WC 2010 qualifying round

[Rasputin]

تلويزيون عربستان با اشاره به توقف تيم ملي فوتبال ايران برابر سوريه كسب اين نتيجه را به دليل ناتوان بودن فدراسيون فوتبال ايران براي تعيين يك مربي براي هدايت تيم ملي دانست.

به گزارش خبرگزاري دانشجويان ايران (ايسنا)، بسياري از مفسران و كارشناسان تلويزيون*هاي عربي منطقه و همچنين رسانه*هاي مكتوب و كاربران اينترنتي عرب در حوزه*ي خليج فارس و خاورميانه پس از توقف تيم ملي ايران برابر سوريه از كسب اين نتيجه ابراز شگفتي كردند.

مفسر تلويزيون ورزشي عربستان در اين باره گفت: "بدون شك گماردن يك كمك مربي ناشناس بر بالاي سر يك تيم بزرگ بعد از يك دوره ركود و ناتواني فدراسيون فوتبال اين كشور براي تعيين يك مربي در راس اين تيم، در به دست آمدن اين نتيجه بي*تاثير نبوده است."

وي افزود:* "مشكلات فوتبال ايران با فيفا و اختلافات داخلي آن از ريشه*هاي اصلي ناكامي تيم بزرگ ايران است. آنها پس از جام جهاني همچنان با خود درگير هستند و دخالت*ها و كشمكش*هاي داخلي و نداشتن برنامه*ريزي درست براي تيم ملي، ايران را در جام ملت*هاي آسيا ناكام گذاشت و در حال حاضر همين روال در شروع رقابت*هاي مقدماتي جام جهاني ديده مي*شود."

مفسر ورزشي تلويزيون عربستان ادامه داد: "معتقدم فوتبال ايران پس از ستارگاني همچون دايي، عابدزاده، باقري، استيلي و عزيزي نتوانسته است جايگزين خوبي براي آنان پيدا كند."

او در ادامه به نگراني علاقه*مندان فوتبال در ايران اشاره كرد و گفت: "تيم ملي ايران نه تنها نتيجه نمي*گيرد بلكه نمايش بدي نيز ارايه مي*دهد و اين موضوع باعث شدت يافتن حملات به تيم ملي ايران در رسانه*هاي انبوه ورزشي اين كشور شده است."

به گزارش ايسنا،* تلويزيون عمان هم در تحليل خود پيرامون رقابت*هاي مقدماتي جام جهاني در منطقه آسيا گفت: "ايران در يك روز بد با ارايه*ي بازي ضعيف برابر سوريه ظاهر شد و برابر اين تيم به نتيجه*ي تساوي دست يافت. پس از اين نتيجه افكار عمومي اين كشور به شدت نگران آن چه پيش آمده است شدند. آنها خود را از قدرت*هاي اصلي آسيا مي*دانند و نبايد مسابقات مقدماتي را با استارتي بد شروع كنند."

مفسر تلويزيون عمان ادامه داد: "اين نتيجه به فوتبال ايران يادآور شد كه نبايد حريفان عرب خود را دست كم بگيرد."

العراقيه اسپورت هم با نمايش تصاويري از ديدار تيم*هاي ايران و سوريه گفت: توقف ستارگان ايران برابر تيم ملي سوريه تنور حملات و انتقادات عليه اين تيم را به شدت گرم كرده است.

مفسر ورزشي العراقيه ادامه داد: توقف برابر سوريه يك شوك بزرگ است و ايران بدترين نتيجه را در ميان بزرگان قاره گرفت و نشان داد صعود آساني در راه جام جهاني نخواهد داشت.

او به مشكل گلزني ايران اشاره كرد و افزود: پيشتر ايران برابر كاستاريكا، قطر و هانزاروستوك با مشكل گلزني مواجه شده بود.

تلويزيون الراي نيز در بخش خبر ورزشي خود توقف تيم ملي ايران برابر سوريه را از برد امارات مقابل كويت مهم*تر توصيف كرد و گفت: كويت وامارات هم حريفان دست و پا بسته*اي برابر ايران نخواهند بود و يكي از سخت*ترين مقدماتي*هاي جام جهاني اكنون پيش روي ايران قرار گرفته است.

