should surely be satisfied, right? wrong! I want him to go to the World Cup, and kick ass, and all that good stuff ...
for all that to happen, Sweden needed to beat the Danes in Denmark ... let's look at what should have been the decisive plays in the match:
1) Zlatan provides a brilliant backheel to Henrik Larsson, who scores, but the linesman flags because it seems Larsson's hand was offside ... [whinge] you can't use your hand in the game of football, so why should it count as offside?! [/whinge]
2) a few minutes later, Zlatan schools Simon Kjær (who I actually rate as a terrific prospect) near the touchline, before floating a small chip across the box, where a diving header sends the ball into the net ... but, again, the whistle has gone, this time because the ball apparently went out of play ... I still haven't seen a replay to confirm the decision, and am disinclined to believe it until I do ...
and then, at the other end, the Danes take a potshot, the ball lands just in front of Isaksson and bounces over his flailing hands for the goal and the win ...
Portugal vs. HUNGARY (coz of Balázs Dzsudzsák, and coz Hungary stealing a point would make it comfortable for Sweden)
Sweden's dropped points would still be OK if the Hungarians could sneak a point in this match ... Dzsudzsák's deliveries from freekicks caused a lot of problems for the Portuguese defence, and the Hungarians even rattled the crossbar at the end of the first half ... Dzsudzsák himself went within inches of netting a goal from a low drive ... but the Portugeezers were too good on the day, and now Sweden are f*cked ...
IRELAND vs. Italy (coz of Cassano's exclusion)
don't get me wrong, I love Italy ... but Fantantonio Cassano's continued exclusion by Lippi is infuriating ... if the national team were playing well, or at least if the attack was impressing, I could understand the decision ... but they have been sucking for a while now, and even the Confederations Cup debacle doesn't seem to have changed anything ...
Lippi has always stated he did not want to gamble with the team dynamic, and thus did not include Cassano -- I think that is a reason based on events and actions in 2005, not 2009, which gives cause to believe that Lippi is going senile ... and once Italy qualify, Lippi will say that the team that earned qualification must be rewarded by being kept intact -- again, stupid reasoning; look at Brazil in 2001-2002: with key players like Ronaldo out injured, the Seleção scraped through on the back of some B-level players, but took their best players to Korea-Japan, and thus were able to bring home the trophy; Lippi, meanwhile, will continue to insist on leaving the most talented and creative Italian behind ...
so, I wanted Trappatoni's Ireland to humble Lippi, and further stoke the fire of the Italian people's furore against Lippi's decision making ... it was all going really well as the clock struck 90 minutes, but an injury-time equalizer from that goddam Gilardino gave the Azzurri the point they needed to ensure qualification ... a last-gasp 2-2 is far from impressive, but a 2-1 loss would have served my requirements better ...
now, the good news:
Ecuador vs. URUGUAY (coz of Luis Suárez & Co.)
I used to watch Uruguay for the wizardry of Álvaro Recoba ... now though, it is for Luis Suárez (who is just sublime when he plays for Ajax) ... apart from Suárez, others I like to watch are Diego Forlán, Walter Gargano, and Edinson Cavani ... so I'd love to see Uruguay go to the World Cup ... when Ecuador went up 1-0, it looked very difficult ... but Luis Suárez and a Forlán penalty deep into injury time sealed the win, and kept Uruguay alive ...
now all that remains is a mouthwatering tie against Argentina in the last round of qualifying ... with Ecuador, who are still within distance to claim the play-off spot, traveling to the already-qualified Chile, it will be a must-win affair for both Uruguay and Argentina ... i cannot wait!
UKRAINE vs. England (just to simmer down the customary, mad hype)
lastly England ... EURO 2008 seems to have been long forgotten, and for good reason: an Italian called Fabio Capello has taken over management, and he has instilled a sense of organization and discipline ... but as is always the case with the English press and a majority of the fans (who I will admit do not include intellectuals), qualification means that talk of 1966 is back on, and England are once again amongst the top 3 favourites to win the World Cup next year ... I was looking forward to a Ukrainian victory, just to have all that talk simmer down a little ... and much to my delight, I was not let down ...
Mandieta6;2744795 said:
If Luxembourg win, and possibly if they tie against Greece, and Israel beat Switzerland, they are through.
reading your sentence, "they are through" looks like it implies that Luxembourg could be through ... if you did not pathetically parade your religious/ethnic prejudice at every opportunity, I would have actually had to ask what you meant ... anyway, for the sake of the quality of football at South Africa 2010, I certainly hope "they" don't make it ...