The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #160

Grounds for sharing
25 Instances Of European Football Clubs Sharing A Stadium

1. SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK (UPC-Arena, Austria)
2. Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge (Jan Breydel Stadium, Belgium)
3. FC Inter and Turun Palloseura (Veritas Stadion, Finland)
4. Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich (Allianz Arena, Germany)
5. AEK Athens and Panathinaikos (Olympic Stadium, Greece)
6. Galway United and Mervue United (Terryland Park, Ireland)
7. Milan and Inter (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza 'San Siro', Italy)
8. Roma and Lazio (Stadio Olimpico, Italy)
9. Chievo and Verona (Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Italy)
10. Genoa and Sampdoria (Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Italy)
11. Juventus and Torino (Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Italy)
12. Atalanta and AlbinoLeffe (Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Italy)
13. Lyn and Skeid (Bislett Stadion, Norway)
14. Louletano DC and SC Farense (Estádio Algarve, Portugal)
15. Torpedo Moscow and Spartak Moscow (Luzhniki Stadium, Russia)
16. Dynamo Moscow and CSKA Moscow (Dynamo Stadium, Russia)
17. FC Ljubljana and NK Interblock (ZSD Ljubljana, Slovenia)
18. Hércules CF and Alicante CF (José Rico Pérez, Spain)
19. IFK Norrköping and IK Sleipner (Idrottsparken, Sweden)
20. IFK Göteborg, GAIS and Örgryte IS (Gamla Ullevi, Sweden)
21. IF Elfsborg and Norrby IF (Borås Arena, Sweden)
22. Halmstads BK and IS Halmia (Örjans vall, Sweden)
23. FC Zürich and Grasshopper-Club Zürich (Letzigrund, Switzerland)
24. Altay and Göztepe (İzmir Atatürk Stadyumu, Turkey)
25. Dynamo Kyiv and Arsenal Kyiv (Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Ukraine)

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #152

Still packing 'em in...
The 14 Non-Top Flight European Clubs With The Highest Average Attendance Figures Last Season

1. Kaiserslautern (Fritz Walter Stadion) 34,425
2. Nuremberg (Frankenstadion) 33,624
3. Lens (Stade Félix-Bollaert) 29,842
4. Derby County (Pride Park Stadium) 29,204
5. Middlesbrough (Riverside Stadium) 28,429
6. 1860 Munich (Allianz Arena) 28,112
7. Sheffield United (Bramall Lane) 26,023
8. Norwich City* (Carrow Road) 24,543
9. Nantes (Stade de la Beaujoire) 24,138
10. Leeds United* (Elland Road) 23,813
11. West Bromwich Albion (The Hawthorns) 22,311
12. Sheffield Wednesday (Hillsborough) 21,542
13. Ipswich Town (Portman Road) 20,961
14. Charlton Athletic (The Valley) 20,894

* denotes a team from a country's third tier

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #146

The enemy within
14 European Teams That Aren't Affiliated With FIFA

1. Anglesey
2. Aragon
3. Basque Country
4. Brittany
5. Catalonia
6. Corsica
7. Gibraltar
8. Guernsey
9. Jersey
10. Kosovo
11. Madeira
12. Monaco
13. Shetland
14. Vatican City

World Cup Update Part 1: Europe

The good ship World Cup is almost ready to set sail for South Africa and the penultimate round of qualifiers ensured eight more countries secured their berth for 2010. Here's how they got there starting off with our first update from

Europe
Reigning champions Italy confirmed they'll be defending their title next year, but only thanks to a last-minute equaliser by Alberto Gilardino in Dublin. Ireland almost took all three points against the Italians when Middlesbrough's Sean St Ledger put his side 2-1 up with three minutes to go, but the Juventus winger slotted the ball home in the 90th minute to see his side go through to the Finals automatically.

All is not lost for Ireland, however. With a little assistance from Cyprus who amazingly beat Bulgaria 4-1 (Dimitar Berbatov getting the goal for his team), Giovanni Trapattoni's men are now assured of a play-off place, if not a place in the Finals.

Germany, hosts last time around, showed they hadn't forgotten how to qualify the hard way when they beat Russia 1-0 in Moscow. Aiming to protect their record of never having been beaten in a World Cup qualifier away from home, the Germans were matched stride for stride by the Russians - the only other realistic qualifier from Group 4. In the end, a 35th minute goal from Miroslav Klose proved enough to send the Germans through and the Russians into the play-offs.

In Group 1, a goal from Jakob Poulsen eleven minutes from time gave Denmark a 1-0 win over Sweden and assured the Danes of a place at World Cup 2010. Sweden's defeat means they slip to third place in the group after Portugal moved up to second on the back of a 3-0 win over Hungary. Cristiano Ronaldo picked up an ankle injury in the match and looks set to miss their vital last match against Malta which they'll need to win to confirm a place in the play-offs.

Serbia are the other surprise qualifier from Europe. They're confirmed as Group 7 champions after a 5-0 thumping of Romania while France took their place in the play-offs by beating the Faroe Islands by the same scoreline. Andre-Pierre Gignac of Toulouse scored two of the goals, the others coming courtesy of Karim Benzema, William Gallas and Nicolas Anelka.

Elsewhere, Slovenia put Slovakia's party celebrations on hold in Group 3 by beating the leaders 2-0. With the Czech Republic doing likewise against Poland, it means Slovakia are assured of a play-off spot at the very least while the Czechs must beat Northern Ireland in their last match and hope Slovenia lose to San Marino if they're to go through. 'Unlikely' doesn't even come close.

Switzerland and Greece maintained positions one and two in Group 2 having won their respective games at the weekend. The Swiss cruised to a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg and the Greeks smashed Latvia 5-2 (four of their goals coming from Bayer Leverkusen striker Theofanis Gekas). Israel moved up to third in the group after beating Moldova 3-1, which effectively snuffs out any chance the Latvians have of qualifying in realistic terms.

All of that means Switzerland will get at least a play-off place although a draw against Israel in their last match will secure automatic qualification. If the Swiss lose and Greece beat Luxembourg, the Greeks will take top spot instead. We could go on talking about the numerous permutations, but needless to say a defeat for Israel will see their chances of qualifying end right there and then.

The remaining news from Saturday's action concerns teams aiming for play-off places. Ukraine's 1-0 defeat over England in Group 6 puts them in the best position for securing second spot with only a win against Andorra on Wednesday needed to stop Croatia getting it instead. In Group 5, however, Turkey lost the chance to get a play-off place after a 2-0 defeat away to Belgium. Second place instead goes to Bosnia-Herzegovina who beat Estonia 2-0 in Tallinn.

Full results and tables available here. More from the weekend's World Cup qualifiers coming soon...

World Cup Round-Up: Part 1 - Europe

As the World Cup qualifiers creep tantalisingly towards their conclusion, you can sense the growing excitement as teams from around the world step up their campaigns or crack under the pressure.

