France vs Ukraine World Cup play off - November 19, 2013

WC Qualification Europe Group Play-Offs - France vs Ukraine  
Match date: Thursday 19th November, 2013

Kick Off Time: 20:00 UK (BST) - 01:30 (IST) - 8:00 PM GMT  
Venue: Stade De France, Paris, France

Referee:‬ Damir Skomina (SVN)

But this is certainly a lot easier said than done, especially if they do not improve their game in the middle of the field, since they were defeated against a much more physically prepared Ukrainians four days ago. In addition, they have showed a lot of weaknesses in the second half the last line, which has resulted with two received goals and the suspension of Koscielny in the injury time. As for the attack, things have not clearly functioned there the way their coach Deschamps wanted, but he still trusts in the fact that they have performed a lot better at home than on the side so he firmly believes that they can now catch up with these two goals differences.

Of course, we expect a much more offensive game from the French now than in Kiev, which means that they will create a lot of room for quick counter-attacks of their guests, so they still need to be extremely careful and disciplined in the last line. This is why it is expected that the stoppers duo will this time consist of young Varane and Sakho instead of the suspended Koscielny and somewhat insecure Abidal, while there might be a few changes in the top of the attack as well, so that Benzema could get an advantage over Giroud.

As for the Ukrainians, they are much more relaxed before this rematch in Paris, considering that they have taken advantage of playing at home four days ago and came to the great victory of 2-0. Otherwise, they have very cleverly played in this game, because they first of all stopped the two most dangerous French players Nasri and Ribery, and then patiently waited for their chance in the rest of the match. This happened in the 61st minute when Zozulya scored one goal, while they also used the penalty in the finish of the match through their best player Yarmolenko, who brought Ukraine only one step away from the placement in Brazil.

However, they are very well aware that they are about to experience a very tough 90 minutes in Paris, primarily because the hosts will move aggressively from the first minute towards the goal of the goalkeeper Pyatov. However, this will also be a great opportunity for their fleet-footed wingers Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka and young striker Zozulya to score once again, and thus definitely extinguish all French hopes of qualifying in the World Cup. On the other hand, the last line of the Ukraine will this time be in a lot more trouble, because they are their suspended Kucher will not be able to perform in this match.

Possible line-ups:

France: Lloris – Debuchy, Varane, Sakho, Evra – Matuidi, Pogba – Remy, Nasri, Ribery – Benzema.

Ukraine: Pyatov – Fedetsky, Rakitsky, Khacheridi, Shevchuk – Stepanenko, Rotan – Yarmolenko, Edmar, Konoplyanka – Zozulya. 

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]
 

 

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Portugal vs Sweden World Cup play off - November 15, 2013

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz) - Lisboa will be hosting on 15 November 2013, an World Cup Play Off, first leg match between Portugal and Sweden. The match referee will be Howard Webb (ENG).

Portugal team finished the qualification for the World Cup in group F on the second position with only one points handicap on Russia. The team from manager Paulo Bento only lost one game during the whole qualification, but the Russian side made more wins. Back in 2009 Portugal also had to took the ticket for the World Cup via the Play Off. At that time, Portugal made two 1:0 wins over Montenegro. In 2012 Portugal was qualified for the European Championship. They reached the semi finals but they were eliminated by Spain during penalties. Now the team around skipper Christiano Ronaldo wants to reach the tournament next year.

Sweden finished group C on the second place, behind group winner Germany. The team from manager Erik Hamren took the Play Off place after an 2.1 home win over Austria, the defeat against Germany on the last round was irrelevant. The team from Scandinavia only lost two games in the qualification, for example the away fixture against Austria (1:2). In 2012 Sweden was qualified for the European Championship but they finished the group stage on the last position behind England, France and Ukraine. Sweden wasn't qualified for the WC in 2010, they missed the Play Off place in the qualification only with one points handicap on Portugal.

Possible line-ups:

Portugal: Patricio – Almeida, Pepe, Ricardo Costa, Antunes – Meireles, Veloso, Moutinho – Nani, C.Ronaldo, Helder Postiga.

Sweden: Isaksson – Lustig, Nilsson, Antonsson, Olsson – Wernbloom, Elm – Larsson, Kacaniklic – Elmander, Ibrahimovic.

