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COUNTDOWN FOR THE BRAZIL 2014 WORLD CUP!!


busybeeburns

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As much as I don't care about England when it comes to the World Cup, I do hope they qualify simply because it leads to a bit of interest in certain games. I wouldn't want them to win it as you can't beat a chav crying into his beer when we get knocked out, but whenever we haven't qualified for a comp it's always felt a bit empty and passive.

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So we could have a world cup without England, Czech Republic, Croatia, Sweden, Russia, and one of France/Spain.

 

Considering that the England U21 team are pretty much knocked out of the Euros after losing the first 2 matches, the future doesn't look bright.

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2014 World Cup: Australia, Iran and South Korea qualify for Brazil

 

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2014 World Cup: Australia, Iran and South Korea qualify for Brazil

 

Australia, Iran and South Korea have all qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

 

The Socceroos sealed a place in their third consecutive World Cup with a 1-0 win over Iraq in Sydney to finish second behind Asian Football Confederation Group B winners Japan.

 

Reza Ghoochannejad's winner allowed Iran to beat South Korea 1-0 and top Group A with both countries qualifying. The result meant South Korea stayed ahead of Uzbekistan on goal difference.

 

Uzbekistan's 5-1 victory over Qatar moved them to within one goal of South Korea, but the result was not enough to overtake them.

 

Earlier, substitute Josh Kennedy's header with six minutes remaining was enough to book Australia's fourth appearance at the World Cup.

 

Kennedy, who had replaced Everton's Tim Cahill on 77 minutes, rose unchallenged to head Mark Bresciano's cross beyond goalkeeper Noor Sabri.

 

Japan had already won Asian Group B to qualify when they drew 1-1 with Australia on 4 June.

 

With Oman not kicking off against Jordan until after the end of the match in Sydney, the Socceroos knew that a point would ensure qualification for the tournament in Brazil, which starts on 12 June 2014.

 

Cahill had failed to hit the target from three chances and looked unhappy when replaced with Kennedy by Socceroos coach Holger Osiek.

 

But the striker, who plays for Nagoya Grampus in Japan's J League, settled the nerves of the crowd of 80,000 to send his country through to their fourth World Cup finals.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22955857

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Disaster at Azteca as big two toppled

 

Costa Rica surged to the top of the CONCACAF qualifying Hexagonal for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ with an impressive win over former leaders USA in San Jose. Mexico’s dreadful form continued as the regional giants lost only the second qualifier in their history at the Estadio Azteca, 2-1 to Honduras, who move up to third place. Jamaica and Panama drew 0-0 and remain in last and fifth respectively with three matchdays to go.

 

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2169107/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption

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Belgium in touching distance, France held

 

Of the nine group leaders, five consolidated their status by claiming victories, three others drew and only Bosnia-Herzegovina suffered defeat during Matchday Eight of the European qualifying campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.

 

Spain, the defending world champions, Belgium, Italy and Germany all took a giant step towards Brazil, as did the Netherlands, despite being held to a shock draw in Estonia. Montenegro, who secured a useful point in Poland, were joined at the top of Group H by England, while Portugal, despite coming from behind to win in Northern Ireland, can still feel Russia breathing down their necks.

 

The next round of qualifying fixtures is scheduled for Tuesday 10 September.

 

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2169009/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_2

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The big match

 

Northern Ireland 2-4 Portugal

Goals: Gareth McAuley 36, Jamie Ward 52 (Northern Ireland); Bruno Alves 20, Cristiano Ronaldo 68 77 83 (Portugal)

The Portuguese knew that they had no option other than to win in Belfast. Following a six-goal thriller which featured three red cards and a performance of the highest quality from Cristiano Ronaldo, they duly accomplished their mission and held onto first place in Group F. In spite of a tireless and willing display from Michael O’Neill’s players, it was Portugal’s experience and composure that eventually made the difference over 90 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo did most of the damage for A Seleção das Quinas, scoring with two powerful headers and a slightly deflected free-kick. The Iberians maintain a two-point lead over Russia, but have played a game more than their nearest challengers.

