FIFA 2010 Qualifiers
Happy are the teams who validated their tickets to the first ever WorldCup to be hosted in a African country : SouthAfrica 2010 :
Let's see first, the central and south american teams who will be in part of the South African venture !! :
alification with a 3-2 win over Honduras, but Bob Bradley's side did enjoy the luxury of having a game to spare.
> Mexico made sure of their 14th appearance at the finals with a game to spare after a comprehensive 4-1 victory over El Salvador
> Chile reached South Africa courtesy of a 4-2 victory over Colombia
> Paraguay secured their place at a fourth-straight World Cup finals with two games to spare after a 1-0 win over Argentina.
> Brazil are the only team to have appeared in every World Cup finals and they made sure that record would continue in the best possible fashion, beating their bitter rivals Argentina 3-1 on their home turf.
> Guess what ? Argentina benefited from Colombia's 2-0 victory over Ecuador on Saturday because had Ecuador won, it would have moved them up to fourth. But still, Maradona team has to succeed in their final game this wednesday !!
Old Europa :
> Italy sealed the chance to defend their world title in South Africa in dramatic fashion, equalising in the last minute in Ireland to snatch a 2-2 draw and top spot in Group Eight.
> Serbia beat Romania 5-0 in Belgrade to earn automatic qualification for the 2010 World Cup as unassailable leaders of European qualifying Group Seven.
> Denmark reached their first major tournament since the 2004 European Championship courtesy of a 1-0 win over Sweden in Copenhagen
> Germany have not missed a World Cup finals since 1950 and that record was extended as they booked their place with a 1-0 win away to their group rivals Russia.
> Spain matched the feats of England and Netherlands, qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with two qualifying group matches to spare thanks to a workmanlike 3-0 defeat of Estonia in Merida.
> England swept into the finals with a 5-1 rout of Croatia, their eighth victory in eight Group Six matches, as Fabio Capello's side ensured their progress to the finals with two matches to spare.
> Netherlands won 2-1 away to Iceland to become the first European side to qualify for next summer's tournament.
hey, guess what : France, Portugal, Sweden are still not qualified !! the France's 5-0 win over the Faroe Islands gave them a play-off spot.. but Portugal and Sweden have a last final battle this coming wednesday !!
Africa Represents :
> Ivory Coast drew 1-1 with Malawi in Blantyre to become the second African side to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from the qualifiers.
> Ghana defeated Sudan 2-0 in Accra to become the first African side to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from the qualifiers
> South Africa, is already qualified as they will host the first ever worldcup in Africa
Asian Domination :
> Iran's failure to defeat South Korea in Seoul earlier in the day meant North Korea only needed to draw in their final group match against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. They did exactly that, with a 0-0 result, putting them into their first World Cup finals since 1966.
> The South Koreans secured a seventh successive World Cup finals place thanks to a 2-0 victory over United Arab Emirates in Dubai
> Australia eased into the World Cup without so much as even conceding a goal in the six matches it took them to qualify.
> Takeshi Okada's Japan became the first team to book their place after earning a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
The question is, what would be a Worldcup without its bestplayers: Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema....
