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World Cup 2010 - South Africa is Coming


Renasko

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Gods, the US looked dire tonight. Mr. X and I were both cheered when Holden was brought on, though. He has consistently impressed in the last few matches.

And Argentina fall to Paraguay. That's gotta hurt.

We Really, REALLY need to avoid the playoff spot now and should be safe. We can play with house money in Honduras as all we need is a draw against collapsing Costa Rica in the final game at home.

Oh and we really need to see more Jose Francisco Torres, but we're still managed by Bob Bradley/

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Wow, Argentina really are in trouble now. With three teams that could still take the play-off spot from them, four points from the last two games could be too little to make it. And the last game is an away trip to Uruguay.

Well 4 points should be enough for Argentina to get a play off position given that Venezuela have to travel to Brazil (although, I doubt Argentina will like relying on Brazil. :P) and Argentina have a better goal difference than Colombia.

But still, shocking that Argentina couldn't manage even a draw in Paraguay. Paraguay are useful but when they chips were down, I would still have thought Argentina would do enough.

Russia/Germany are the only team I'd be really worried about.

Definitely the most ominious team but i'm sure everyone else would be delighted to get us too. :P But then, i'm feeling a little pessimistic right now...

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Group 9:

The Dutch beat Scotland for the second time, we now have the following group standing:

1. Netherlands 24

2. Norway 10

3. Scotland 10

4. Macedonia 7

5. Iceland 5

We've totally dominated this group, I say with some pride. We've played well, but it's not a tough group is it?

You don't see a tiny contradiction in being proud of dominating a group you think is weak? ;)

To be fair, it's not actually the weakest group - Groups 2 and 3 are significantly weaker IMO - but it is a group Scotland should have had no problem in finishing in second place. I was a big advocate of Burley's appointment, but I have to admit I was wrong. We have gone backwards. We played reasonably well last night, and the Dutch were lucky to get the win IMO, but there's no excuse for the 4-0 hounding in Norway, the home draw to Norway, or the loss to Macedonia. If you get results like that, a decent performance in a nothing game (that we still lost) doesn't matter.

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I can't believe argentina are struggling like this given the quality they have at their disposal. where's riquelme? higuain? milito?

and he same goes for france, really.

I believe they play in Uruguay on matchday 18. Theres a genuine chance Argentina doesn't even make the repcharje :stunned:

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You don't see a tiny contradiction in being proud of dominating a group you think is weak? ;)

To be fair, it's not actually the weakest group - Groups 2 and 3 are significantly weaker IMO - but it is a group Scotland should have had no problem in finishing in second place. I was a big advocate of Burley's appointment, but I have to admit I was wrong. We have gone backwards. We played reasonably well last night, and the Dutch were lucky to get the win IMO, but there's no excuse for the 4-0 hounding in Norway, the home draw to Norway, or the loss to Macedonia. If you get results like that, a decent performance in a nothing game (that we still lost) doesn't matter.

Bollocks.

And Mult, Riquelme is no longer a part of the Argentine regulars, and Higuain might still end up playing for France. Unless you're joking, I would rather look to players like Messi, Aguero, Gago etc.

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Bollocks.

What a devastatingly well put argument, I can find no flaw in its detailed logic. :P

I assume you're objecting to me writing off Norway, but the fact is that on recent form going into these qualifiers, that's not a particularly controversial opinion. Scotland had a better recent record. Norway just aren't what they used to be. I'm not suggesting that they were anything other than our main rivals for second, but should we have been capable of taking four points off your lot, rather than the other way around? I think most objective commentators would say 'yes'.

ETA - please note, I'm not disputing that in the event we were the worse team. The table doesn't lie. It's not as if you guys fluked that 4-0, either. We played badly and deserved to come third.

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The only reason Huigain is even considering playing for France, instead of Argentina, is due to Maradona ignoring him for squad selections. He's not the only one. Riquelme, however, won't play for him, because Maradona has critcised him one time too many, it seems.

Argentina are lucky Uruaguay dropped points at the weekend, or they'd be further down the fall. Still, the game against them will be as a good as a play-off match. Would expect Argentina to win. But with Maradona in charge, still?