[Rasputin]

Iran got off to a poor start in their world cup 2010 qualifying campaign drawing 0-0 with Syria at home in front of 60,000 spectators at Tehran’s Azadi stadium. A draw in Tehran was a good result for Syria ranked 104th in FIFA world ranking. Twenty months of mismanagement in the Iranian Football Federation (IRIFF) is now showing the harm it has inflicted on the national team.



Team Melli has not had a coach since the dismissal of Amir Ghalenoei in July 2007 thanks to infighting in IRIFF and the struggle to elect a president for the federation inline with FIFA regulations of no government interference in the sport, Mr Kafashian was finally elected as the president of IRIFF last month, however, the sought after Spanish head coach Javier Clemente is yet to finalise his contract with IRIFF, this left interim coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh in charge of Iran against Syria.



The match was pretty even on all fronts, Syria had as many shots on Iran’s goal as Iran did on Syria’s, both keepers were on top form and blocked powerful goal-bound shots, Iran’s best player on the day was the goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati who kept the Syrians out with a number of vital saves including a sharp reflex save from close range.



This was a poor show by Iran, European based players Mahdavikia, Teymourian and Kaebi were below their best, upfront Samereh, Karimi, Khalili, Madanchi and Kazemian failed to score, Mobali replaced Mahdavikia with 7 minutes left and was unable to break the deadlock. Iran’s defence was shaky to say the least, Syria penetrated Iran’s defence line on several occasions with the number 6 Jehad Al Hussein of Al Karama FC the danger man. Based on the balance of play neither side could complain with the draw, both sides had good chances to score but two on-form keepers kept the score to 0-0, the only consolation for Iran was not to have conceded an away goal which will be a telling factor when two teams finish on the same point in the table (head-to-head results).






Earlier this week Mr Clemente stated that he would make his final decision whether to accept the head coach position with Iran by Sunday February 10th. Iran’s next WC2010 qualifier is against Kuwait on March 26th, in the other Group 5 match UAE beat Kuwait 2-0 to take the lead in the table. Anything but a win against Kuwait next month and Iran will find themselves in danger zone. The top two teams will proceed to next and final round qualifiers.



Iran's lineup against Syria: Rahmati - Kaebi, Hosseini, Aghili, Nikbakht - Teymourian - Mahdavikia (83' Mobali), Karimi, Rajabzadeh, Madanchi (76' Kazemian) - Samereh (57' Khalili)

[abadani69]