Yesterday's matches threw up some fascinating results, so let's take a check on the movers and shakers in the race for South Africa 2010.

Europe

Spain all but sealed their place in the finals last night with a 5-0 thrashing of Belgium in Group 5. It was one-way traffic throughout in La Coruna and the Spaniards could have had plenty more goals besides if it weren't for some poor finishing, not to mention some good goalkeeping on the part of Jean-François Gillet in the Belgian goal.

In fact it was Gillet who saved a David Villa penalty in the 22nd minute, but that was a rare high point for Belgium who capitulated in no uncertain terms under the weight of a relentless attack by the European champions.

The damage was done in the opening exchanges of the second half when Villa and Gerard Pique added two to David Silva's goal just before the break, but Silva and Villa went on to pick up a second goal each later in the half to complete a comprehensive win for Spain.

If Turkey can grab at least a draw against second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday, Vicente Del Bosque's side will know that a win at home to Estonia later in the evening will secure their spot in the Finals. You'd have to say that only the most unforeseen of disasters will prevent that happening now that Spain have won their seventh straight win in the qualifying competition.

In Group 3, Northern Ireland picked up a vital point in their 1-1 draw away to Poland last night. Nigel Worthington's men remain in second spot, just two points behind leaders Slovakia but crucially three points ahead of Poland and Slovenia with only a few games left to play. Northern Ireland looked to be taking all three points after Kyle Lafferty's well taken goal went in after 37 minutes, but somewhat under the cosh they conceded an equaliser with ten minutes remaining through Mariusz Lewandowski.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic played out a 2-2 draw yesterday, a result which leaves the Czechs fifth in their group and needing to win all three of their remaining games if they're to qualify. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, play Slovakia on Wednesday knowing that a win will put them top of the table with one game remaining.

In Group 1, Portugal returned to their faltering ways with a frustrating 1-1 draw against Denmark. Brazilian-born Liedson snatched the vital equaliser for Portugal with four minutes remaining after Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner had put the Danes in front just before half time. Were it not for that, the Portuguese would be all but out of the running for a place in the finals. As it is, they now need to pick up at least four points from their next two games - both against Hungary - before ending their campaign with what should be a win at home to Malta in mid-October.

Denmark are now four points clear of the chasing pack, led by Hungary who lost 2-1 at home to third-placed Sweden.

In Group 4, Russia virtually cemented their spot as one of the best runners-up by easily beating Liechtenstein 3-0 - Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko bagging a brace in the process. Russia remain in second place, five points ahead of Finland with three games left to play.

The race for the runners-up spot behind England in Group 6 is hotting up nicely after Croatia could only scrape a 1-0 win at home to Belarus while Ukraine thrashed Andorra 5-0. Andriy Shevchenko was one of three players to score from the penalty spot in Kiev and with a game in hand, that result means Croatia will need a favourable result against England on Wednesday just to stand a chance of finishing second in the group.

The Republic of Ireland remain unbeaten in Group 8 after a nervy 2-1 win in Cyprus. Kevin Doyle's fifth-minute strike was equalised on the half-hour mark, but it wasn't until Robbie Keane grabbed Ireland's second seven minutes from time that could think about picking up all three points.

Italy remain top of the group, one point ahead of the Irish and with a game in hand, following their scrappy 2-0 win in Georgia. Italy play host to third-placed Bulgaria on Wednesday while Ireland play their penultimate game at home to the Italians on October 10th. Though the Irish have a five point lead over Bulgaria, we're inclined to think that Bulgaria could pick up the points they need in their remaining games. That means Ireland's home tie against Montenegro on October 14th will be the one Trappatoni's men will really need to win, unless they can fashion a remarkable win over Italy, that is.

Elsewhere, Scotland picked up a valuable 2-0 win over Macedonia in Group 9 to keep alive their slim hopes of a place in South Africa. Scott Brown and James McFadden were on hand to secure the points for the Scots who were aided by the inability of challengers Norway to beat Iceland in their 1-1 draw in Reykjavik.

Despite their win, Scotland know their chances of qualifying could will be given a huge boost by beating the Netherlands in their last match on Wednesday. The Dutch are one of the small handful of teams to have already qualified - a fact the Scots will hope contributes to their hosts putting in a less than comprehensive performance this week.

Finally, the French suffered a setback last night as they could only muster a 1-1 draw at home to Romania in Group 7. Thierry Henry put France ahead on 48 minutes but a Julien Escude own goal eight minutes later leaves Raymond Domenech's side four points adrift of group leaders Serbia and four ahead of third-placed Austria. France face both sides in their last three games and will need to play better than they did yesterday if they're to qualify.

Full results and standings from the Europe qualifying zone available here.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Round-up

South America

Brazil and Paraguay continue to travel in opposite directions following the former's 2-1 win over the latter in Recife yesterday.

With heavy rain pouring down constantly throughout, Salvador Cabanas managed to put the away side in front from a deflected free kick after 25 minutes but Robinho volleyed in an equaliser just before half time. Four minutes into the second half, former Lyon striker Nilmar scrambled in a second and that's the way it ended.

Brazil therefore stay top of the qualifying group by a single point, but Paraguay slip to third after Chile notched up another impressive win, 4-0 at home to Bolivia. A brace from Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez and one each from Jean Beausejour and Marco Estrada mean Marcelo Bielsa's side are now second in the group, two points ahead of the Paraguayans.

And there was a big shock in Quito where Argentina crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Ecuador. "They didn't do anything in the first half," said coach Diego Maradona. "In the second half, they got a couple of rebounds and they scored two goals. If we had scored a goal, it would have finished the game off." The trouble for Argentina was that they didn't - Carlos Tevez had a penalty saved in the first half and Lionel Messi was also guilty of missing some decent chances.

Walter Ayovi, however, was not nearly so wasteful as he struck a brilliant 25-yard effort into the top right-hand corner with 18 minutes remaining. When Pablo Palacios added a second eleven minutes later, it was game over for Argentina.



That win lifts Ecuador up to fifth place above Uruguay who drew 2-2 with Venezuela. Colombia are seventh in the table after a 1-0 win over Peru who suffered their eighth straight defeat in qualifying.

Europe

England made it seven wins out of seven following a comfortable 6-0 defeat of Andorra at Wembley last night. Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe provided two goals each while Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch picked up one apiece to leave England in with a chance of qualifying from Group 6 if they beat Croatia at Wembley in September.

Also in the same group, Ukraine beat Kazakhstan 2-1 thanks to two goals from Sergiy 'Cliff' Nazarenko. Kazakhstan had taken the lead after 19 minutes when Tanat Nusserbayev headed in but the Ukrainians (without star player and captain Andriy Shevchenko) battled back to go level on points with Croatia in third place.

