Northern Ireland-England

For the first time since 1972 Northern Ireland has defeated England, 1-0, on the European World Cup Group 6. The honour of defeating England is the main thing for the Irish, but the result is a serious set-back on English attempts to qualify for the World Cup, after Poland defeated Wales 1-0. Poland is now leading the group with 24 points, 5 more than England.

England may still win the group: with one match less and still to play against Poland, they continue to have the qualifying in their own hands. However, the English players will have to perform much better than they did tonight (and also recently in their pathetic 4-1 loss to Denmark). Poland has proven a strong team. After tonight's victory, the Polish are only one step away from Germany, and England will surely have to do their best (which will have to be far better than so far) to defeat them.

Uzbekistan or Bahrain?

Uzbekistan and Bahrain are playing two play-off matches to qualify for the World Cup in Germany. The winner after both games will be playing the number 4 of the CONCACAF qualifying group, currently Guatemala.
A couple of days ago, Uzbekistan defeated Bahrain 1-0 at home, but FIFA has now cancelled the result of that game. During the match, Uzbekistan had a penalty goal cancelled, due to the fact that a player ran into the penalty area at the moment of the kick. Very odd and unheard off, and Uzbekistan promptly protested in order to try to get a 2-0 victory awarded. Instead, the game will be re-played, something that oddly seems to the advantage of Bahrain...
But not withstanding this, I would like to know if we should expect to see the Japaneses referee, Mr. Yoshida at the World Cup next year...?

Teams bound for the World Cup in Germany

The World Cup in Germany is approaching. Some teams are almost surely qualified - like Ghana... Actually, there is still a largelly theoretical chance that Ghana will not qualify (a large victory to Congo against South Africa, and Ghana losing against Cape Verde).

But after this weekend's qualifiers we have nine teams who we will be sure to see next year in Germany:

• Germany: The hosts are not playing qualifiers, but are not overly scary, after losing to Slovakia.
• Argentina: Already been qualified for a couple of months, and losing to Paraguay changes nothing.
• Brazil: The defending champs made sure they would be in Germany by destroying Chile 5-0.
• USA: This will be the fifth world cup in a row for the North Americans, who defeated their Mexican arch-rivals 2-0 in Ohio last Saturday.
• Ukraine: This will be the first world cup for the Ukrainians, after a 1-1 with Georgia. That they are the first European team to qualify besides the hosts, is only the more impressive when seeing their qualifying group 2, with teams such as Turkey, Greece and Denmark.
• Japan: The Japanese are no surprise qualifiers in the Asian zone, and will be a welcome team in Germany.
• Iran: Trailing Japan in the Asian qualifiers Stage 3 Group B, the Iranians will make their first appearance since France 1998, when their most memorable moment was to defeat a weak US side.
• South Corea: One of the strongest Asian sides since their 1986 appearance, they will have to fight hard to defend their semifinal spot of the World Cup in 2002.
• Saudi Arabia: Surely won the Group A of the Asian qualifiers Stage 3 Group B in front of South Corea.

Other countries, like Mexico, Tunisia, Portugal, Uzbekistan or Cameroon, are only one step away from certain participation in the World Cup next year. Furthermore, Australia is sure to get (yet another) a chance against South America's number 5 team, after defeating Samoa 7-0 in the first play-off of the Oceania qualifying zone.

Germany! Ghana is coming!

Last night, I was at a concert at Accra's Independence Square, when I heard that Burkina Faso had defeated South Africa 3-1 in the African World Cup Qualifier Group 2. This meant that Ghana could qualify to the World Cup 2006 with a victory against Uganda at home in Kumasi.

I had been hoping for this moment for a while, and had been eagerly awaiting the moment Ghana would surely make it to their first World Cup ever. And this afternoon, the dream came true. Ghana defeated Uganda after a golden start, scoring 2 goals in the first twenty minutes of the match. It was obvious that the Black Stars did not want to leave anything to chance.
Ghana is now going to its first World Cup ever, and I am sure they will do well. They certainly have a team that anyone should fear.

In other groups of the African World Cup Qualifiers, things have become more tense: Ivory Coast surprisingly lost at home in Abidjan to a stubborn Cameroon team, who showed they want to qualify again. At the same time, Togo defeated Liberia, and is only a step away from qualifying. The same happens with Angola, who is being trailed by a desperate Nigerian side on second spot.

But the best is the Black Stars! I have been drinking Star beer to celebrate, and it will surely not be the last time the Ghanaians make the whole country proud!

Praise for a referee

I have never been much of a person to praise referees... I believe that in general, referees have been too afraid to admit mistakes, or been notably absent in the debate to suggest ways to improve the game itself.
However, a few days ago, a Dutch referee has stepped into the limelight. Rene Temmink recently stopped a game in the Dutch league between PSV Eindhoven and Den Haag, due to the racist chants of supporters.
That Mr. Temmink did this, shows him as a strong referee and a decent man, who wants to fight the scourge of racism in football with the means possible to him: refereeing. It is about time a referee decides to take a stand.
Furthermore, I can only commend Mr. Temmink on other issues as well. On a recent interview, he was positive on the use of cameras to assist referees: "The referee needs to be able to take the correct decision, and what could be better than a camera. If the assistant is in a position where he can see a monitor and tell whether a ball has crossed the line, then it can only help the referee."
I am extremely happy finally to hear a referee say this. I have always found it to be in the best interest of themselves!
It is the likes of Mr. Temmink which must improve the most beautiful game on Earth. Therefore, I can only nominate him for my football fanatic of the year number 5.