تيم هاي حاضر در مرحله چهارم قرعه کشي جام جهاني 2010 در آسيا با صعود قطر و امارات کامل شدند
سايت کنفدراسيون فوتبال آسيا نوشت در حاليکه هشت تيم تا قبل از بازيهاي يکشنبه صعود خود را قطعي کرده بودند با نتايج بازيهاي عراق -قطر و امارات - سوريه تکليف مجموع 10 تيم روشن شد.
طبق برنامه قبلي قرعه کشي بازيها جمعه همين هفته 27 جولاي در کنفدراسيون فوتبال آسيا برگزار مي شود تا 10 تيم حاضر در دو گروه پنج تيمي قرار بگيرند.
فيفا ، رنکينگ تيم هاي مرحله چهارم را قبل از قرعه کشي در پنج سيد قرار مي دهد که سيدبندي بر مبناي نتايج تيم ها در جام جهاني 2006 است .
1- استراليا
2- کره جنوبي
3- ايران
4- عربستان سعودي و ژاپن
مکانيسم قرعه کشي :
گلدان 1:
رنک 1- استراليا
رنک 2- کره جنوبي
گلدان 2:
رنک 3- ايران
رنک 4- ژاپن / عربستان
گلدان 3:
رنک 5 - ژاپن / عربستان
رنک 6- بحرين
گلدان 4 :
رنک 7 - ازبکستان
رنک 8 - کره شمالي
رنک 9 - امارات
رنک 10 - قطر
مرحله اول قرعه کشي : ده تيم صعود کرده بر اساس رنکينگ خود در چهار گلدان تقسيم مي شوند . رنکينگ بر مبناي نتايج تيم ها در جام جهاني 2006 است که به تصويب فيفا رسيده است .
(نکته : اگر عربستان سعودي و ژاپن هر دو به اين مرحله راه پيدا کردند از آنجا که نتايج برابري در جام جهاني بدست آوردند و در يک رنک قرار مي گيرند ، هر کدام نامشان اول درآيد در گلدان دوم به عنوان تيم رنک چهارم قرار مي گيرد و تيم ديگر به گلدان سوم مي رود.)
مرحله دوم قرعه کشي : تيم هايي که در گلدان چهارم هستند در قرعه کشي هر کدام که نامشان اول درآيد تيم آ-5 مي شوند، تيم بعدي ب -5 ، تيم سوم آ - 4 و تيم چهارم ب - 4.
مرحله سوم :
تيم هايي که از گلدان سوم در مي آيند به ترتيب به آ - 3 و تيم دوم به ب -3 مي روند.
مرحله چهارم :
از گلدان دوم تيم اول به آ - 2 مي رود و تيم گوي دوم به ب - 2
مرحله پنجم :
تيم گوي اول به آ - 1 مي رود و تيم دوم به ب - 1 مي رود.
برنامه مسابقات
دو گروه پنج تيمي و بازيهاي رفت و برگشت
روز اول : 6 سپتامبر 2008 - 16 شهريور : 3 مقابل 2 و 2 مقابل 5 ( 1 - استراحت )
روز دوم : 10 سپتامبر 2008 - 20 شهريور : 4 مقابل 1 و 5 مقابل 3 (2- استراحت )
روز سوم : 15 اکتبر 2008 - 24 مهر : 1 مقابل 5 و 2 مقابل 4 ( 3 - استراحت ( روز چهارم : 19 نوامبر 2008 - 29 آبان : 5 مقابل 2 و 3 مقابل 1 ( 4 - استراحت )
روز پنجم : 11 فوريه 2009 - 23 بهمن : 4 مقابل 3 و 2 مقابل 1 ( 5- استراحت )
روز ششم : 28 مارچ 2009 - 8 فروردين 2 : 1388 مقابل 3 و 4 مقابل 5 ( 1- استراحت )
روز هفتم : اول آپريل 2009 - 12 فروردين 1 : 1388 مقابل 4 و 3 مقابل 5 ( 2- استراحت )
روز هشتم : 6 جوون 16 : 2009 خرداد 5: 1388 مقابل 1 و 4 مقابل 2 ( 3- استراحت )
روز نهم : 10 جوون 2009 - 20 خرداد 2: 1388 مقابل 5 و 1 مقابل 3 ( 4- استراحت )
روز دهم : 17 جوون 2009 - 27 خرداد 3 : 1388 مقابل 4 و 1 مقابل 2 ( 5- استراحت )

[lajvar]

iran -korea - suden arb- emarat

واحد مرکزي خبر : ايران در مرحله دوم رقابتهاي مقدماتي جام جهاني فوتبال 2010 در افريقاي جنوبي با تيمهاي کره جنوبي ، کره شمالي عربستان سعودي و امارات عربي متحده همگروه شد .
به گزارش خبرگزاري اسوشيتدپرس از کوالالامپور / قرعه کشي تيمهاي حاضر در دور دوم رقابتهاي مقدماتي جام جهاني 2010 فوتبال در قالب دو گروه پنج تيمي انجام شد و ايران با تيمهاي کره جنوبي عربستان سعودي کره شمالي و امارات عربي متحده در يک گروه قرار گرفت . در گروه ديگر نيز تيمهاي استراليا ژاپن بحرين ازبکستان و قطر هم گروه شدند .
گفتني است در پايان اين مرحله ، دو تيم اول و دوم هر گروه ، جمعا چهار تيم به جام جهاني صعود خواهند کرد و تيمهاي سوم هر گروه وارد مرحله پلي اف خواهند شد .

[Rasputin]

It’s early days of course – Australia and South Korea haven’t even started yet, their turns come on Wednesday – but it was an exciting night of football around West Asia. And in northern Europe the Aussies even managed to deflect some of the attention away from the World Cup action with an impressive 2-1 friendly win in the Netherlands that will greatly please Dutch boss Pim Verbeek.

Surprises? There were a few. Perhaps the 3-0 demolition that Uzbekistan suffered at the hands of the unfancied Qatar was the biggest. The Central Asians’ status as the lightest of dark horses in Group A lasted all until Majdi Siddiq gave the hosts a first-half lead in Doha. Two second-half goals ensured a comfortable victory for Jorge Fossati’s men and an early spot at the top of the group.