In Group 4, Russia put the pressure back on leaders Germany with a convincing 3-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. With Guus Hiddink now devoid of any Chelsea commitments, his concentration was placed squarely on the Russian national team who are now just a point behind the Germans thanks to two goals from Dynamo Moscow forward Aleksandr Kerzhakov and one from Konstantin Zyrianov.

Elsewhere Sweden got their qualifying campaign back on track with a 4-0 win over Malta in Gothenburg. Kim Kallstrom and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were among the scorers as the Swedes drew level on points with Portugal in Group 1. In addition, the Dutch, who have already qualified from Group 9, reaffirmed their top billing with a 2-0 win at home to Norway while Macedonia beat Iceland 2-0 - both of which will give the Scots a little hope of getting the play-off berth in their group.

North and Central America

Javier Aguirre can finally celebrate a win for his Mexican side after a 2-1 victory at home to Trinidad and Tobago, but they didn't find it easy. Guillermo Franco scored after just one minute for El Tri, but with several chances missed the Soca Warriors equalised through Hayden Tinto at the end of the first half.



Three minutes into the second half, Oscar Rojas regained the lead for Mexico with a long-range effort and hung on uneasily for the win, although a return to third place in the group was prevented by a Honduran victory over El Salvador.

Carlos Pavon, Honduras' all-time leading scorer and star striker, hit the winning goal with a half-volley after just thirteen minutes in a bad tempered game that saw seven players receiving a yellow card. The win, however, means Honduras move up to third place in the hexagonal prior to an altogether more tricky game at home to group leaders Costa Rica in August. Also playing in Gameweek 6 are the United States who travel to Mexico and El Salvador who go to Trinidad and Tobago.

Asia

With three of the four automatic qualification places decided, the main focus in Asia now switches to Group 2 where the race for the remaining automatic spot is hotting up nicely.

While second-placed North Korea sat out yesterday's matches, Saudi Arabia drew level with them on points having fought out a tough 0-0 draw with South Korea. Iran picked up a vital 1-0 win over the UAE, who thus far have managed just one point from the 24 available, but their push for an automatic promotion place may have been left too late.

With North Korea and Saudi Arabia on 11 points and Iran on 10, Iran must beat South Korea in their final match next Wednesday and hope that Saudi Arabia and North Korea draw in order to go through. Anything less than a win for Iran will see their chance of gaining the third place play-off spot severely limited.

In Group 1, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia yesterday but remain on course for a play-off after Qatar could only draw 1-1 in Japan. That means Bahrain need only a draw in their final match against bottom-placed Uzbekistan next Wednesday to meet the team finishing third in Group 2.

The two-legged play-off for both of the third-placed teams will take place in early September and the winner of that will go on to play New Zealand in a further play-off nearer the end of the year.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Report: Europe

The Netherlands became the first European team to book their place at the 2010 World Cup Finals at the weekend after their 2-1 win over Iceland in Reykjavik. The Dutch maintained their 100% record in the campaign thanks to a goal apiece from Nigel De Jong and Mark Van Bommel, and it leaves them 11 points clear at the top of Group 9 ahead of Scotland who have a game in hand.

The next team to qualify, albeit not quite yet, could be England who also got their sixth win in six matches on Saturday. Their 4-0 win away to Kazakhstan started a little uncertainly and indeed they almost fell a goal behind inside 20 seconds, but goals from Barry, Heskey, Rooney and Lampard progressively settled the nerves and they now have a seven point lead in Group 6.

Both Croatia and Ukraine failed to keep up with Fabio Capello's men when they played out a 2-2 draw in Zagreb. Though Mladen Petric gave the home side the lead after two minutes, Ukraine fought back to be 2-1 up, thanks in part to an Andriy Shevchenko goal. All was not lost for Croatia, however, as Spurs' Luka Modric equalised with 68 minutes on the clock and the points were shared. With Belarus beating Andorra 5-1, Ukraine now find themselves down in fourth position while Croatia continue to lead the chasing pack behind England in second spot.

The Republic of Ireland lost the chance to go top of Group 8 after struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Bulgaria. Manchester City's Richard Dunne put the Irish in front after 24 minutes but Dimitar Tekiyski put the home side back on level terms five minutes later. A tough midfield battle ensued with the Bulgarians having much of the attacking play, but the game ended a draw which leaves Bulgaria still five points behind the Irish in the group table, albeit with a game in hand.

Serbia continue to fly high at the top of Group 7 after their 1-0 over Austria. Only a seventh minute Nenad Milijas penalty separated the teams in Belgrade, but it means Serbia increase their lead over second-placed France to five points.

Group 1 saw Denmark take advantage of a missed penalty early on by Sweden's Kim Kallstrom to end their big Scandinavian derby 1-0. Thomas Kahlenberg, who only last month moved from Auxerre to Wolfsburg, picked up the winning goal just ten minutes later to strengthen the Danes' position at the top of the group table.



With second-placed Hungary not playing, it was up to Portugal to provide the other main headline in the group as they ended a run of three draws with a 2-1 win over Albania. Coach Carlos Queiroz has faced much criticism recently after a poor run of form and things looked to be getting worse with the score set at 1-1 going into injury time at the end of their match. Fortunately for him and his team's supporters, Bruno Alves chipped in with a winner three minutes into time added on to give Portugal only their second win of the campaign.

That win was enough for the Portuguese to leapfrog Sweden into third place in the group, but with Albania remaining an outside threat, the group still looks wide open at this stage.

Europe: The Final Countdown (Part 5)

France / Ligue 1

Bordeaux are the new Ligue 1 champions following their 1-0 win over Caen at the weekend. Yoan Gouffran's goal after 49 minutes not only sealed his team's first championship win in ten years but also confirmed Caen's relegation to Ligue 2.

Olympique Marseille went into their final game knowing they could only win Ligue 1 if they beat Stade Rennes and Bordeaux lost to Caen. To Marseille's credit, they kept their side of the bargain by beating Rennes 4-0, but it was to prove ultimately futile.

Both Bordeaux and Marseille now take their place in the Champions League for 2009/10 while outgoing champions Lyon ensured a place in the qualifiers by finishing third after a goalless draw at Toulouse.

Alain Casanova's side ended a remarkable campaign with a fourth-placed finish that means they'll be taking part in the Europa League next season. Quite a turnaround for Toulouse who last season finished just one place above the relegation zone.

Lille are the last team to earn a shot at European glory next season. They'll enter the Europa League qualifying round thanks to a 3-2 win over Nancy which left them level on points with Toulouse and PSG (who miss out on Europe due to goal difference).

At the foot of the table, there was an exciting finish as next-to-bottom Nantes won against the odds 2-1 at home to Auxerre but sadly for them they were relegated anyway. After a 'will-they-won't-they' saga that's lasted for several weeks, Saint Etienne picked up an excellent 4-0 win over Valenciennes to reach safety and Le Mans scrambled to a vital 1-1 draw at Lorient.

