Qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa continued on Wednesday with matches in CONCACAF, Asian and Oceania zones. The rest of the world had some very interesting friendly matches.
The Oceania zone underdog Fiji ended New Zealand’s unbeaten record at home with a surprise 2-0 win. Despite the loss, New Zealand will advance to next round of qualifiers.
In the Asian zone, Japan comfortably beat Qatar 3-0, while United Arab Emirates tied with Iran 1-1. Australia with stars like Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill faced Bahrain, but had to wait till 94th minute to break the tie on goal from Marco Bresciano. South Korea’s 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia move them to the top of their group.
The only European zone World Cup qualifier was between the Czech Republic and San Marino. The Czechs were the clear favorites and the only question was by how many goals they would win. But in front of only a thousand fans, it took the Czech team almost 50 minutes to score their first goal. The final score was 3-0 but the Czechs didn’t look to convincing. Striker Baros and Fenin once again failed to score and one of the few positive things was a goal by rookie Tomas Necid. The Czechs occupy the second spot in Group 3, with two points less than first place Slovakia.
England beat host Germany 2-1 and recorded their fifth win in a row under coach Fabio Capello. Both teams were without their major stars. England was missing Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and last minute injured Theo Walcott. Germany were without Michael Ballack, Philip Lahm and Torsten Frings. England opened the score by Matthew Upson in the 23rd minute. Germany equalized in the 63rd minute when Helmes put it through the goalie’s legs. John Terry delivered the winning goal after Downing’s free kick. A victory in Germany provided the perfect end to England’s 2008 season. Fabio Capello should get most of the credit for that. Tough coach but knows how to deliver results, something England didn’t have for awhile.
Serbia trashed Bulgaria 6-1 in what was a farewell match for former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic. He scored two goals but managed to miss two penalties, yes you heard right two. He blamed the misses on his emotions. What a way to end one’s career.
The Netherlands 3-1 win over Sweden proved to be too easy. Robin van Persie scored twice and Dirk Kuyt added one. Kallstrom came on as a substitute and scored the lonely goal for Sweden.
Argentina won their first match under Diego Maradona’s coaching. They beat Scotland at Hampden Park by a score of 1-0. Maxi Rodriguez scored in the eighth minute on a pass from Carlos Tevez.
Theofanis Gekas’ goal in the 50th minute put Greece 1-0 ahead in friendly match with Italy. But not for long. Luca Toni equalized on 1-1 after a free kick from Daniele De Rossi. It was 31 consecutive international matches without defeat for coach Lippi.