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Ahh David Weir what were you thinking? :(

Concentration levels not what they once were. He never should have been lining up for Scotland last night. Though you were a bit stuck with Caldwell foolishly getting banned. Shame. I was thinking last night, while watching the game, about John Kennedy. Career killed by Mutu on his international debut. Shouldn't really be thinking about that anymore, but Scotland aren't exactly blessed with depth.

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Congrats England. Do you guys think Heskey should be playing? I listen to 606, and people moan about him nonstop. It does seem to go against Fabio's stated methods of choosing players who are in form for their clubs.

USA won today, and went top of CONCACAF. 1:0. I'd like for us to be more convincing. But 3 points is 3 points, i suppose. I wish CONCACAF were more exciting, but then I'd actually have to sweat qualification, which would suck, haha.

Argentina... yikes. Their last two fixtures don't look bad though. So you have to figure they'll pull at least into fourth. If they stay fifth though, and Costa Rica are 4th in CONCACAF, they won't get an easy run. Costa Rica have a very difficult home turf. It's this wretched artificial stuff.

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Concentration levels not what they once were. He never should have been lining up for Scotland last night.

It's easy to say that, but his concentration was just fine on Saturday. He's still got the ability to justify his selection ahead of players much younger than himself. One slip doesn't take that away.

Though you were a bit stuck with Caldwell foolishly getting banned.

Caldwell was available last night. He was only banned for Saturday.

Shame. I was thinking last night, while watching the game, about John Kennedy. Career killed by Mutu on his international debut. Shouldn't really be thinking about that anymore, but Scotland aren't exactly blessed with depth.

Kennedy was young, but his potential was enormous and obvious. That 'tackle' from Mutu probably ruined a career that would otherwise have been huge. :mad: Webster, on the other hand, just disappeared after the whole fuss about his contract. Self-destruction, I think. But we do have Berra, and Barr, and others coming through in the centre-back positions: it's just that sadly they weren't available this time.

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Gary Kenneth, Xander Diamond, Andy Webster, Christophe Berra, Darren Barr, Lee Wilkie. Scotland have plenty of centre backs. The only problem is that you have to play for the Ugly Sisters or an English team to get a place in the starting line-up.

It's the same for left-backs. Danny Fox joins Celtic and is immediately touted for a Scotland place because he has a Scottish grandparent, even though Lee Wallace, Charlie Mulgrew and Paul Dixon were excellent last season.

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Group 5:

Spain qualifies tonight. Bosnia holds off Turkey but Bosnia still has to play Spain.

Bosnia remain 4 points clear of Turkey though. While Bosnia do have Spain yet to go, their next game is against Estonia, whom they beat 7:0 last time. If Bosnia beat Estonia, then it won't matter what Turkey does, and they can afford to loose to Spain. Even if turkey got 6 points from their last two games, a Bosnian win at Estonia and a loss to Spain would see Bosnia in second by one point.

Also, it's not inconceivable that Bosnia could nick a point from Spain, who have nothing to play for. Bosnia is thoroughly in the drivers seat for second place playoff spot.

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Congrats England. Do you guys think Heskey should be playing? I listen to 606, and people moan about him nonstop. It does seem to go against Fabio's stated methods of choosing players who are in form for their clubs.

They're such different players it's a shame you have to make a one or the other choice. I can see why Capello kept faith with him until England qualified but I think Defoe has earned his place now. We'd lose a hard worker and a good support player but we'd gain a reliable goalscorer - ultimately that's what you need when you're playing the best in the world.

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Could've sworn it was Mutu.

Gary Kenneth, Xander Diamond, Andy Webster, Christophe Berra, Darren Barr, Lee Wilkie. Scotland have plenty of centre backs. The only problem is that you have to play for the Ugly Sisters or an English team to get a place in the starting line-up.

It's the same for left-backs. Danny Fox joins Celtic and is immediately touted for a Scotland place because he has a Scottish grandparent, even though Lee Wallace, Charlie Mulgrew and Paul Dixon were excellent last season.

They pick players that play for the english clubs and the old firm, for a reason.

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