 

The other games

 

Group A

 

FYR Macedonia 2-1 Wales

Scotland 0-2 Belgium

Serbia 1-1 Croatia

 

A Mario Mandzukic equaliser just before the hour-mark saved Croatia from defeat in Serbia, but it was not enough to prevent Belgium from opening up a five-point lead in Group A. Marc Wilmots’ charges were made to work hard against Scotland, without ever appearing to lose control of the match. Steven Defour and Kevin Mirallas notched the goals at Hampden Park, securing a result that will allow Les Diables Rouges to travel to Croatia next week with significantly less pressure on their shoulders.

 

Elsewhere, Wales, playing without recent Real Madrid recruit Gareth Bale, lost in Macedonia, who climb off the bottom of the section.

 

Group B

 

Czech Republic 1-2 Armenia

Italy 1-0 Bulgaria

Malta 1-2 Denmark

 

Despite the absence of six first-team stars through injury and suspension, Italy did just enough to see off Bulgaria, Alberto Gilardino scoring the only goal of a match in which Gianluigi Buffon put in a fine display. There is now a seven-point gap between Cesare Prandelli’s men and the chasing pack.

 

Armenia, meanwhile, gained revenge for the comprehensive 3-0 loss they had previously suffered at home to the Czech Republic by pulling off a surprising win in Prague. Karlen Mkrtchyan grabbed the opener for the visitors after half-an-hour with an eye-catching long-range effort. 13 years after his first cap, Tomas Rosicky provided the Czech fans with some hope in the second half, but Gevorg Ghazaryan sealed the points for Armenia in the final seconds of the encounter.

 

With Denmark having emerged victorious from their clash with Malta, there are now three teams bunched together on nine points behind the Bulgarians, who have ten. The race for the play-off spot looks like going down to the wire.

 

Group C

 

Kazakhstan 2-1 Faroe Islands

Republic of Ireland 1-2 Sweden

Germany 3-0 Austria

 

Germany recorded their sixth success of the campaign without ever having to dig too deep, as Miroslav Klose, Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller put Austria to the sword in Munich. While the Germans appear to have one foot in Brazil, Sweden took an important step towards second place and a play-off spot by triumphing 2-1 in Dublin through goals from Johan Elmander and Anders Svensson, cancelling out Robbie Keane’s 22nd-minute opener.

 

Group D

 

Romania 3-0 Hungary

Turkey 5-0 Andorra

Estonia 2-2 Netherlands

 

Estonia came desperately close to registering one of the greatest results in their history on Friday, but were denied by a stoppage-time Robin van Persie penalty. The Dutch were guilty of lifting their foot off the pedal after taking a first-minute lead through Arjen Robben. An inspired and motivated home side simply rolled their sleeves up and turned the match on its head via a brace from experienced Amkar Perm midfielder Konstantin Vassiljev, but in the end they were powerless to prevent the Netherlands’ 94th-minute equaliser.

 

Further down the table, Romania placed themselves in pole position for a potential play-off slot, disposing of Hungary courtesy of goals from Ciprian Marica, Mihai Mintilii and Critian Tanase, although Turkey, who put five past Andorra in Kayseri, are not mathematically out of the race for the runners-up berth just yet.

 

Group E

 

Norway 2-0 Cyprus

Switzerland 4-4 Iceland

Slovenia 1-0 Albania

 

Switzerland, who remain in control of Group E, were held at home by Iceland in a high-scoring and entertaining affair. The man of the match proved to be Icelandic winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who landed a hat-trick, the third goal of which earned a point for his team in injury time. Curiously, he had failed to find the net in eight previous international appearances.

 

In the group’s other fixtures, Albania were defeated in Slovenia and Norway overcame Cyprus, moving up into second position in the process.

 

Group F

 

Russia 4-1 Luxembourg

Israel-Azerbaijan (7 September)

 

The Russians, who had lost their last two games, bounced back to comfortably overpower Luxembourg and remain on course to catch leaders Portugal, who have played one game more.

 

Group G

 

Latvia 2-1 Lithuania

Liechtenstein 0-1 Greece

Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-1 Slovakia

 

Greece, via a Konstantinos Mitroglou goal, had a pleasing evening all round, as their victory coupled with the Bosnians’ reverse sees them join the group pacesetters on 16 points with three games left to play.