For Uzbekistan it is a blow, naturally, but there is still time. Next Wednesday’s home match against the Socceroos just became that bit more important and it promises to be a cracker.

There were a few eyebrows raised on a steamy Abu Dhabi evening not least because North Korea finally conceded a goal but the team actually scored two away from home to win 2-1 against UAE. The red men spent the first half frustrating the hosts –though still gave away a couple of opportunities – and then at half-time seemed to realise that the game was there to be won.

Two goals in quick succession, one an own goal and the other a super strike, sent the home fans into despair (many left) and/or anger (others threw things on the pitch). When order and the game was restored, UAE immediately pulled a goal back but couldn’t find the all important equaliser much to the disgust of boss Bruno Metsu. The result puts North Korea on top of Group B and in a fine position to take on South Korea in Shanghai on Wednesday though the team is sure to be tired after ten minutes of injury time, hot and humid conditions and a long flight back to East Asia.

The game of the night was in Manama where what looked like a comfortable victory for Japan descended into nail-biting chaos in the closing stages as Bahrain fought back to bring the score to 3-2.

Before the match coach Takeshi Okada voiced his concerns about the potency of his strikers. That question has still to be answered but if the midfield contributes three goals on a regular basis then it matters not what the frontmen do. It started with a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick daisy-cutter special that somehow made it through the wall and Yasuhito Endo put the visitors further ahead from the spot and when Kengo Nakamura made it 3-0 five minutes from time, it was game over.

Nobody told Bahrain that however. Salman Isa quickly pulled back what looked to be a consolation but when Marcus Tulio Tanaka scored an own goal just seconds later, it ensured a frantic and nervy finish. Japan hung on for the welcome win –though the last few minutes ensured that the smile disappeared from the face of coach Okada by the end -and revenge for March’s 1-0 loss in the same city.

Bahrain travel to Qatar on Wednesday where another defeat could end dreams of a top two spot and an automatic place in South Africa almost before they’ve even begun.

The only draw of the round came in Riyadh where Saudi Arabia and Iran shared the points and two goals. It was a game of two halves – the Saudis dominated the first and really should have scored more than Saad Al Haarthi’s strike and Iran were on top in the second. Javad Nekounam is in fine form these days and headed home late in the game to earn what could be a precious point.

Iran travel to UAE on Wednesday in what promises to be a tense tussle. If we have a similar night then we are in for a treat.

[Rasputin]

Italy started their World Cup defence by winning 2-1 in their qualifier against Cyprus. However, the Azzurri were lucky to leave Lernaca with a victory, and they have Di Natale to thank for the win.

The striker scored a well-taken brace but admitted that Cyprus put the World Champions under plenty of pressure throughout the match. The Italian back-line looked disorganised at times and committed a few howlers during the match, including the goal that resulted from Marco Cassetti's failure to clear the ball and later when Fabio Cannavaro conceded possession in his own half that resulted in a break-away.

"Italy won, but it was not a success that was fully deserved after a trial with so many flaws, especially in defence," Di Natale told RAI after the match. "It was a difficult game. Physically they were better and put us in difficulty. However, with some luck we managed to bring home the result."

Di Natale scored the winner in the 92nd minute, but the Italians struggled to break down the Cyprus defence all game long. The former Empoli player was a favourite of ex-Italy manager Roberto Donadoni and is pleased Marcello Lippi is giving him a chance as well.

"Lippi? He is giving me confidence and I will try in every way to give a hand to the national team," he explained.

Italy's next qualifying match is against Georgia on Wednesday, when they will play at Di Natale's home ground, the Stadio Friuli in Udine.

[Rasputin]

Ecuador comfortably overcame Bolivia in Quito in a contest made all the easier by the early dismissal of Alejandro Lanza.

Minutes after the red card was issued, unwanted Man City striker Felipe Caicedo opened the scoring. But the plucky Bolivians, who had their manager sent to the stands by the referee, equalised shortly before halftime courtesy of Joaquin Botero.

Christian Benitez won a second half penalty, duly converted by Edison Mendez, before the forward got on the scoresheet himself to wrap up the points for Ecuador with 20 minutes remaining.

[Rasputin]

German coach Joachim Loew opted to field a surprisingly conservative line up for the first half, with Simon Rolfes and Thomas Hitzlsperger starting in the central midfield and Piotr Trochowski and Bastian Schweinsteiger on the flanks. Two somewhat surprising omissions were Christoph Metzelder and Mario Gomez, who were replaced by Heiko Westermann and Lukas Podolski, respectively.