With Caen losing to Bordeaux, it meant they were confirmed as the third team to go down to Ligue 2 and they, along with Nantes and Le Havre will be replaced next season by Lens, Montpellier and Boulogne who come up to Ligue 1. Particularly notable, there, is the inclusion of Boulogne who have just reached the top flight for the first time in their 111 year history, so congratulations to them.

Italy / Serie A

A pair of 2-0 wins for Juventus and Milan ensured the former snatched second place in the final Serie A table ahead of the latter.

Juve's victory at home to Lazio was earned on the back of two goals from Vincenzo Iaquinta who ended the season with twelve in total. Over at Fiorentina, however, the home side only just managed to hang on to fourth place as Kaka and Alexandre Pato bagged one each to give Chelsea-bound coach Carlo Ancelotti a fitting send-off.

Luckily for Fiorentina, their head-to-head record over Genoa was good enough to keep them in fourth place, especially given Genoa's final day 4-0 win over relegated Lecce. By way of consolation, Genoa (along with Roma) go into the hat for next season's Europa League competition.

As mentioned last week, the final relegation spot was due to go to either Bologna or Torino with Il Toro arguably facing the tougher task of having to beat Roma to stay up. And so it proved to be despite Tommaso Vailatti putting Torino 1-0 up after just nine minutes. In the end, however, Roma's fight-back proved too much as Menez, Vucinic and Totti all got their names on the scoresheet to run out as eventual 3-2 winners.

With Bologna predictably winning at Catania, Torino finish up as the third team (along with Lecce and Reggina) to drop into Serie B after a three-year run in the top flight. Coming up to take their place in Serie A next season are Bari and Parma along with the winner of the promotion play-offs which will feature Livorno, Brescia, Empoli and Grosseto.

Spain / La Liga

Sevilla finally confirmed their place in the Champions League next season with a 2-0 away win at Numancia... mind you, they left it a bit late. Diego Perotti finally came up with the first goal for his side with only two minutes left on the clock, and even then there was still time for a Juan Carlos Moreno own goal to double the margin of victory.

That win for Sevilla ensures a third place finish in this season's Primera Division while Atletico Madrid are left to settle for fourth despite a 3-0 victory over Almeria. One of those goals was scored by Diego Forlan who ended 2008/09 as leading scorer with 32 in total. That averages out at about a goal per game where he's concerned - a fabulous achievement and one which will have the Atletico fans licking their lips with anticipation for next season.

At the bottom, the battle to avoid the last relegation place was lost by Real Betis after an amazing escape act by Sporting Gijon and Osasuna. Both teams won 2-1 in their final games to finish with 43 points - one more than Betis and Getafe. In the end, the margin of defeat for Real Betis was agonisingly just a single goal as they and Getafe both played out 1-1 draws in their respective matches against Racing Santander and Real Valladolid.

So it's Real Betis, Numancia and Recreativo Huelva that fall through the trap door to be replaced by three as-yet-unknown teams (they're still playing out the last few weeks in the Segunda Division) although Deportivo Xerez currently lead the way there and look likely to be one of the promoted sides.

And that just about wraps up our end-of-season focus on what's happening in the major European leagues. We hope you'll agree it's been fascinating seeing how matters were concluded across the continent... let's hope we get more of the same next season!

Europe: The Final Countdown (Part 4)

Italy / Serie A

A thrilling 3-2 win for Roma over Milan on Sunday means the former have secured a place in the Europa League for 2009/10 while Milan need to get a draw against 4th-placed Fiorentina next week to enter next season’s Champions League.

Fiorentina lost the chance to close the gap on the top three having only just grabbed a last ditch equalizer at Lecce. Their 1-1 draw means Lecce are officially relegated while The Violets are assured of a Champions League qualifier due to their superior head-to-head record over fifth-placed Genoa. Juventus remain third, level on points with Fiorentina after a comfortable 3-0 win at Siena.

In addition to Lecce, Reggina are also confirmed as Serie B contenders for next season following their 1-0 defeat at Lazio on Friday. That leaves one place left to be decided, and that’ll be between Torino and Bologna. Both teams have 34 points, however Torino slipped into the relegation zone after their 3-2 defeat against Genoa while Bologna picked up a vital point away to Chievo Verona on Sunday.

Next Sunday’s crucial fixtures see Bologna in a winnable home tie against Catania whereas Torino play Roma who haven’t lost in their last four. Perhaps the realization that a secured place in the Europa League will cause them to take their foot off the gas, but only time will tell…

Spain / La Liga

As mentioned last week, the only remaining issue to be resolved at the top of La Liga is the one surrounding the last Champions League place. What was a four-horse race has now been halved following Villareal’s 3-1 win over Valencia. Both teams were contenders to grab third spot, but Atletico’s 4-1 win over Bilbao and Sevilla’s 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna means they both stay in the hunt while Villareal and Valencia are left with a less certain future.

Sevilla’s win looked just as uncertain as their winner came in the 90th minute through a Diego Perotti strike. For Atletico, however, their three points came all the easier thanks to a Diego Forlan hat-trick which takes him above Samuel Eto’o to lead the top scorers chart.

So it’s Sevilla in third, three points ahead of Atletico in fourth and while fifth-placed Villareal are assured of at least a Europa League spot next season, they could overtake Atletico Madrid if they beat Mallorca and Atletico lose to Almeria.

At the other end, two of the three relegation places were decided at the weekend when Recreativo Huelva lost 1-0 at home to Racing Santander while Numancia lost by the same score at Getafe.

The final relegation spot is likely to be fought over by Sporting Gijon (17th) and Osasuna (18th). With Barcelona resting their star players for today’s Champions League final, Osasuna found it rather easier to pick up a 1-0 win against their opponents on Saturday than would normally be the case. Walter Pandiani

Sadly for them, Gijon also picked up three points after a 2-1 victory away to Real Valladolid so it’ll be down to the wire this weekend. Gijon are at home to already-relegated Huelva while Osasuna play Real Madrid whose season effectively ended some weeks ago. Should be interesting…

France / Ligue 1

We’ll have to wait a little while longer to find out who will win Ligue 1 this season after Bordeaux and Marseille both won their somewhat nervy games on Saturday. Bordeaux remain the only team unbeaten at home with a game left to play and if they can get a draw in it against Caen (who could go down), they’ll secure their first title since 1999.

Marseille’s outside chances remain intact partly thanks to an own goal by Nancy’s Damian Macaluso which contributed to a 2-1 win for Eric Gerets’ side. They’ll be playing Rennes on Super Samedi and a win for them could bring Marseille their first piece of silverware since their Champions League win in 1993, so long as Bordeaux lose.

Lyon secured third place and a Champions League qualifying round spot after they defeated Caen 3-1. Juninho was on hand to open the scoring from the penalty spot after 34 minutes in what’s likely to be his last home match for the club. He was substituted after 80 minutes and left the field in tears as Lyon’s fans gave him a well-deserved ovation at the end of an 8-year association with the club.

