World Cup qual - Winners and losers

Eurosport - Tue, 09 Jun 07:12:00 2009

We look back at the weekend's World Cup qualifying action and pick out the best and worst of the crop.

2009 Bulgaria-Ireland Richard Dunne - 0

GOOD WEEKEND

John Terry

Delivered a captain's performance for England in Kazakhstan, making a crucial early block and keeping his head throughout a tricky first half before Fabio Capello's men eased to a 4-0 win.

Scotland

Their chances improved without even playing a match. Iceland lost to the Netherlands, while Macedonia and Norway drew, leaving George Burley's side favourites to finish second in Group 9.

Netherlands

The deadly Dutch have cruised through an easy group to become the first European side to qualify for South Africa 2010. Early goals from Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel were enough to defeat Iceland.

Richard Dunne (pictured, left)

The big defender's powerful header against Bulgaria earned the Republic of Ireland a point that keeps them firmly in the Group 8 mix, as Giovanni Trapattoni continues to work his magic for the men in green.

John Toshack

Any realistic hope of reaching the finals has long gone, but David Edwards's goal in Azerbaijan secured a morale-boosting win for the youngest Welsh side to line up in a World Cup qualifier.

Asian giants

No surprises as Japan, South Korea and continental newcomers Australia booked their tickets to the World Cup finals over the weekend. Just one automatic place remains, with Saudi Arabia favourites to get it.

BAD WEEKEND

Theo Walcott

The winger's long-awaited return to the England side proved a damp squib as he was nullified by Kazakhstan. On the upside for Walcott, his half-time replacement Shaun Wright-Phillips fared little better.

Croatia

It could have been worse, but Saturday's 2-2 draw against Ukraine means everybody's favourite dark horses are in real danger of failing to qualify, seven points behind Group 6 pace-setters England.

France

Another win for Serbia (who play Faroe Islands on Wednesday) means Raymond Domenech's side could be eight points off the pace in Group 7 going into the summer break.

Egypt

The African champions have not been to the World Cup since 1990 and might have to wait four more years. They continued to make a mess of a relatively easy group, losing 3-1 to Algeria on Sunday.

San Marino

Even by their modest standards, the Most Serene Republic of San Marino have had a nightmare recently. Saturday's 7-0 thrashing by Sloavkia came hot on the heels of a 10-0 drubbing by Poland.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

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  1. WARNING!
    TUNISIA, KINDLY GIVE US OUR WORLD CUP TICKET,­ BECAUSE THE SUPER EAGLES OF NIGERIA ARE READY TO­ DISGRACE YOU IN YOUR HOME TOWN AND IN FRONT OF THE­ WHOLE AFRICA.
    GO NOW AND GIVE IT TO THEM BEFORE IS TOO­ LATE. I HAVE SAID MY OWN, OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN­ SACRIFICE.
    IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILS GO AND ASK FRANCE­ AND KENYA.
    GOOD BYE.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Wed 10 Jun 11:17AM

  2. comment 29 yr a 1st class bellend

    From deesydave, on Tue 9 Jun 8:48PM

  3. Oh, I cannot wait for French team to come to Belgrade­ to play.. It will be a finnal blow to Domeneck and his­ sad 11..
    They play like 11 Croatians on the bad day...­
    Hehehe.... Greetings from Serbia...

    From sasafunk, on Tue 9 Jun 4:06PM

  4. up super eagles up nigeria.we are coming tunisia.you­ dont have to watch it because wether u watch it or not­ after the two legged affair u will forget about­ s/africa

    From Kester, on Mon 8 Jun 4:52PM

  5. KENYA, WE ARE SORRY FOR WHAT WE DID TO YOU.
    I AM HERE­ TO CONSOLE YOU, PLEASE TAKE HEART.
    ALTHOUGH THE­ THRASING WAS NOT MUSH IS JUST 3-0, PLEASE ACCEPT OUR­ APPOLOGY.
    WE PROMISE YOU THAT WHEN WE MEET NEXT, IT­ WILL BE UP TO 11-0 SO THAT IT WILL BE ONE FOR EACH­ PLAYER.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Mon 8 Jun 3:49PM

