WC 2010 qualifying round

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Daniele De Rossi scored twice as holders Italy beat Georgia 2-0 in their second World Cup qualifier on Wednesday to go top of Group Eight.

The midfielder opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a blistering left-footed strike and sealed victory in the 89th with a diagonal shot after being picked out by Alessandro Del Piero in the box.

World champions Italy have six points from two games after Saturday’s 2-1 win in Cyprus, two more than Ireland, who drew 0-0 with Montenegro earlier on Wednesday.

Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi said he was satisfied even though his side had not shown much spark on Wednesday or in Cyprus at the weekend, when they were lucky to return from Larnaca with a win.

“We had our headlights off but we have six points,” Lippi told Rai television after the match.

Italy had made a confident start, stringing together some crisp passes.

Luca Toni had a shout for a penalty turned down for a tug by Georgia captain Kakha Kaladze in the eight minute and forward Antonio Di Natale came close with a deflected shot after a threaded pass from Toni shortly before De Rossi’s piledriver.

The hosts eased up after going ahead and Georgia midfielder Levan Kenia squandered a great chance to equalize in the 26th minute, when he failed with two short-range attempts with the goal begging at the end of rapid counter-attack.

SAT COMFORTABLY

But otherwise the Azzurri sat comfortably on their lead until halftime.

Georgia made a couple of fast breaks after the re-start before the second half slipped back into the uneventful rhythm of the first.

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon rushed off his line well to hoof the ball away from Georgia’s Levan Kobiashvili’s feet in a dangerous position and saved a powerful late strike by Kenia before De Rossi’s second gave the home side a flattering 2-0 victory.

Lippi said his side were hit by the loss of injured defenders Alessandro Gamberini and Fabio Grosso and midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and the fact that many are not fully match fit after just one weekend of Serie A action.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries and we’ve got two important results.

“Slowly we’ll get there. (Next time) the players will have five or six games in their legs. We’ll be back in a month in better shape.”

Italy travel to Bulgaria and host Montenegro in qualifiers next month.

Defeat left Georgia bottom of the group with no points after losing 2-1 to the Irish at the weekend.

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Ten-man Scotland got their World Cup qualifying bid back on track with a 2-1 victory over Iceland on Wednesday in Group Nine.

The Scots, who opened with a 1-0 defeat by Macedonia at the weekend, grabbed the lead in the 18th minute when Barry Robson set ***k Broadfoot up for a header inside the six-yard box.

They went 2-0 up in the 59th minute after striker James McFadden was fouled by midfielder Kristjan Orn Sigurdsson and Belgian referee Serge Gumienny awarded a penalty.

Goalkeeper Kjartan Sturluson managed to save McFadden’s spot-kick but the striker and Robson both pounced on the rebound, with Robson appearing to get just ahead of his team mate to prod the ball home from close range.

The game began to swing Iceland’s way when Scotland defender Stephen McManus, celebrating his 26th birthday on the night, was red-carded for a deliberate handball in the area.

Eidur Gudjohnsen converted the resulting penalty in the 76th minute, but the Scots held on to take the points.

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Second-half goals from John Heitinga and Rafael van der Vaart helped Netherlands to a 2-1 victory in Macedonia in their opening World Cup Group Nine qualifier on Wednesday.

The Dutch were in control in a dull first half although Goran Pandev had a chance to take the lead for the hosts but his effort was ruled offside.

Heitinga broke the deadlock just after the interval when he headed home a cross from Arjen Robben.

Midfielder Mark van Bommel set up Van der Vaart just before the hour mark and the playmaker doubled the lead with a fierce shot.

Macedonia’s hopes were pinned on striker Pandev, who tested Netherlands keeper Maarten Stekelenburg twice on his way to pulling one back. He eventually converted a penalty 13 minutes from time.

“I’m satisfied with the three points as I expected it would not be easy to win here,” Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk told Dutch television.

“In the first half we lacked the patience in possession of the ball but we set it straight directly after the break when we had our best phase of the match.”

“With the two-goal lead everything was under control although they pulled one back while we wasted three good chances to settle the match.”