Match Details and Timings:
Portugal vs Sweden
Football: World Cup Play Off, first leg
Match date: Friday 15 November 2013
Kick Off Time: 8:45 pm CET - 19:45 GMT - 2:45 PM EST
Stadium: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Lisbon)
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

 

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Mexico vs New Zealand FIFA Qualifications 13 November, 2013

On Wednesday, 13th November at 2:30 PM EST, Mexico will host New Zealand at Estadio Azteca for World Cup 2014 Intercontinental Playoffs. 

Mexicans have dangerously “gambled” in these qualifications for which they could have paid dearly. Six teams have competed in this group of teams from North and Central America, where three directly go to Brazil, so it is logical that Mexico is a great favourite for one of these positions. However, the Mexicans had many problems, primarily with their efficiency and they scored only seven goals in ten matches. They had five draw matches, of which three times at home, with just one win and only three goals scored. They were especially bad in the finish of the qualifications when they lost three of four games and eventually finished in fourth place in the barrage.

They changed their selectors, and from mid-October Miguel Herrera is on the bench, who coached them in one match, when they defeated Finland with 4-2 in a friendly match last month. The Mexicans are also having a lot of problems with their composition, and their biggest disadvantage is the lack of their striking duo Chicharito and dos Santos, who will not play in these barrage matches.

• Probable lineups Mexico: Munoz – Valenzuela, Rodriguez, Marquez – Aguilar, Layun, Medina, Pena, Molina – Peralta, Jimenez.

New Zealand team enters with high hopes and should be able to play carefree ball as the underdogs here. Still, with a second leg to come at home, they will likely sit back and play tight defending and hope for a break on the counter. They know what a strong result here would do to the Mexican psyche for the 2nd leg. However, the All Whites received a massive blow to their hopes as captain Winston Reid had to withdraw due to a training injury at his club West Ham United. Top-scorer Shane Smeltz, however, has handed the underdogs a boost, returning from hip surgery in time to be available for selection.

• Probable lineups New Zealand: Moss – Bertos, Smith, Durante, Lochhead – McGlinchey, Clapham – Brockie, Barbarouses, James – Wood.

Mexico vs New Zealand
2014 World Cup Intercontinental Playoff
Date: Wednesday, 13 November 2013 - 20:30 CET - 2:30 PM EST 

Stadium: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

 

 

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England vs Poland World Cup Qualifying - UEFA on Tuesday October 15, 2013

The national soccer team for England will play against Poland on Tuesday October 15, 2013 (15/10/2013) for World Cup Qualifying - UEFA at 3:00 PM (New York time).  At this moment England has an official FIFA ranking of 17, and Poland is 65 in world ranking.

Possible line-ups:

England (4-2-3-1): Hart; Baines, Jagielka, Cahill, Jones; Gerrard, Lampard; Welbeck, Rooney, Townsend; Sturridge. 

Poland (4-2-3-1): Boruc; Wojtkowiak, Glik, Wasilewski, Jedrzejczyk, Sobota, M. Lewandowski; Klich, Krychowiak, Blaszczykowski; R. Lewandowski. 

While England were able to put away Montenegro 4-1 at Wembley on Friday evening in a game which saw youth come to the fore, with a star-performance from debutant winger Andros Townsend, Poland succumbed to a 1-0 loss to Ukraine which put an end to their hopes of making it to Brazil. Poland have travelled very poorly this campaign, in what is expected to be Waldemar Fornalik's final game in charge. Anyway, they might perform better in a relaxed fashion and they do have players that can cause damage.

Of course, England's last positive result will count for nought should they fail to beat Poland on Tuesday evening. Ukraine (who play San Marino in their final match – an assured three points) beat the Poles 1-0 in Kiev to stay just a point behind England.

Roy Hodgson is expected to be without the injured duo Ashley Cole and Tom Cleverley, while Kyle Walker is unavailable having received a yellow card in the 4-1 thumping of Montenegro last friday night, so either Phil Jones or Chris Smalling will come in to provide cover.  Leighton Baines will continue at left-back. Man of the Match Andros Townsend should be rewarded having impressed on his debut with a place in the starting lineup and we should also see both Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge lead the attack up front.

As for the Polish side, they are without a number of key players, the most significant of being Borussia Dortmund full-back Lukasz Piszcek, Sampdoria defender Bartosz Salamon and their promising young left-winger Maciej Rybus. Furthermore, Marcin Wasilewski may come in for Szukala (suspended).

