World Cup and European leagues

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

England opens with a monster first half, only to give away the farm in the second.  There's very little hope of them making the Euro tournament now.  A huge failure for a squad that was really starting to find their own way.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Sure it was a friendly, but the US beat a solid (not stellar) Swiss squad on European soil today thanks mainly to the contributions of players under 25 years old.

Switzerland was down all-world striker Hans Frei (who may or may not still be competing internationally), but it was still a victory the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time.

The US just does not win in Europe.  Big time performance from the crew.

[sac]

European Championship Qualifying : Group E Table
17 October 2007 20:53
     PTS
1 Croatia  26
2 England  23
3 Russia  21
4 Israel 17
5 FYR Macedonia  11
6 Estonia  4
7 Andorra 0

Top 2 advance
 

Croatia need just one point from their remaining two games to qualify. Russia will qualify if they win their remaining two games, while England, who play Croatia at Wembley in their last game, need Russia to slip up.

Russia play Israel and Andorra.....so you can chalk up the win vs Andorra.  England need a win over Croatia

Croatia play FYR Macedonia and England.

[Hoosier Titan]

Just finished watching "Match of the Day" on the BBC.  A Russian guy at the pub tonight told me he thought the match should have been a draw and that seems about right.  Actually England seems to have played better for most of the game, but they just fell apart for five  minutes after the Rooney penalty (a really bad call, but that happens).  The defense looked stunned, and that left a shaky keeper open to attack for the second Russian goal.

Actually, assuming England fails to qualify for Euro 2008 (which seems likely), it won't be due to this game--it will be because of the earlier ties with Macedonia and Israel.  And McClaren is probably history.

[sac]

If there's an upside, Liverpool might be able to concentrate on the EPL more.

But yikes!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Not a good night for Liverpool, but perhaps better than Valencia, who lost to Rosenborg!

[Browneagle64]

Congratulations to former U-17  Coach John Hackworth who was just named assistant Coach of U.S. Men's National Team. With Coach Hackworth's experience with youth, i am sure coach bradely will be suprised on how his assistant will get all the young guns on the MNT ready for World Competition.     
 

[Browneagle64]

Great news for Brasil in finally getting the Nod to host the 2014 FIFA world cup. Boy, will it be awesome to visit that country during that time and see how they party (especially to see the love that they have for their National team and of course the hot women)

[Stinger]

Great news for Brasil in finally getting the Nod to host the 2014 FIFA world cup. Boy, will it be awesome to visit that country during that time and see how they party (especially to see the love that they have for their National team and of course the hot women)

Great news for Brazil, but they have a heckuva lot of work to do based on this commentary from Tim Vickery:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/tim_vickery/10/30/brazil.bid/index.html

[sac]

I think they're still further along than South Africa.

[Hoosier Titan]

Liverpool finally won in a cup competition, dispatching Robbie Fowler and Cardiff to reach the final eight in the Carling Cup.  Not a good run by the Reds over the past couple of weeks, but they have been fighting injuries, with Torres and Alonso going down (again) on Sunday.  Looks as though Alonso has broken (or re-broken) a metatarsal, while Torres seems to have aggravated a groin pull that was thought to be healed.  We go to Anfield a week from Sunday, so it's highly unlikely we'll see Torres on the pitch.  There is a slight hope that Daniel Aggar will be back by then--welcome news with the bad spell Sami Hyypia's game has taken. 

I didn't see Match of the Day over the weekend; evidently both sides played well when Arsenal came to town.  Both the Gerrard and Fabregas goals sounded well earned and well taken.

The weather here in London is cool--highs in the 50s and lows in the 40s--and being outside for a game in Liverpool should be pretty pleasant.  Here's a link to a good column about Rafa Benitez's policy of rotating players:
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/NG157492071030-1502.htm

I'll be sure to post about the Liverpool-Fulham match and what the scene in the stands at Anfield is like.

[ScotsFan]

I didn't see Match of the Day over the weekend; evidently both sides played well when Arsenal came to town.  Both the Gerrard and Fabregas goals sounded well earned and well taken.

I'll be sure to post about the Liverpool-Fulham match and what the scene in the stands at Anfield is like.

Thanks for the updates Hoosier.  I was able to watch that Liverpool-Arsenal match and it was indeed a very good match.  I do think that Liverpool was fortunate to escape with a draw though.  Arsenal missed two opportunites with an open net on rebound chances.  Fabregas was involved in both.  He missed the net entirely on a rebound opportunity and later he fired a laser that hit the post and the rebound (I can't recall who it was) was missed badly once again. 

Not to take anything away from Liverpool, they had some chances as well.  Arsenal's keeper made a couple of nifty saves on a couple of rockets of the feet of Gerrard and Crouch to preserve the draw on his end as well!

[Hoosier Titan]

Finally, some joy for Liverpool!  It's hard to believe they lost to Besiktas two weeks ago.  There was a hat trick from Jossi Benayoun and two goals each from Peter Crouch, but it was really a team effort.  The play up the right side was fantastic--Benayoun was at right wing--and Andriy Voronin had the most productive game I've ever seen from a striker who didn't score.  His play was unselfish and spot on. 

For those who might not have seen the news, the 8-0 score was a record margin of defeat for a Champions League match, just passing the 7-0 margin Arsenal recently racked up.  So, over here, the chat boards are for the moment full of Reds supporters crowing and Arsenal supporters taunting.  Liverpool still need to beat Porto at Anfield and Marseille away to ensure qualification, after all.

Still, it was encouraging.  We leave for Liverpool Friday afternoon and our tickets aren't here yet; the agency promises they will be here by 1:00 pm tomorrow.  Think good thoughts for us, please!

[sac]

The 8-0 win give Liverpool a huge lead in the goal difference (now at +6 over marseille).  Its safe to say Marseille and Porto will beat Besiktas, Liverpool must win their final two and they'd scrape by on goal difference.

Quite a turnaround from 2 weeks ago, and not one you'd expect given how they've played the last month or so.

[Hoosier Titan]

Tickets arrived this afternoon!  We leave for Liverpool tomorrow noontime.  Dinner on the Albert Dock tomorrow night.  Saturday we visit the Slavery Museum (our daughter is doing U.S. History online here--her project is comparing the slave trade in Britain and the U.S.).  The Liverpool-Fulham match is at 5:15 Saturday.  Word is Fernando Torres will be available.  We're psyched!  I promise to report back no matter what the outcome, once we've returned to London Sunday night.