 

Slovakia’s rearguard held firm against Bosnia-Herzegovina’s usually rampant attack, and Viktor Pecovsky helped them to pocket all three points 13 minutes from time. The Slovakians, who still have to play the top two, may well end up in the role of kingmakers in group G.

 

Group H

 

Ukraine 9-0 San Marino

England 4-0 Moldova

Poland 1-1 Montenegro

 

Montenegro eked out a draw in Poland, where Robert Lewandowski cancelled out Dejan Damjanovic’s opener, but now find themselves below England on goal difference following the Three Lions’ solid outing versus Moldova, in which stalwarts Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were particularly impressive.

 

England’s upcoming opponents Ukraine now sit just one point further back after dismantling San Marino 9-0, in a game that featured eight different goalscorers.

 

Group I

 

Georgia 0-0 France

Finland 0-2 Spain

 

It now appears likely that the French will have to reach Brazil 2014 via the play-offs, following their 0-0 draw with a resilient Georgian team. Despite dominating possession, Les Bleus struggled to find a way past Giorgi Loria, who was outstanding between the sticks for the home side. France have now gone 479 minutes without scoring a goal, a new record.

 

World champions Spain, who included Iker Casillas in goal, had no such problems in Finland, claiming victory with goals from Jordi Alba and Alvaro Negredo.

 

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2169009/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_2

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Colombia on brink after Ecuador win

 

Colombia edged to the brink of their first FIFA World Cup™ since 1998 on Friday, securing a 1-0 win over Ecuador in a rain-delayed game disrupted by a half-time floodlight failure.

 

A first-half goal by Monaco striker James Rodriguez secured all three points for the Colombians, who are now guaranteed at least a play-off spot from South America's nine-team qualifying competition.

 

The victory put Jose Pekerman's team level with Argentina on 26 points at the top of the standings and both sides could even book their places at next year's finals in Brazil later Friday if other results go their way.

 

Ecuador however, who were reduced to ten-men early in the game when Gabriel Achilier was dismissed, could have snatched an unlikely draw if captain Walter Ayovi had not missed a second-half penalty.

 

A pre-match deluge at Barranquilla's Estadio Metropolitano had appeared to leave the game in jeopardy at one point, with parts of the field covered in large pools of water as the rain tumbled down. However the stadium ground staff worked ferociously to clear the excess water and after a 90-minute delay, Brazilian referee Heber Lopes got proceedings under way.

 

A lacklustre opening period saw neither side manage to gain control of the contest, and it was Ecuador who went closest to scoring when Jefferson Montero's swerving shot effort was punched away by Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina in the 18th minute.

 

But the complexion of the game changed decisively on the half-hour mark when Ecuador were reduced to ten men, Achilier sent off for bringing down Colombia's Teofilo Gutierrez as he sprinted clear on goal. The dismissal seemed to energise the Colombians and within a minute they had taken the lead through Monaco youngster Rodriguez.

 

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2168966/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_3

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Guest howyousawtheworld

Would rather take out my eyeballs with an ice cream scoop and serve it with a cone with chocolate sauce than watch another second of Roy Hodgson's England team. What an utterly dire manager he is.

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RVP fires Netherlands to Brazil

 

Robin Van Persie ensured the Netherlands qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ from Group D with a 2-0 win over Andorra. The striker scored a quick-fire brace in the second half as Louis van Gaal's side claimed a win that will take them through following Romania's defeat by Turkey.

 

The win means the Dutch finished the night on 22 points - nine clear of both Romania and Turkey following the latter's 2-0 win in Bucharest and eight ahead of Hungary, who are in second place with 14.

 

The Netherlands always dominated the game and their first chance came in the ninth minute when Jeremain Lens' 25-yard effort was saved comfortably by Andorra goalkeeper Ferran Pol. Stijn Schaars then tested the home side's defence with an inswinging corner, which forced a clearance from Emili Garcia.

 

The Andorra defender then made a nuisance of himself at the other end, when his header from a corner went over the bar. Wesley Sneijder then missed a chance to put the Oranje ahead when he shot wide from close range before he fired over the bar from distance on the half-hour mark.

