The surprises of spring

With qualification for the 2010 World Cup reaching its final stages teams with varying needs produced some unexpected results in October.
Needing only a draw to qualify, Slovakia were stunned 2-0 by visiting Slovenia but bounced back to win 1-0 in Poland and qualify for the finals. Bulgaria saw their hopes shattered 4-1 in Cyprus while England’s only defeat of their campaign gave Ukraine a place in the play-offs after following their 1-0 home win against the English with 6 goals in Andorra. Belgium enjoyed a 2-0 home win against Turkey but suffered a reversal in Tallinn at the hands of Estonia who had lost by the same score line at home to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Chile celebrated a place in the World Cup with a 4-2 victory in Colombia whose 2-0 win in Paraguay 4 days later was to no avail. Brazil who had already qualified, moved back into 2nd place in rankfootball.com after losing 2-1 in Bolivia and playing a goalless match at home to Venezuela. Denmark’s celebrations for qualification were dampened when Hungary scored the only goal of the match in Copenhagen, while Germany who had qualified by winning 1-0 in Russia needed a late goal to avoid defeat and draw 1-1 at home to Finland. Serbia lost 2-1 in Lithuania but had already qualified by thrashing Romania 5-0 four days earlier in Zagreb. Azerbaijan registered a rare away win with a 2-0 success over Liechtenstein. The USA booked a place in the finals with a 3-2 victory in Honduras, while in Africa, Ghana who are World Cup bound, lost 1-0 in Benin. A last minute penalty gave Uruguay a 2-1 win in Ecuador, but they could only reach the play-offs after losing 1-0 at home to Argentina who became the last South American team to gain automatic qualification. In the Asia/Oceania first leg play-off match New Zealand held Bahrain to a 0-0 draw in Manama.

September separates boys from men

A busy period at the beginning of September marked the end of the road for some of the weaker World Cup hopefuls while Brazil, Paraguay, England, Spain and Ghana made sur of qualification.

Poland were held 1-1 at home to Northern Ireland and suffered a demoralising 3-0 defeat in Slovenia 4 days later resulting in the dismissal of their coach Leo Beenhakker. Costa Rica were another team to have a miserable time losing 3-0 at home to Mexico and 1-0 away to El Salvador. Latvia’s shock 1-0 win in Israel was even more enjoyable as they not only overtook the Israelis but drew level on points with Greece who lost 2-0 in Switzerland. Luxembourg earned a goalless draw in Moldova and the Faroe Islands registered a rare win beating Lithuania 2-1 at home. Belgium continued their slide down the rankings losing 2-1 in Armenia while Austria returned from Romania with a creditable 1-1 draw, and a last minute goal gave Sweden a vital 2-1 win in Hungary. Kazakhstan recorded a 3-1 win away to Andorra and Russia enjoyed the same score-line in Wales while England crushed Croatia 5-1 at Wembley. In Africa Cameroon got back to winning ways with a 2-0 success over Gabon, and Malawi overcame Guinea 2-1 at home. In South America Chile dropped 2 points in their 2-2 draw at home to Venezuela while their closest rivals Ecuador lost 2-0 in Colombia before their 3-1 victory in Bolivia, and Uruguay suffered a setback losing 1-0 away to bottom team Peru. In friendly matches Cape Verde enjoyed a 2-0 win in Malta and New Zealand prepared for their play-off matches with a 3-1 victory in Jordan.