Not surprisingly, the first half involved mostly sloppy performances from both sides, although Germany were clearly in control of the match. Despite winning possession 55-45% during this time, Liechtenstein managed just four shots, none of which was on target. Perhaps their best chance came on ten minutes, when Benjamin Fischer’s shot from the left corner of the penalty area went just wide.

The visitors had the majority of the opportunities early, as Philipp Lahm, Trochowski and Lukas Podolski repeatedly linked on the left side, overlapping and creating plenty of space for one another. After just four minutes, Trochowski played a 1-2 with Podolski that resulted in a good save of Trochowski’s effort. Eight minutes later, Peter Jehle made another great save, this time following a low Bastian Schweinsteiger drive. The deadlock did not hold, however, as Trochowski selflessly laid the ball off to Hitzlsperger, who found Podolski open for the opener.

In spite of their relative dominance, the Germans failed to double the advantage before the break, most likely due to their playing a very different style of football. Given much space to work with, the Germans tried to pull their best South American impression with impressive back-heels and inventive passing. The result was a host of cheap turnovers and generally sloppy play from the Germans, who have historically been known for their efficiency.

SECOND HALF:

Minutes after the break, Trochowski was given room to foray to the 18-yard box, wherefrom he laid the ball off for Podolski’s second goal. Still, Germany remained sloppy and did not convert again until the 65th minute, when Schweinsteiger forced Jehle to weakly punch the ball away following a set piece. The ball fell to Rolfes, who tapped the ball in from just outside the six-yard box. Things got worse for the home side just seconds later, as Bastian Schweinsteiger drilled a low shot into the net from 12 yards out.

The home side stepped up their offensive pressure in pursuit of a consolation goal, but were unsuccessful. Close-range efforts from Thomas Beck, Benjamin Fischer and Mathias Christen rather unluckily missed the target.

Luck was with the visitors, however, as in the 76 minutes, Thomas Hitzlsperger’s free kick was deflected into the net by Liechtenstein forward Mario Frick. The icing on the cake came on 87 minutes, when Heiko Westermann headed home Marko Marin’s outswinging corner kick.

In spite of the large margin of victory, both teams have a lot to take from today’s match. Liechtenstein can be pleased with their ability to hold the visitors to just one goal in the first half, but will have to work on their defense if they are to take points in their group. Germany, on the other hand, are surely glad to have revealed Trochowski and Westermann as potentially huge contributors to their cause, although they will have to work on passing ahead of their next match.

Goals:

0-1 Lukas Podolski (21’)

0-2 Lukas Podolski (48’)

0-3 Simon Rolfes (65’)

0-4 Bastian Schweinsteiger (66’)

0-5 Thomas Hitzlsperger (76’)

0-6 Heiko Westermann (87’)

Yellow Cards:

Burgmeier (18'), D'Elia (59')

Germany: Enke - Lahm, Westermann, Tasci, Fritz - Trochowski, Hitzlsperger, Rolfes (Marin, 69'), Schweinsteiger - Podolski (Kuranyi, 76'), Klose (Gomez, 64')

Liechtenstein: Jehle - D'Elia, Stocklasa, Ritzberger- Burgmeier, Polverino (Rohrer, 68’), Gerster, Buechel - Frick, Fischer (Buchel, 87’), Christen (Beck, 74’)

[abadani69]

Unconvincing wins for Italy, England, Spain and Portugal were all overshadowed Saturday when France started its attempt to qualify for the 2010 World Cup with a humbling 3-1 defeat at Austria.

While Italy won 2-1 at Cyprus and European Champion Spain beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, France continued to show the same poor form that brought a surprise first-round exit from Euro 2008 by losing to a team 91 places below it in FIFA’s world rankings.

“Like every other loss, this one hurts,” France coach Raymond Domenech said. “We built up lots of pressure but did not convert our chances. It just wasn’t going to be today.

Philippe Mexes, with an own goal, Rene Aufhauser and Andreas Ivanschitz scored for the home side in Vienna to deal a heavy blow to a France team that faces a tough Serbia team in its next match on Wednesday.

Lithuania took an early lead in Group 7 following a 3-0 win at Romania, while Serbia beat visiting Faeroe Islands 2-0.