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European champions Spain made it two wins from two with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Armenia in World Cup qualifying Group Five on Wednesday.

Joan Capdevila fired the home side in front after only seven minutes, and soon after Euro 2008 top scorer David Villa doubled the lead as Spain threatened to cut loose.

Armenia, who lost their opening game 2-0 at home to Turkey on Saturday, held on until near the end when goals in quick succession from Villa again and Marcos Senna made sure of the points for the home side.

Victory followed Spain’s 1-0 win over Bosnia on Saturday under new coach Vicente del Bosque, who replaced Luis Aragones after their triumph at the European championship in June.

“It wasn’t an easy game, we had to work very hard,” Capdevila told Spanish state television.

“We are delighted with the results of the last two games as it was important to win these first two matches at home.”

After having laboured for the best part of an hour before breaking down Bosnia on Saturday, Del Bosque opted to bolster his attack by playing Daniel Guiza up front with Villa against Armenia.

From the outset they took the game to the visitors, playing with greater pace and penetration than they did four days earlier.

Andres Iniesta’s clever pass put Capdevila behind the defence after seven minutes for the Villarreal full back to net the opener.

The impressive Iniesta was instrumental in setting up the second as well when he dribbled into the area off the left flank and the ball broke for Villa to shoot low into the corner.

Armenia briefly threatened with Aghvan Mkrytchyan going close on a couple of occasions before the break, but Spain held firm.

Del Bosque gave Barcelona’s 18-year-old striker Bojan Krkic his senior side debut in the second half and Villa hit a post after rounding the goalkeeper.

But the Valencia frontman made no mistake when Xabi Alonso played him into the area 11 minutes from time, and Senna wrapped up the win with a fine 25-metre drive, three minutes later.

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Starting in place of David Beckham, Theo Walcott gave England a much-needed boost.

The 19-year-old scored three goals and Wayne Rooney ended his international scoring drought, leading England over Croatia 4-1 Wednesday night in a World Cup qualifier.

“Tonight was a bit of revenge. It was a great performance and a great result,” Rooney said. “You always enjoy a 4-1 victory, especially after what Croatia did to us in the last qualifying campaign.”

England had lost twice against Croatia in qualifying for June’s European Championship, including a 3-2 defeat at Wembley in November—when England needed only a tie to advance.

“We played well, like a team and without problems,” said England coach Fabio Capello, who replaced Steve McClaren after the November loss. “But this is only one victory, a good performance and nothing else.”

Walcott, who hadn’t scored in his three previous international appearances, became the first player to score three goals in a game for England since Peter Crouch in an exhibition against Jamaica two years ago.

“I’m grateful Capello has given me the opportunity. I’ve got to take that forward now and keep on improving,” said Walcott, who was on England’s 2006 World Cup roster but didn’t play in the tournament.

Croatia lost at home for the first time in a competitive match since relaunching its national team in 1990.

“We started well, but after that red card we looked like a broken-down army, both mentally and physically,” Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said. “I always said that England has phenomenal players who sometimes do not perform.”

Beckham replaced Walcott in the 84th minute. With 105 appearances, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder tied Billy Wright for fourth on England’s career list, trailing only Peter Shilton (125), Bobby Moore (10 and Bobby Charlton (106).

“I decided to play Walcott because I saw him perform well against Andorra and during training,” Capello said. “I saw that he is fantastic both physically and mentally.”

Walcott got his first goal in the 26th minute, taking advantage after a botched clearance from Danijel Pranjic hit his teammate Josip Simunic. The ball fell to Walcott, who scored from a tight angle.

Walcott connected in the 60th from a similar position after a perfect pass by Rooney, who made it 3-0 in the 63rd after a cross from Ashley Cole. It was the 15th goal in 46 appearances for Rooney, who hadn’t scored since a Euro qualifier at Russia last October.

Walcott scored the final goal in the 81st minute.

Croatia played a man short after Robert Kovac was ejected in the 54th—he appeared to hit Joe Cole after a foul. Mario Mandzukic scored for the Croats on a breakaway in the 76th.