In the battle for the only Europa League spot, Toulouse sneaked into fourth place with a 2-0 away win at Nice to overtake PSG who lost 2-1 at Valenciennes. Toulouse, however, have the ominous task of having to beat Lyon at home next weekend in order to retain their position while PSG play host to Monaco.

In the battle to stay up, Sochaux did their chances of survival the world of good with a 2-1 win over Nantes. It means Sochaux fly up to 15th spot in the table and though they could still be relegated next week, their fate looks somewhat more rosy than it did seven days ago.

Nantes, however, stay next to bottom in the table and will need to beat Auxerre next week to have any chance of staying up. They’ll be hoping other results go their way, but that may all be inconsequential as Auxerre have won eight of their last ten games and could condemn the yellow-and-greens to Ligue 2 action next season.

With Le Havre already down, the final place will no doubt go to either the fast-fading Le Mans, the faltering Caen or a Saint Etienne side that slipped back into the bottom three at the weekend after a 1-0 win to the aforementioned Auxerre. They’ll face a tricky Valenciennes next week knowing that only a win will do to keep them up. Sooner them than us.

Portugal / Portuguese Liga

Finally to Portugal where the only remaining issue was that concerning the two relegation places. In the end, the two favourites to go down, Trofense and Belenenses, actually did fall through the trap door.

Trofense’s 1-0 defeat at Paços de Ferreira saw them finish on the bottom of the table while arch-rivals Belenenses also failed to avoid the drop when they were thumped 3-1 by Benfica.

And so another season in Portugal ends. Porto were champions by four clear points at the close of proceedings while Sporting Lisbon were second a massive seven points in front of Benfica in third. Nacional Funchal and Sporting Braga will join Benfica in the Europa League next season with Leixões Matosinhos well short of the required total to do the same.

Europe: The Final Countdown (Part 3)

Italy / Serie A

The title race is all over in Italy as Jose Mourinho's Inter side sealed the championship with a comfortable 3-0 win over Siena yesterday. The only team that could have caught them on points, Milan, surprisingly lost 2-1 to Udinese on Saturday leaving Inter to turn on the style against their hosts with a display of skill and flair that the triumphant home fans lapped up.

It's a tremendous achievement for Mourinho who picks up the Scudetto in his first season at the club and who can now claim to have won five titles in seven years in three different countries. Not a bad set of statistics to put on your CV, we think you'll agree.

With Milan losing, it was up to third-placed Juventus to try and close the gap on them but they failed to do so following a 2-2 draw against mid-table Atalanta. Juve came back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 after goals by Iaquinta and Zanetti but Pellegrino's equaliser just before half time left Claudio Ranieri's side cursing at a sixth draw in eight games - a run of form which just today has cost Ranieri his job. Contrast that with Fiorentina who have won six out of their last seven and you have an interesting race for the third and final Champions League spot next season.

Lecce are the new team at the bottom of Serie A following their 2-1 defeat to Bologna who themselves remain in the bottom three. 2-1 was obviously the big scoreline of the week for the bottom teams as 19th-placed Reggina beat Cagliari and 17th-placed Torino overcame Napoli by the same result.

Next week, Lecce play the resurgent Fiorentina in a bid to avoid the wooden spoon while Reggina play a very out-of-form Lazio and Bologna take on Chievo Verona. Torino, meanwhile, are at home to Genoa who look like they'll be playing in the Europa League next season.

At the top, Milan look to finish their season on a high by beating Roma while Juventus will be trying not to draw again when they travel to Siena.

Spain / La Liga

Without even kicking a ball, Barcelona finally captured the Primera Division title yesterday. It was all made possible thanks to Real Madrid's 3-2 defeat at Villareal which left them mathematically unable to catch the champions elect with two games remaining. As if to make them feel better, Barca themselves lost at the weekend by two goals to one against Mallorca, but by that stage the hard work had already been done.

Former youth team coach Pep Guardiola can now sit back and reflect on a campaign which has seen Barcelona play some of its best football for many years. The triumvirate of Eto'o, Messi and Henry produced 71 goals between them and their combined efforts were enough even to beat Real 6-2 recently - a scoreline which will rankle with the Madrid fans for many a long year.

All that's left to decide at the top of the league is who will get the final Champions League place, and at the moment that could be any one of four teams - Sevilla (currently 3rd), Atletico Madrid (4th), Villareal (5th) or Valencia (6th).

Atletico Madrid might be the favourites to grab it going on current form. They've won five out of the last six and face two mid-table teams before the season's out - Athletic Bilbao and Almeria. That said one of Sevilla's last two games is against next-to-bottom Numancia and a win there may just be enough to close the contest in all reality.

This weekend's fixtures saw Numancia climb off the bottom of La Liga by beating the team directly above them, Recreativo Huelva. Elsewhere, most of the other bottom-dwellers picked up valuable points - Osasuna drawing 0-0 with Sevilla, Getafe drawing 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna and Sporting Gijon beating Malaga 2-1.

All of that means a whole raft of teams are in danger of going down as we enter the final fortnight so watch this space to see what transpires...

France / Ligue 1

The big news here is that Marseille's push for the title has been massively derailed thanks to a 3-1 home defeat to outgoing champions Lyon. Claude Puel's men are now out of the running for this year's Ligue 1 championship, but a place in next year's Champions League proved more than enough motivation as Benzema scored two and Juninho picked up a third in the dying moments.

Sylvain Wiltord had given Marseille some hope when he pulled a goal back for the home side with ten minutes remaining but it proved insufficient to stop Bordeaux knocking them off the top of the table.

Bordeaux also had a fight on their hands this weekend as they laboured to a 3-2 win at home to relegation strugglers Le Mans. It all looked very optimistic for Le Mans when Anthony Le Tallec broke the deadlock on 24 minutes but that just instigated a ding-dong battle which saw Bordeaux come from behind twice to win the match.

That win means Laurent Blanc's side are now three points clear of Marseille with two games remaining while Lyon, (third) could yet catch Marseille as long as they win both their remaining matches.

At the bottom, it was a bad week for most of the strugglers with the notable exception of Saint Etienne who are finally hauling themselves out of the relegation zone. A midweek 4-2 win away to bottom club Le Havre plus a good draw at home to Toulouse means they're now one place above the bottom three.

That means Le Havre are now officially relegated to Ligue 2 next season and they'll be joined by any two from Nantes, Saint Etienne, Sochaux, Caen and Le Mans. On current form, we'd have to go for Sochaux and Nantes - the two teams currently occupying the remaining two relegation places.

And that brings us nicely onto next week's fixtures in which, incredibly, Nantes and Sochaux face each other in a hugely important six-pointer. Saint Etienne won't have it easy either, though - they'll be playing away to Auxerre who have won each of their last five games. At the top, Bordeaux play host to Monaco while Marseille travel to mid-table Nancy who won 3-0 at the Stade Velodrome earlier this season.