Italy escaped with victory following an injury-time goal from Antonio Di Natale, while England needed two second-half goals from substitute Joe Cole to earn a 2-0 win at Andorra in Group 6 and end the jeers from their own supporters at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium.

Spain, playing its first competitive match since hoisting the European Championship trophy, beat Bosnia through David Villa’s 58th-minute strike to extend its unbeaten run to 24 games.

Portugal did better with a 4-0 win at Malta, but that came only after it added three goals in the last 29 minutes after clinging to a first-half own goal for much of the match.

Sweden slipped behind Portugal in the race for one of the World Cup places available to the winners of Europe’s nine qualifying groups after a disappointing 0-0 draw at Group 1 rival Albania, and Hungary held visiting Denmark to a 0-0 draw.

Lukas Podolski scored twice to lead Euro 2008 runner-up Germany to a 6-0 rout of Liechtenstein and the top of Group 4. Wales beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in the other group match.

In the other Group 6 games, England’s next foe, Croatia, beat Kazakhstan 3-0 and Ukraine beat Belarus 1-0.

Belgium beat Estonia 3-2 in Spain’s Group 5, and Turkey won 2-0 at lowly Armenia with second-half goals from Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk.

Greece took early charge of Group 2 when Vasileios Torosidis, Fanis Gekas and Angelos Charisteas scored in an easy 3-0 win at tiny Luxembourg, while Latvia won 2-1 at Moldova, and Israel rallied from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with visiting Switzerland.

Montenegro was denied victory in its first ever World Cup qualifier when Bulgaria substitute Blagoi Georgiev scored in the final minute to earn his team a 2-2 draw, while Ireland won 2-1 at Georgia in Group 8.

The Netherlands lost a friendly 2-1 to visiting Australia but Scotland missed a valuable opportunity to put early pressure on the Group 9 favorites when it lost 1-0 at Macedonia.Iceland twice rallied to draw 2-2 at Norway in the same group.

In Group 3, Slovakia beat Northern Ireland 2-1 and Poland drew 1-1 with Slovenia.

In South America, Paraguay held Argentina 1-1 to stay on top of qualifying with 14 points, two ahead of Argentina.

An own-goal by Gabriel Heinze in the 11th minute put Argentina in a hole early, and the home side was forced to play a man down for the last hour when striker Carlos Tevez was expelled for a hard foul on Dario Veron.

In CONCACAF qualifying, the United States hung on to win its first soccer game in Cuba since 1947, beating the hosts 1-0 in a sloppy, sleepy World Cup qualifier in Havana.

Clint Dempsey scored late in the first half and Tim Howard made two key saves to give the United States its third straight road win in qualifying from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

Guatemala scored late to draw with Trinidad and Tobago, and Ramon Nunez scored twice for Honduras in a 2-1 victory over Canada.

El Salvador beat Haiti 5-0, and Costa Rica routed Suriname 7-0.

In Asian qualifying, Japan held on to beat host Bahrain 3-2 in Manama after leading by three goals in its opening match of Asia’s final round of World Cup qualifying on Saturday.

Japan is one of the favorites to advance from Group A, which also contains Australia, Qatar and Uzbekistan. The top two from each group gain automatic berths to the World Cup, while the two third-place finishers face off for the right to meet the Oceania winner for one spot.

In other Asian games, it was North Korea 2, United Arab Emirates 1; Iran 1, Saudi Arabia 1; and Qatar 3, Uzbekistan 0.

In African qualifying, Chad beat Sudan 2-1 in a match scheduled for May 31 but postponed after an attack on the Sudanese capital of Khartoum by a Darfur rebel group. Sudan severed diplomatic relations with Chad briefly, but the countries resumed relations at the end of July and FIFA arranged for both qualifiers to be played in Cairo, Egypt.

Nigeria beat South Africa 1-0 in a 2010 African Nations Cup qualifier Saturday, with Ike Uche scoring in the 69th minute.

South Africa, which as host automatically gets a berth in the World Cup in 2010, needed a win to qualify for the African Nations Cup. The continental tournament will be played in 2010 in Angola without Bafana Bafana.

In other African qualifiers it was: Cameroon 2, Cape Verde Islands 1; Rwanda 1, Mauritania 0; Kenya 1, Namibia 0; Sierra Leone 2, Equatorial Guinea 1; and Gambia 3, Liberia 0; and Burkina Faso 0, Tunisia 0.