[Rasputin]

WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 1)


Sweden 2 - 1 Hungary

Albania 3 - 0 Malta

Portugal 2 - 3 Denmark



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 2)


Moldova 1 - 2 Israel

Latvia 0 - 2 Greece

Switzerland 1 - 2 Luxembourg



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 3)


San Marino 0 - 2 Poland

Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Czech Republic

Slovenia 2 - 1 Slovakia



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 4)


Russia 2 - 1 Wales

Azerbaijan 0 - 0 Liechtenstein

Finland 3 - 3 Germany



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 5)


Turkey 1 - 1 Belgium

Bosnia-Herzegovina 7 - 0 Estonia

Spain 4 - 0 Armenia



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 6)


Kazakhstan 1 - 3 Ukraine

Andorra 1 - 3 Belarus

Croatia 1 - 4 England



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 7)


Faroe Islands 0 - 1 Romania

Lithuania 2 - 0 Austria

France 2 - 1 Serbia



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group


Montenegro 0 - 0 Ireland

Italy 2 - 0 Georgia



WC 2010 qual. - Europe (Group 9)


Iceland 1 - 2 Scotland

Rep. of Macedonia 1 - 2 Holland

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England, Spain and the Netherlands maintained perfect starts in World Cup qualifying Wednesday night to open big leads for spots in the 2010 tournament in South Africa, while Italy and Germany also were victors heading into a six-month break.

Wayne Rooney scored twice for England in a 3-1 victory at Belarus, four days after he had two goals in a 5-1 win over Kazakhstan at Wembley. Defending champion Italy won 2-1 over visiting Montenegro, Germany won 1-0 at home against Wales and European champion Spain won 2-1 at Belgium.

At night, Brazil was booed during a 0-0 tie at home against Colombia, and Chile beat visiting Argentina for the first time since 1973, winning 1-0 on a goal by Fabian Orellana in his international debut.

The United States, having already secured a berth in next year’s regional finals, lost 2-1 at Trinidad and Tobago. Mexico rallied twice for a 2-2 tie at Canada as goals from Matias Vuoso and Carlos Salcido offset go-ahead strikes from Ali Gerba and Tomasz Radzinski.

Having also won at Andorra and Croatia, England (4-0) is off to its best start in World Cup qualifying and leads Ukraine and Croatia by five points in Group Six going into a six-month break.

“It’s good but still there is much to improve,” England defender Rio Ferdinand said.

David Beckham entered in the 88th minute and made his 107th appearance for England, moving past Bobby Charlton into sole possession of third place, trailing only goalkeeper Peter Shilton (125) and Bobby Moore (10.

Helped by two goals from Ivan Rakitic, Croatia outplayed last-place Andorra 4-0 to pulled even at seven points with Ukraine, which was idle and next plays at England on April 1.

European champion Spain also improved to 4-0 as David Villa scored in the 88th minute. After Wesley Sonk put the Belgians ahead in the seventh minute, Andres Iniesta tied it in the 36th minute for Spain, which stretched its unbeaten streak to 27 games.

The Spaniards have has a four-point lead in Group Five over Turkey, which jumped above Belgium into second place after a 0-0 tie in Estonia.

The Netherlands won 1-0 at Norway behind Mark van Bommel’s goal in the 64th minute and holds a five-point advantage in Group Nine over Scotland and Iceland.

“We knew it was going to be a very tough game,” Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst said. “We are very happy with the three points. It gives us a lot of trust and confidence going into the future.”

Portugal played a 0-0 tie at home against Albania, which played a man short for the final 50 minutes after Admir Teli hit Cristiano Ronaldo in the face with a forearm and received a second yellow card. Denmark, which was idle, and Hungary top Group One with seven points, two more than Portugal, Albania and Sweden.

Alberto Aquilani’s first two international goals helped Italy defeat Montenegro and maintain a three-point-lead in Group Eight. Ireland, which beat visiting Cyprus 1-0 on Robbie Keane’s fifth-minute goal, is second.

