|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
|
 Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject: Croatia, England to meet in WC qualifying |
 |
|
| Quote: |
DURBAN, South Africa - England will play Croatia in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, the team that stopped it getting to the 2008 European Championship.
Defending champion Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands and European champion Greece all received comparatively easy groups when the qualifying draw was made Sunday, while France is in what looks like the toughest alongside Romania and Serbia.
The 53 European teams were divided into eight groups of six and one of five, and only the winners are sure to go to the June 11-July 11 tournament in South Africa. The best eight runners up go into playoffs to determine the other four spots.
Croatia beat England twice in qualifying for Euro 2008, and Wednesday's 3-2 victory at Wembley meant the English failed to qualify. Coach Steve McClaren was fired the following day.
The other teams in World Cup Group 6 are Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra.
France, which won the World Cup in 1998 and was runner up last year, will meet Lithuania, Austria and the Faeroe Islands, as well as Romania and Serbia.
Italy, which won its fourth World Cup last year, will be confident of finishing top against Bulgaria, Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro in Group 8.
Three-time World Cup champion Germany will play Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein in Group 4.
Greece, which defends its European title next year, must play Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg in Group 2.
Spain, which has never won the World Cup, faces Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia and Estonia.
Group 1 has Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania and Malta, and Group 3 is Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia and San Marino.
In the only group with five teams, the Netherlands will be pleased to draw Scotland, Norway, Macedonia and Iceland, although the Scots beat France home and away in Euro 2008 qualifying.
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
tomwaits
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Location: PC Bong
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Funny how these things go , like Sven drawing Sweden in 2 WC's. I think Croatia would have preferred anyone but England out of Pot B but you never know what will happen.
Notice in Asia the 2 Koreas are grouped together. That might get interesting. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
England is indeed in trouble.
The Czechs and Japan have it easiest. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| VanIslander wrote: |
England is indeed in trouble.
The Czechs and Japan have it easiest. |
With decent management England should qualify every time for a major tournament. McLaren did a Taylor and screwed up an easy qualifying group. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 5:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| England is indeed in trouble. |
With decent management England should qualify every time for a major tournament. |
Croatia is Top-10 in FIFA rankings, England is not.
Though you can argue your team is underrated, the fact is they don't have it easy. Good luck! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| VanIslander wrote: |
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| England is indeed in trouble. |
With decent management England should qualify every time for a major tournament. |
Croatia is Top-10 in FIFA rankings, England is not.
Though you can argue your team is underrated, the fact is they don't have it easy. Good luck! |
No denying that Croatia are a very good team and that England will not have it easy. Just saying that qualification should be a minimum requirement. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 5:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| England is indeed in trouble. |
With decent management England should qualify every time for a major tournament. |
Croatia is Top-10 in FIFA rankings, England is not.
Though you can argue your team is underrated, the fact is they don't have it easy. Good luck! |
No denying that Croatia are a very good team and that England will not have it easy. Just saying that qualification should be a minimum requirement. |
On the contrary, England are hugely overrated. Let's be realistic and forget about winning major tournaments. It won't happen for a long time. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SarcasmKills
Joined: 07 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| cj1976 wrote: |
On the contrary, England are hugely overrated. Let's be realistic and forget about winning major tournaments. It won't happen for a long time. |
Of course they are over-rated, but it's very possible for England to turn things around IMO.
After all, If Greece can win the Euros, anything is possible. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Is Ukraine good enough to steal second place in the group? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| SarcasmKills wrote: |
| cj1976 wrote: |
On the contrary, England are hugely overrated. Let's be realistic and forget about winning major tournaments. It won't happen for a long time. |
Of course they are over-rated, but it's very possible for England to turn things around IMO.
After all, If Greece can win the Euros, anything is possible. |
Anything is possible of course, but when Greece won the Euros, it was partly down to the 'bigger' teams misfiring. They played a solid defensive game and capitalized on the opposition mistakes. Not exciting, but ultimately effective. I simply cannot imagine an English team being that disciplined. Look at the way some Premiership teams play. End-to-end, kick and run. Very exciting to watch, but very undisciplined. English fans often slate the Italian Serie A because it is 'too boring'. But at least Italians enjoy a fairly consistent level of success. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| cj1976 wrote: |
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| England is indeed in trouble. |
With decent management England should qualify every time for a major tournament. |
Croatia is Top-10 in FIFA rankings, England is not.
Though you can argue your team is underrated, the fact is they don't have it easy. Good luck! |
No denying that Croatia are a very good team and that England will not have it easy. Just saying that qualification should be a minimum requirement. |
On the contrary, England are hugely overrated. Let's be realistic and forget about winning major tournaments. It won't happen for a long time. |
Read again, nowhere did I say winning should be the goal (although it would be a laudible thing to aim for under a competant national structure and with the right coach). I simply said qualifying should be a minimum benchmark. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| cj1976 wrote: |
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| jaganath69 wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| England is indeed in trouble. |
With decent management England should qualify every time for a major tournament. |
Croatia is Top-10 in FIFA rankings, England is not.
Though you can argue your team is underrated, the fact is they don't have it easy. Good luck! |
No denying that Croatia are a very good team and that England will not have it easy. Just saying that qualification should be a minimum requirement. |
On the contrary, England are hugely overrated. Let's be realistic and forget about winning major tournaments. It won't happen for a long time. |
Read again, nowhere did I say winning should be the goal (although it would be a laudible thing to aim for under a competant national structure and with the right coach). I simply said qualifying should be a minimum benchmark. |
Absolutely. I was referring more to the part about being underrated, but I totally agree with you. However, in recent years even qualifying has become uncertain. Remember David Beckham's heroics against Greece? English footy is in a real mess and I find it hard to believe that a change in management is the answer. The problem is at grass roots and club level, where the English style of play is now woefully outdated. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Axl Rose
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta
Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg
Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino
Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein
Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia
Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra
Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands
Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro
Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland
|
The Ukraine is always a potential banana skin and Croatia beat England twice, so yeah, it looks tricky, but really England will try and use the shame, the humiliation and disappointment of not qualifying for Euro '08 by being mega-fired-up for the World Cup qualifiers and I think this mental edge will see them win the group and qualify. Really, it's not that difficult a group. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta
Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg
Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino
Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein
Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia
Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra
Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands
Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro
Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland
|
Groups 1, 7 and 9 have to be considered the most difficult.
Easiest group is definitely group 2. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
artyom
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
| catman wrote: |
| Is Ukraine good enough to steal second place in the group? |
It's probably more a question of are England *beep* enough in 2 years time to fcuk up again |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