 

Van Persie saw an effort from a free-kick go wide before Andorra had some more defending to do at the set-piece, denying Schaars and Sneijder from two corners. Ildefons Lima stood firm in Andorra's defence, making several clearances to ensure the two sides met the half-time whistle locked at 0-0.

 

However, the scores did not remain tied for long in the second half thanks to Manchester United striker Van Persie, who linked up with Kevin Strootman for the opening goal. Strootman fired in a cross from the right wing and Van Persie delivered, scoring from 25-yards in the 50th minute.

 

Netherlands keeper Michel Vorm was called into action a couple of minutes later when he punched Marc Pujol Pons's corner clear, but it was Van Persie who found the back of the net again just five minutes after his first score. Andorra goalkeeper Pol fumbled Darryl Janmaat's cross and the ball fell to Van Persie, who slotted the ball into the goal from close range.

 

The visitors continued to go for the jugular, with Sneijder seeing another attempt from 20 yards saved by Pol before Lens put a shot wide. Lens had another strike punched to safety by Pol in the 65th minute and Van Persie saw his attempt for a hat-trick go begging when he pushed the ball wide from the middle of the area. Pol then saved a Van Persie header before he again denied Lens from inside the six-yard box.

 

That proved to be the last real chance on goal for the visitors, but a two-goal win proved to be enough to book their place at Brazil 2014.

 

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2169543/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption

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Italian fightback seizes Brazilian ticket

 

Italy secured qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ after overturning a first-half deficit against Czech Republic to prevail 2-1. AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 54th minute, after Giorgio Chiellini's header two minutes earlier had levelled Libor Kozak's superb opener for Michal Bilak's visitors, who finished the game with ten men.

 

With home goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon equalling Fabio Cannavaro's all-time national record of 136 caps, there was a party atmosphere at his home Juventus Stadium. But a reality check came in the 19th minute when Kozak sent a superb first-time half-volley past Buffon, after Petr Jiracek ran unchallenged down the left flank to whip in a perfect cross for the big striker.

 

Italy's unexpected half-time deficit was made more dramatic given their early domination, and Balotelli's failure to convert several clear-cut chances. Balotelli collected Marek Suchy's poor clearance after Christian Maggio's timely intervention, but saw his strike from 20 yards parried by an alert Petr Cech.

 

Five minutes later Balotelli hit the crossbar from six yards out after the ball fell at his feet following a deep cross from the left. The Milan striker's woes continued when he snatched a rebound from the hands of Cech six yards out only to sky his effort over the bar, and missed a more difficult chance two minutes later from Daniele De Rossi's flick-on.

 

Balotelli appeared to vent his frustration by stamping on defender Tomas Sivok on the half-hour, and was promptly cautioned. And he missed another golden chance to draw Italy level, but this time the hands of Cech were a match for the striker's close-range header following Andrea Pirlo's superb cross-field ball to the back post.

 

Before the interval, Antonio Candreva was unlucky to see his long-range drive tipped wide by an alert Cech. But Italy were lucky not to concede a second as David Limbersky's dummy from a cross deep on the right allowed Kozak a first-time shot which sailed just over Buffon's crossbar on the stroke of half-time.

 

Prandelli kept faith with Balotelli at the start of the second half, having replaced deep-lying forward Emanuele Giaccherini with Southampton's Pablo Osvaldo and seconds after kick-off he tested Cech with a long-range effort.

 

Moments later Italy levelled, Juventus defender Chiellini rising to meet Candreva's corner to score in his home stadium.

 

Italy's Brazil 2014 hopes then increased significantly when Balotelli won a penalty following a crude challenge by Theodor Gebre Selassie and promptly stepped up to coolly beat Cech at the keeper's right post.

 

Italy, however, were kept on their toes and almost paid for slack defending just after the hour when Ondrej Banek's angled shot from the left crept past Buffon's far post as the goalkeeper looked on.

 

Two minutes later Buffon got down low to smother after Jiracek held off the Italian defence to unleash from 15 yards out.

 

Czech second-half substitute Daniel Kolar saw red just before full-time after receiving a second yellow card.

 

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2169534/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_4

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