Portugal / Portuguese Liga

You'll remember last week we broke the news that Porto were unofficially crowned league champions due to their superior goal difference over Sporting Lisbon. Well this week we can break the news officially thanks to Porto's 4-1 win away to Trofense.

Credit where credit's due though - Sporting also won their game on Saturday (2-1 over Maritimo), but with just one game remaining Porto's six point lead is finally now beyond the reasoning of Sporting's most ardent doubters.

So with Porto automatically qualifying for the Champions League and Sporting Listbon heading for the qualifying round of same, it was left to Benfica, Nacional and Sporting Braga to confirm their places in next season's Europa League. This they did largely thanks to the points tally they had going into this weekend's games rather than the games themselves, but no matter. European football is assured for them next season.

Finally at the other end, the bottom two switched places once again. Belenenses earned a crucial 1-0 win at home to Rio Ave while Trofense were being thrashed by Porto, so that leaves Trofense at the bottom on 23 points and Belenenses just above them on 24.

Vitoria Setubal (14th) and Rio Ave (13th) could both yet be dragged into the mire on the last day, so all eyes will be on Trofense's match at Paços de Ferreira, Belenenses' trip to Benfica, Vitoria's home game against Academica and Rio Ave's match at home to Estrela Amadora. By way of a prediction, we're going for the current bottom two to remain in situ when the final whistle's blown across Portugal on Sunday evening.

Europe: The Final Countdown (Part 2)

Continuing our look at the end-of-season run in across Europe...

Italy / Serie A
This weekend will be referred to as The Great Stalemate of '09 in years to come - you mark our words. Out of the top six sides, only one - Fiorentina - managed to win a match while the other five drew theirs.

Fiorentina's 2-0 victory at Catania wasn't enough to see them move up from fourth place in the table, but they are now within touching distance of the automatic Champions League spots. Stevan Jovetic and Luciano Zauri were the men on target for Viola to create some breathing space between them and fifth-placed Genoa who could only draw 1-1 at Atalanta.

The big game of the weekend ended in another 1-1 draw, this time between Milan and Juventus. Both goals came near the hour mark, Clarence Seedorf putting the home side in front after directing home Massimo Ambrosini's scuffed shot before Vincenzo Iaquinta's diving header equalised for Juve.

That result ended Milan's run of five straight wins but also extended Juve's run without a win to six. On current form, Fiorentina look likely to make sure The Old Lady plays in the Europa League next season rather than the Champions League.

Elsewhere Inter could have virtually wrapped up the title had they not found Chievo Verona such tough opposition to break down. Goals from Crespo and Balotelli were equalised on both occasions to ensure the Nerazzurri will have to wait at least one more week before getting their hands on the Serie A title.

There were more draws involving teams at the bottom, except for Reggina who are now two points adrift of the opposition following their 5-0 thumping at Sampdoria. Lecce and Torino - both in the bottom four - drew 1-1 at the Stadio Olimpico while Lecce made it three games unbeaten by drawing 1-1 at home to Napoli.

Spain / La Liga
As if more proof were needed that nerves are getting the better of Europe's finest teams at this stage of the season, both Barcelona and Real Madrid failed to win their games this week.

A draw for Barcelona would, in hindsight, have been enough to clinch the Primera Division title after Real spectacularly crashed 3-0 away to Valencia. Former Real player Mata Garcia along with David Silva put the home side 2-0 up just after the half hour mark before Rubén Baraja added a third in the 68th minute to inflict a second successive defeat on Los Blancos.

Barca, meanwhile, were moments away from celebrating victory against Villareal, however Joseba Llorente struck in the 90th minute to seal a 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu. That means a win at Mallorca next week will be enough to end Real's feint hopes of claiming the title.

In other news, Sevilla did their chances of grabbing a Champions League play-off place no harm after beating Mallorca 3-1 while Atletico Madrid leapfrogged Villareal into fifth thanks to a 3-2 victory over Espanyol.

In the battle to avoid relegation, it's still 'any three from eight' as six of the bottom eight lost at the weekend. Getafe's 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Osasuna was enough to move them up two places to 15th while bottom club Numancia managed what was on reflection a creditable goalless draw against Real Valladolid.

Portugal / Portuguese Liga
Leaders Porto can finally start celebrating following their 3-0 win away to Maritimo at the weekend. With two games remaining, they are now six points ahead of Sporting in second but with a goal difference of +40 compared to the Lisbon club's +22.

Porto are more than deserving of their 24th title win. Unbeaten in the league since the start of November 2008, they're ending their campaign with a run of eight straight victories which will, in all likelihood, go up to nine if they beat relegation-threatened Trofense next week.

Last week's draw with Academica looks to have been the spanner in the works for Sporting who came back with a 2-1 win against Vitoria Setubal on Saturday. Brazilian striker Liédson scored both goals to maintain the pressure on Setubal who are one of four teams that could drop into Liga de Honra next season.

As reported last week, the bottom two teams played each other last Monday, the result being an unlikely 2-1 win for Trofense over Belenenses. An admirable 2-2 draw for Trofense against 3rd-placed Benfica on Saturday means Belenenses are now adrift at the bottom of the table by two points.

Elsewhere, Rio Ave did their chances of staying up the world of good by beating Vitoria Guimaraes 1-0 but they'll have to repeat that score or do better at Belenenses next Sunday to confirm their top flight status for another season.

France / Ligue 1
No Ligue 1 action this week as the Coupe de France Final was held on Saturday. For the record, Guingamp from Ligue 2 beat Stade Rennais 2-1. All three goals were scored in a 15-minute period - Carlos Bocanegra putting the Ligue 1 side ahead after 69 minutes before Eduardo Dos Santos got both goals for Guingamp with 72 and 83 minutes on the clock.

Finally...
It's going down to the wire in Belgium as with only one game to go, Anderlecht and Standard Liege remain level on points with only four goals separating one from the other.

Both teams won at home on Saturday, Anderlecht beating lowly Roeselare 3-1 and Standard beating Club Brugge 2-0. The smart money, however, will be on leaders Anderlecht who next week travel to 8th-placed Genk while Standard have the altogether more tricky trip to Gent, placed just one position below them in the Jupiler League title.

Expect the margin of victory to be critical for both teams in next Saturday's season finalé.

Europe: The Final Countdown (Part 1)

With just four games remaining in many of the top leagues in Europe, we thought we'd give you a regular round-up of what's happening around the continent as the 2008/09 comes to an end.

As you'll be aware by now, the latest Bundesliga action is summarised in Duffman's Bundesbag report every Tuesday or Wednesday here at SPAOTP, so for the purpose of these updates we'll concentrate on the top flight elsewhere...