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سايت فدراسيون بين المللي فوتبال (فيفا) نوشت: در نخستين روز از ديدارهاي مرحله چهارم از رقابتهاي مقدماتي جام جهاني 2010 در قاره آسيا، تيم هاي غرب اين قاره خبر سازترين تيم ها بودند.

بنابراين گزارش، درحاليکه انتظار مي رفت ديدار ايران - عربستان نبرد غول ها در خليج فارس باشد،ا اين مسابقه ضعيف تر از حد انتظار برگزار شد.
سايت فيفا در ادامه بررسي نتايج به دست آمده در ديدارهاي مقدماتي قاره آسيا نوشت:تيم تحت رهبري ناصر الجوهر در مراحل آغازين بازي سلطه بيشتري بر مسابقه داشت و سعد الحارثي در دقيقه 29 توانست تماشاگران ميزبان را با به ثمررساندن اولين گل به وجد آورد.
فيفا افزود: ايران که در نيمه نخست توفان حملات سعودي ها را مهار کرده بود، در نيمه دوم تمام توان خود را براي کسب تساوي به کار گرفت، تلاش هاي ايران در هشت دقيقه مانده به پايان مسابقه پاسخ داده شد، جواد نکونام با به ثمررساندن اين گل امتيازي ارزشمند را براي تيم تحت رهبري علي دايي به دست آورد.
در ساير ديدارها، تيم ژاپن سرانجام توانست از رقابت ديرينه خود با بحرين پيروز خارج شده و اين تيم را 3-2 شکست دهد درحاليکه کره شمالي شکستي شگفت انگيز را با نتيجه 2-1 در دوبي به تيم امارات تحميل کرد و در دوحه نيز تيم قطر 3-0 ازبکستان را شکست داد.

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Luis Fabiano scored two goals to lead Chile in a 3-0 victory over Chile on Sunday in the World Cup South American qualifying series.

Brazil is tied for second place with Argentina with 12 points, trailing Paraguay by 14.

Luis Fabiano gave Brazil the lead in the 21st minute, when Chile appeared to be dominating and attacking more. Ronaldinho sent a free kick to the area and Luis Fabiano scored with a header.

Robinho made it 2-0 in the 44th minute with a right-footed shot off a pass from Luis Fabiano.

Luis Fabiano scored again in the 82nd minute, after dribbling past defender Gary Medel.

With just one minute left, Brazil was reduced to 10 men after midfielder was shown a second yellow card and was ejected.

But Chile also lost a key player when midfielder Jorge Valdivia was expelled for a violent foul to Diego in the 61st minute.

Chile will host Colombia on Wednesday.

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Second-half goals by midfielders Kim Kallstrom and Samuel Holmen gave Sweden a 2-1 win over Hungary in their World Cup Group One qualifier on Wednesday. Following a laboured performance in their 0-0 draw away to Albania on Saturday, Sweden’s recent switch to a 3-5-2 formation worked better on home turf against the Hungarians.

Kallstrom, who had the best of Sweden’s chances in a poor first half, started and finished the move that put the Swedes in front in the 55th minute.

The midfielder set striker Henrik Larsson free down the left and the Swedish captain, winning his 101st cap, crossed to the onrushing Kallstrom who headed home from close range.

Holmen doubled Sweden’s advantage 10 minutes later by coolly putting the ball past keeper Gabor Babos after Larsson had once again put in the groundwork.

Hungary reduced the deficit with the last touch of the game as substitute Gergely Rudolf chested the ball into the net, the referee blowing the final whistle without restarting play.

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France turned round a poor start to their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign by beating Serbia 2-1 courtesy of second-half goals by captain Thierry Henry and fellow striker Nicolas Anelka on Wednesday. France had slumped to an embarrassing 3-1 defeat by Austria in their opening Group Seven game on Saturday in Vienna and French media had speculated coach Raymond Domenech would lose his job if the World Cup runners-up did not win this time.

Striker Henry showed them the way on a mild evening at the Stade de France, collecting a through ball by Sidney Govou to hit the back of the net with an angled shot from inside the area on 54 minutes.

Substitute Anelka doubled the advantage with a fine goal 10 minutes later, twisting his way past two defenders to strike from the edge of the box.