  6. KENYA, WE ARE SORRY FOR WHAT WE DID TO YOU.
    I AM HERE­ TO CONSOLE YOU, PLEASE TAKE HEART.
    ALTHOUGH THE­ THRASING WAS NOT MUSH IS JUST 3-0, PLEASE ACCEPT OUR­ APPOLOGY.
    WE PROMISE YOU THAT WHEN WE MEET NEXT, IT­ WILL BE UP TO 11-0 SO THAT IT WILL BE ONE FOR EACH­ PLAYER.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Mon 8 Jun 3:47PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Once I saw him just enjoyed hot dating with a sexy­ rich female on ""M i l l i 0 n a i r e l 0 v­ e s. c0 o00 m" "

    From cherry d, on Mon 8 Jun 3:30PM

  8. "San Marino
    ...
    Saturday's 7-0 thrashing by­ Sloavkia came hot on the heels of a 10-0 drubbing by­ Germany."

    7:0 by Slovakia - YES
    10:0 by­ Germany - NO !! They were trashed by­ POLAND
    and
    13:0 by Germany in last EuroCup Qualifing­ game

    From Rafal, on Mon 8 Jun 3:01PM

  9. no.13 apology to who and for what??? this is a mere­ blog and can write any @#$% it wants

    From Andrew, on Mon 8 Jun 2:58PM

  10. poland is the one who beat san marino 10-0 not germany

    From michaloldziej, on Mon 8 Jun 2:51PM

  11. the biggest loser is Walcott....what a waste of space­ he has turned out to be....!

    From stuartxland, on Mon 8 Jun 2:43PM

  12. BTW - San Marino got nailed 10-0 by POLAND, not­ Germany, which makes it a little bit worse.I highly­ encourage you all to check out the highlights of that­ game. It's very sad, but there were some amazing­ goals. I think the Polacks were having a bit too much­ fun!

    From MikeyB, on Mon 8 Jun 2:27PM

  13. An utter disgrace from Alex Chick, show some sympathy­ for Larsson, he's certainly not a loser in my eyes.­ Yahoo should plaster a huge apology online or better­ still sack Chick.....oh and by the way matey,­ you're the loser!!

    From John R, on Mon 8 Jun 2:26PM

  14. THEY 4GOT 2 MENTION THE PORTUGESE I DONT THINK WE WILL­ C THEM AT D WORLD CUP THIS YEAR

    From spuddy_d24, on Mon 8 Jun 2:07PM

  15. where does it say that Larsson had a bad weekend?

    From chicken b, on Mon 8 Jun 2:00PM

  16. Comeon, we need somebody good for the French NT...­ somebody who can win with the Les Blues

    From Dave, on Mon 8 Jun 1:37PM

  17. No Apology... just remove it and all will be forgot...­ typical Yahoo Nazis!

    From kk_irishlondoner, on Mon 8 Jun 1:34PM

  18. Y is larsson a loser... my thoughts to his family!

    From Lionel, on Mon 8 Jun 1:24PM

  19. Eurosports you are very sick people indeed calling­ Larsson a loser. Alex Chick have you lost someone close­ to you, I guess not as you would not say this. If this­ is meant to be a joke it is not funny.

    From JT CaptainLegendHero, on Mon 8 Jun 1:19PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Most of you n00bs CANT READ.

    H.Larsson is in the­ "B-A-D Weekend" group ... cuz :

    HE HAD A BAD­ WEEKEND ( sadly his brother died)

    nothing towards­ LOOZERS etc ..
    once again. LEARN to­ READ-AND-UNDERSTAND.

    Hopeless tards.

    From Smoq, on Mon 8 Jun 1:19PM
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