Italy / Serie A
After a three-match stumble, leaders Inter finally won again, 2-0 at home to mid-table Lazio. Former Portsmouth midfielder Muntari picked up his third goal of the season before Ibrahimovic returned to the top of the goalscoring list with his 21st.

Milan kept up the pressure with their fifth straight win that saw Catania defeated 2-0. Inzaghi and Kaka split the bill with a goal each to extend Milan's lead over third placed Juventus who now haven't won a game since the end of March. The Old Lady could only manage a 2-2 draw with relegation-bound Lecce.

As well as Lecce, bottom-placed Reggina also did their chances of survival some good with a 2-1 away win at third-bottom Bologna. Those results mean Torino are now only one point above the drop zone as things hot up near the bottom of the table. There's also another 'sei puntatore' next week as Torino play host to Bologna while the big match at the top end sees Milan at home to Juventus.

Spain / La Liga
Result of the Week was undoubtedly Barca's 6-2 away win at Real Madrid. Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry grabbed a brace each while Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique scored one each to inflict a defeat on Real for the first time since Barca beat them at the Nou Camp back in December.

That result means Barcelona are now seven points clear at the top with only twelve remaining, therefore if Barca beat Villareal next Sunday and Real lose to Valencia the day before, the title will be Barca's.

Elsewhere, the SPAOTP anti-jinx worked a treat once again as Sevilla won away to Villareal directly after we pointed out their poor recent form last week. Their 2-0 win came just at the right time as fourth-placed Valencia surprisingly lost 3-0 to Espanyol to increase their chances of grabbing a place in the Champions League qualifying round next season.

The bottom two in La Liga, Numancia and Recreativo Huelva, both took maximum points to almost completely close the gap on Sporting Gijon who played out a 1-1 draw with Bilbao. Getafe and Osasuna both slipped nearer the bottom after losing their games 2-1 to Mallorca and Huelva respectively so it remains very squeaky in a 'bum time' sense going into the final four games...

France / Ligue 1
Without question the tightest and most interesting title race in France for years is nearing its climax as Marseille lead the table by a single goal after this weekend's matches. After Eric Geret's men could only draw 2-2 with an impressive Toulouse on Saturday, Bordeaux drew level with them on points by beating Sochaux 3-0 yesterday.

That was Bordeaux's seventh straight win (a run that goes back to March 14th) and the end of Marseille's six-win run, all of which leaves Lyon practically out of the running following their shock 2-0 defeat away to Valenciennes.

A seven point gap has now appeared between the top two and Lyon who would have dropped to fourth had it not been for a rejuvenated PSG losing 1-0 to Stade Rennes. Elsewhere, it was a bad weekend for the teams near the foot of the table apart from Le Havre who picked up a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Nantes. Le Havre are now only nine points adrift of Saint Etienne in 19th but must remain the favourites to return to Ligue 2 in a month's time.

Portugal / Portuguese Liga
Porto extended their lead at the top of the table to six points this weekend after a comfortable 3-0 win away to Maritimo. Sporting Lisbon's run of four straight wins came to a shuddering halt when they played out a tame goalless draw against mid-table Academica but Benfica in third were unable to take advantage when they lost 3-1 away to Nacional.

Benfica now look doubtful to grab the second Champions League spot and may yet suffer the indignity of going into the Europa League qualifying round now that Nacional are only three points and one place below them in the table.

The two teams occupying the bottom two places, Trofense and Belenenses, play each other tonight with the latter capable of escaping the relegation zone if they win. Trofense fans, however, won't be optimistic having seen their side win only one game in the last thirteen.

Next weekend's games see Porto at home to Nacional while Trofense get the fixture they were desperately hoping for - an away match at Benfica. Sporting are at home to struggling Vitoria Setubal while at the other end, Belenenses are at home to the team third from bottom and just outside the relegation zone, Rio Ave.

Finally...
To the Netherlands where Steve McLaren managed to secure a spot in the Third Qualifying Round of next season's Champions League after his FC Twente side won 3-0 against the team already crowned champions for this season, AZ.

With only one game remaining, Twente are now assured of their runner-up spot after Ajax crashed 4-0 to Sparta Rotterdam yesterday. Ajax will take their place in the Europa League along with either PSV or Heerenveen.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: October 2008

It's been another busy week of World Cup 2010 qualifiers so let's round up all the important information from around the globe, starting off with…

Africa

…and here we have exciting news about the climax to Round 2 and the teams that have battled through to win a place in the last round.

Many of the continent's heavyweights such as Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast predictably finished top of their groups, but for others there was disappointment.

Angola and Senegal, both recent attendees at the World Cup Finals, failed to make it through to Round 3. Senegal's fate was sealed following a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Gambia which left both teams unable to qualify from Group 6 behind Algeria who finished top. Angola's 3-1 win over Niger proved too little, too late as they finished two points adrift of eventual group winners Benin.

Elsewhere there were smiles all round as Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Sudan all made it through to the last round having played formidable opposition in their groups. Joining them will be Togo who were undoubtedly boosted by the return from exile of Emmanuel Adebayor. He bagged four of his side's six goals as they thrashed Swaziland in Accra.

Winner of the award for the most comfortable qualification goes to Nigeria who eventually topped Group 4 by a whopping eleven points. The Super Eagles won all six of their games and conceded only one goal along the way. South Africa, who qualify for the 2010 World Cup as hosts, finished second in the group on goal difference and could only manage two wins throughout the campaign.

The draw for the final round of qualifying in Africa takes place on October 22nd, and here are the teams that will be involved in their seeding groups:

Pot 1 (Seeds)
Cameroon
Egypt
Ghana
Nigeria
Ivory Coast

Pot 2
Guinea
Morocco
Tunisia
Mali
Algeria

Pot 3
Burkina Faso
Gabon
Zambia
Kenya
Benin

Pot 4
Rwanda
Togo
Mozambique
Sudan
Malawi

Europe

Carlos Queiroz's honeymoon period as coach of the Portuguese team appears to have shuddered to an almighty halt after two successive goalless draws in Group 1 this week - one of them against an Albanian side that played with a man down for around half the match.

A 0-0 draw away to Sweden last weekend means Portugal are currently third in the table with only one win from four. Denmark, who beat Portugal 3-2 last month, remain top of the group ahead of Hungary following a 3-0 win over Malta.

Having slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Luxembourg last month, Switzerland bounced right back with two wins on the trot this week. A 2-1 victory over Latvia plus an impressive repeat scoreline against Group 2 leaders Greece means Ottmar Hitzfeld's team are now up to third in the table. Israel are second despite struggling to a 1-1 draw against the Latvians.

For a while it looked like Germany might fail to pick up all three points at home to Wales on Wednesday. Some excellent Welsh defensive play frustrated the Germans for well over an hour until Piotr Trochowski finally grabbed the winner to open up a four point gap at the top of Group 4.