England vs Poland – FIFA World Cup 2014 qualification: Group G

Tuesday, 15 October 2013, 3:00 PM EDT - 8:00 PM BST. Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom

Referee:‬ D. Skomina‎ 

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores] 

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Denmark vs Italy October 11, 2013 World Cup qualifier

Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark will be hosting on 11 October 2013, an World Cup qualifier match (Group B) between Denmark and Italy. The match referee will be Stéphane Lannoy (France). 

       Denmark lie a point behind Bulgaria in Group B. That means they should rather win the last two games against Italy and Malta and hope that Bulgaria won't win their remaining two. The Danish missed their chances to stand much better on their own ground, where they couldn't win a single match yet. In Copenhagen they drew with the Czech Republic (0:0) and Bulgaria (1:1), then got even hammered 0:4 by Armenia in June. Coach Morten Olsen has nominated striker Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal) for the last two matches. Bendter had been banned from the squad for the last half year due to drinking and driving. The rest of the Danish squad is not really special, captain Agger (Liverpool) and midfielder Eriksen (Tottenham) stand out.

• Denmark lineups: : Andersen - Ankersen, Bjelland, Agger, Boilesen - Kvist, Zimling - Krohn-Dehli, Eriksen, Braithwaite - Bendtner.

     
        Italy team have already managed qualification for Brazil 2014 when beat the Czech Republic 2:1 at home in the last match in September. Top striker Balotelli had scored the decisive goal by a penalty. His team mate from Milan El Shaarawy will miss the match in Copenhagen as it will miss midfielder Maggio. Italy still will send a very strong side to Denmark, they had made it to the final of the EURO 2012, also became third in the Confed-Cup earlier this year, where they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Spain not before a penalty shootout. Apart of two games the Italians won all matches in their qualifying group, but this two games were away against teams that are comparable with Denmark, away at Bulgaria 2:2 and at the Czech Republic 0:0.  

• Italy lineups: : Buffon - Chiellini, Bonucci, De Rossi - Pirlo, Montolivo - De Silvestri, Giaccherini, Candreva, Pasqual -  Balotelli.

Match Details and Timings:

Whene: 11 October 2013 - 20:15 CET - 18:45 GMT
Stadium: Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)  

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores] 

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England vs Montenegro World Cup qualifier October 11, 2013

England vs Montenegro
2014 World Cup Qualifiers, Europe
Date: Friday, 11 October 2013 - 21:00 CET - 19:00 GMT - 9:00 PM SAST
Stadium: Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom
Referee: Alberto Undiano (ESP)

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

England hopes to claim their fifth win in nine matches to bolster their position atop Group H. Their 4-4-0 record is good enough to lead Ukraine and Montenegro by one point and Roy Hodgson will impress on his players to remain focused. The group remains competitive as four of the six teams are still in the race to secure automatic qualification. Liverpool frontman Daniel Sturridge has been tipped to start alongside Wayne Rooney in the attack, while James Milner is likely to replace Theo Walcott on the wing. 

Montenegro really need victory here if they are to give themselves a decent chance of progressing to Brazil, though – if other results go their way – a draw may suffice to see them to a second place finish and a possible play off. They have drawn two and lost one of their three most recent qualifiers and another defeat here would almost certainly take their destiny out of their own hands.

Coach Branko Brnović will be without key quartet Mirko Vucinic, Mladen Bozovic, Marko Basa and Milorad Pekovic for the trip to Wembley due to injury. Up front, Fatos Beqiraj is expected to partner Stevan Jovetic in the absence of captain Vucinic.

This will be the fourth time that England have played Montenegro and on each of the other three encounters, the best that the Three Lions could manage was a draw. The two teams met in Podgorica in March and played out a 1-1 draw, with England failing to build on Wayne Rooney’s early goal.

Possible line-ups:

England (4-2-3-1): Hart; Baines, Jagielka, Cahill, Walker; Wilshere, Gerrard; Welbeck, Milner, Rooney; Sturridge.

Montenegro(4-4-2): Poleksic; Jovanovic, Dzudovic, Savic, Volkov; Zverotic, Drincic, Krkotic, Boskovic; Jovetic, Beqiraj. 

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