Serbia, who started with a lacklustre 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands, reduced the arrears with a header from a corner by Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic 14 minutes from time.

The visitors threatened a few times in the first half but France took control of the game after the break.

“We showed tonight that we had quality and could play good football,” said Domenech, who was booed by the Stade de France crowd and heard some fans ask for his resignation. “This is interesting for the future,” he added.

STANKOVIC BLOW

Serbia suffered a blow when they lost captain Dejan Stankovic through injury after just five minutes. Coach Radomir Antic later confirmed the midfielder had damaged knee ligaments.

“We played well in the first 30 minutes but missed our chances,” Antic said. “After that France played better with a quick passing game and we suffered.”

Domenech, under criticism since his team made a group-stage exit from Euro 2008, had made three changes from the team who had suffered France’s first defeat by Austria in 38 years.

They paid off with notably a fine performance by playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, starting a match for France for the first time.

The Girondins Bordeaux player, on loan from AC Milan, orchestrated play with calm authority and rattled the crossbar with a superb drive from outside the box on 71 minutes.

Domenech’s decision to replace Karim Benzema with Anelka for the second half proved another key to France’s much-needed victory.

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Bahrain rallied to hold Qatar to a 1-1 draw in their Asian Group One World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, despite playing much of the match with 10 men.

Qatar took the lead in the fifth minute through Sebastian Quintana and Bahrain equalised in the 67th minute through Abdulla Fatadi.

Uruguayan-born Sebastian Quintana put Qatar ahead on the counter-attack, after latching on to a long pass from midfielder Hussain Abdulrahman.

Qatar had a golden opportunity to go 2-0 up in the 35th minute when they were awarded a penalty. But Sayed Jaffer dived to his right to save Sebastian Quintana’s spot kick.

The save spurred on the Bahrainis who launched into attack but they were reduced to 10 men when Abdulla Marzooq was sent off for a second yellow card after rough tackle on Qatari defender Junior Marcone.

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Saudi Arabia scored twice in five thrilling minutes to beat United Arab Emirates 2-1 and snatch a share of the Group Two lead with North Korea in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

The Saudi sucker-punch late in the second half put the World Cup regulars level with the North Koreans, who were held to a 1-1 draw in a highly-charged encounter with arch-rivals South Korea.

Asia newcomers Australia opened their account with a 1-0 victory over a determined but misfiring Uzbekistan, which moved the Socceroos third behind leaders Qatar and Japan in Group One.

Qatar are a point clear at the top after drawing 1-1 with Bahrain in Doha, where Abdulla Fatadi’s 66th minute goal cancelled out Sebastian Quintana’s fifth-minute lead for the hosts.

The Saudis, eyeing a place at their fifth-consecutive World Cup, trailed at the midway stage after Subait Khater’s botched corner sailed comically past three defenders and into the net.

They pushed forward with classy play and levelled on 68 minutes when Abdoh Autef’s shot deflected into the net.

Substitute Ahmed al-Fraidi added a stunning second moments later to sink the UAE when he darted past three defenders and blasted home from inside the box.

In Shanghai, Hong Yong-jo drew first blood for North Korea when he converted a 64th-minute penalty awarded after a foul by South Korean captain Kim Nam-il.

FRUSTRATING MATCH

That lead lasted only five minutes before Ki Sung-yueng took a long pass on his chest and slid the ball under the goalkeeper to further frustrate the North Koreans.

“We knew the problem would be to break down their defence,” North Korean coach Huh Jung-moo told reporters.

“The players were under a lot of pressure, so we didn’t play our best football today.”

Australia went ahead in Tashkent on 25 minutes through Scott Chipperfield and survived over an hour of constant pressure to secure a priceless win in their opening match of the round.

The two sides battled it out in an entertaining first quarter before Luke Wilkshire rode a tackle on the right and picked out the unmarked Chipperfield, whose downward header powered off the turf and into the top left corner.

Uzbekistan attacked relentlessly but failed to find an equaliser, frustrating the capacity crowd with a plethora of poor crosses and wayward shots and some desperate Australian defending.

“It was a great performance,” Chipperfield told Australian television. “We’re going to be confident going to the next few games now… today’s a great bonus for us.”

The top two teams in each group qualify for the 32-team finals in South Africa. A fifth Asian team can advance via an inter-confederation playoff.