Russia occupy second place in the table having lost 2-1 to Germany last weekend, but a 3-0 win over Finland put their campaign back on track and keeps them level on points with Wales who cruised to a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein last Saturday.

European champions Spain picked up their fourth win in four games to remain top of the group, but they had to come back from 1-0 down against a resurgent Belgian side to eventually pick up all three points in their second match this week. Andres Iniesta had equalised Wesley Sonck's opener for Belgium shortly before half time but it wasn't until David Villa scored two minutes from the end that Spain could finally relax.

Another team with four wins out of four are England who top Group 5 following their 5-1 win over Kazakhstan at the weekend and Wednesday's 3-1 victory away to Belarus. Fabio Capello's side had their unconvincing moments in both matches, but with half the goals coming from Wayne Rooney along with contributions from Rio Ferdinand, Jermaine Defoe and Steven Gerrard, England now have a five-point lead over nearest rivals Croatia. A goalless draw for them against third-placed Ukraine last weekend means they have much to do when the qualifying campaign resumes again next April.

The number of voices calling for the dismissal of French coach Raymond Domenech grow bigger by the day, but the team remain supportive of him following a decent second-half performance against Romania last Saturday. Two goals down at half-time, France looked to be heading for their second loss in the competition but Domenech change his team's tactics and an altogether more fluent team came out to force a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff.

France are now third in Group 7, five points behind their next opponents Lithuania (although they have a game in hand) and Serbia who beat the Lithuanians 3-0 and Austria 3-1 this week.

In Group 8, it was a case of 'as you were' for Italy as they remained top of the table following a goalless draw with Bulgaria and a 2-1 win over Montenegro while Ireland kept in touch with a narrow 1-0 win over Cyprus. Group 9 sees the Dutch go five points clear of nearest challengers Scotland after beating Iceland 2-0 and Norway 1-0. Scotland lost ground by drawing 0-0 with the Norwegians but it could have been oh so different if Chris Iwelumo hadn't missed that sitter at Hampden…

Asia

Just a handful of games took place in Asia on Wednesday, but among them was a convincing 4-0 win for Australia over Qatar. Blackburn Rovers' Brett Emerton scored two for the Socceroos while Everton midfielder Tim Cahill grabbed another to put the Aussies top of Group A by two points. In the other game in the group, Japan were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Uzbekistan.

In Group B, a four-way tie for the lead has emerged with South Korea top of the pile on goal difference. They managed to thrash United Arab Emirates 4-1 with two goals from Lee Keun-Ho.

Like South Korea, Iran also picked up their first win of the round by beating North Korea 2-1. Eintracht Frankfurt's Mehdi Mahdavikia was on hand with the first goal for the home side before Osasuna's Javad Nekonam added a second after 65 minutes.

All of which leaves Saudi Arabia down in third place in the group, but they'll be in action on November 19th when they play host to South Korea while Iran visit the UAE looking to inflict their fourth straight defeat on them.

Also next month, Australia travel to Bahrain in Group A while Qatar are at home to Japan.

South America

Take a leap of faith with us as we proclaim with justified exuberance "Paraguay are the kings of South America." Yes, it's probably the right time to start looking upon Gerardo Martino's side as the best side on the continent as they maintained their excellent start to the South American qualifying competition.

Up to now, Paraguay have only lost one of their ten games (a 4-2 defeat away to Bolivia in June) and this week saw them add another couple of 1-0 wins to their tally against Peru and Colombia. They now head the table on 23 points - three more than they accumulated in the entire 2006 qualifying group, and they still have eight games left to play.

Brazil now occupy second spot thanks to a third straight goalless draw at home against Colombia and a 4-0 away win in Venezuela. The former of those games saw head coach Dunga subjected to the sort of booing that makes the Ashley Cole story seem like a whole load of fuss about nothing.

Luckily for Dunga, Brazil seem to be playing better on the road and are still able to boast just one defeat in ten like Paraguay. It's just a shame they've only won four out of those ten, otherwise they'd probably have qualified for the next World Cup by now.

Freefalling in a big way are Colombia. They're now seventh in the table and have now gone 532 minutes without scoring a goal. Admittedly their last two games were against the might of Brazil and Paraguay (of which they earned a creditable draw against the former, as we've mentioned), but they've now gone six games without a win and have scored just four goals in the whole campaign thus far.

That's good news for Chile, amongst others, who have climbed to fourth following an excellent 1-0 win over Argentina on Thursday night. Fabian Orellana grabbed the vital winner shortly before half-time to put Chile level on points with their opponents.

The impact of that win for Chile - their first over Argentina since 1973 - was monumental insofar as it cost Alfio Basile his job as coach of the Argentinean side. Basile quit his post for personal reasons yesterday after a recent poor run of form and though Argentina picked up a useful 2-1 win over Uruguay last Saturday, the damage, it seems, had already been done. Argentina now lie third in the qualifying table with eight games remaining.

Luckily for the AFA, the search for Basile's successor can now be conducted at a leisurely pace as the South American qualifying campaign goes into hibernation until March 28th 2009 when the competition begins once again.

North and Central America

Costa Rica became the first team to qualify for the final group stage in the CONCACAF region last weekend following their 4-1 away win over Suriname. A 2-0 victory over Haiti four days later secured top spot in Group 3 as El Salvador also booked their place as group runners-up. A 3-0 win over the Surinamese means they'll be in the group of six that battle it out for the three qualifying spots for South Africa when the competition begins in 2009.

Elsewhere, the USA added their names to the list following a comprehensive 6-1 rout of Cuba on Saturday. DaMarcus Beasley scored two and Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu picked up one each in a victory that did much to boost the fans spirits just days before Trinidad & Tobago inflicted a 2-1 defeat on them to improve their own chances of qualifying.

T&T are now second in Group 1, three points ahead of Guatemala and need just a draw at home to Cuba on November 19th to book their place in the last round. Guatemala travel to the States on the same day hoping that their hosts have the same relaxed mentality that they showed against Trinidad and Tobago this Wednesday.

Finally to Group 2 where Sven's Mexico side suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Jamaica last weekend, stalling the Mexicans' chances of securing a place in the next round. Ricardo Fuller's 14th minute strike gave the Jamaicans their first win of the campaign, swiftly followed as it was by their second on Wednesday at home to Honduras, 1-0. Luton Shelton was on hand with the winner this time to force a three-way fight for the two qualifying spots in the group.

Honduras are the meat in the Mexico/Jamaica sandwich, and they retain second spot following a 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday. All of which means the last round of Group 2 fixtures a month from now are crucial in deciding the two teams to go through. The crunch match is undoubtedly the one between Honduras and Mexico where a draw for Eriksson's side will prove enough for them, while Jamaica have the considerably easier job of trying to beat Canada at home.

So have Honduras stumbled at the wrong moment? Will the crack in Mexico's form turn into an irreparable crevasse that sees them fail to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1982?

Join us next month to find out…