Germany defeated Wales 1-0 on a 72nd-minute goal by Piotr Trochowski to open a four-point advantage over Russia and the Welsh in Group Four. Helped by two own-goals and a late score by Andrei Arshavin, Russia won 3-0 at home against Finland 3-0.

In Asia, Australia defeated Qatar 4-0 and Japan tied Uzbekistan 1-1 in Group A, and Iran beat North Korea 2-1 and South Korea romped over the United Arab Emirates 4-1 in Group B.

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تيم ملي فوتبال برزيل پس از توقف بدون گل در برابر کلمبيا در مسابقات مقدماتي جام جهاني براي سومين بار پياپي در کسب پيروزي در خانه اش ناکام ماند .

به گزارش خبرگزاريها از ريو دو ژانيرو ، هواداران فوتبال بازيکنان و سرمربي برزيل را در کنار زمين ورزشگاه ماراکانا هو کرده و دونگا سرمربي برزيل پس از کسب يک نتيجه نا اميد کننده ديگر خانگي بيش از پيش در معرض از دست دادن شغل خود قرار گرفت .
قهرمان پنج دوره جام جهاني پيش از اين در ديدار ماه گذشته خود در برابر بوليوي و همچنين ديدار ماه ژوئن خود در مقابل آرژانتين در خانه اش به تساوي دست يافته بود .
دونگا در توجيه اين نتيجه تيم خود گفت :" وقتي تيمي مثل کلمبيا چنين دفاعي بازي مي کند پيروزي سخت مي شود . ولي ما بايد راههايي براي عبور از طرح هاي دفاعي بيابيم ."
به رغم اين تساوي برزيل در جمع ده تيم امريکا جنوبي که در مسابقات مقدماتي اين منطقه شرکت دارند در مکان دوم باقي ماند ولي شش امتياز با پاراگوئه صدرنشين فاصله داد .
پاراگوئه پس از پيروزي يک بر صفر بر پرو 23 امتيازي شد . کلمبيا که در شش بازي پيروز نشده است با يازده امتياز در مکان هفتم جدول قرار دارد . چهار تيم بالاي جدول مستقيما به جام جهاني 2010 افريقاي جنوبي خواهند رفت .

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در بيست و دو بازي انجام شده در مسابقات مقدماتي جام جهاني 2010 افريقاي جنوبي در منطقه اروپا اين نتايج به دست آمد:

گروه يک مالت صفر مجارستان 1
پرتغال صفر آلباني صفر
گروه دو
لتوني 1 رژيم اشغالگر قدس 1
لوکزامبورگ صفر مولداوي صفر
يونان 1 سوييس 2
گروه سه
جمهوري چک 1 اسلووني صفر
اسلوواکي 2 لهستان 1
ايرلند شمالي 4 سن مارينو صفر
گروه چهار
روسيه 3 فنلاند صفر
آلمان 1 ولز صفر
گروه پنج
بوسني هرزگوين 4 ارمنستان 1
استوني صفر ترکيه صفر
بلژيک 1 اسپانيا 2
گروه شش
کر واسي4 آ ندورا صفر
بلاروس 1 انگليس 3
گروه هفت
ليتواني 1 جزاير فارو صفر
اتريش 1 صربستان 3
گروه هشت
گرجستان صفر بلغارستان صفر
ايرلند 1 قبرس صفر
ايتاليا 2 مونته نگرو 1
گروه نه
نروژ صفر هلند 1
ايسلند 1 مقدونيه صفر

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تيم ملي فوتبال کره جنوبي در دومين ديدار خود در گروه دوم از مرحله پاياني رقابتهاي مقدماتي جام جهاني 2010، عصر چهارشنبه تيم امارات متحده عربي را با با برتري 4 بر 1 شکست داد.

در اين ديدار "لي کئون هو"* در دقيقه 19 اولين گل ميزبان را در ورزشگاه "جام جهاني سئول"* به ثمر رساند و شش دقيقه بعد "پارک جي سونگ"* هافبک باشگاه منچستريونايتد گل دوم را وارد دروازه امارات کرد.
به گزارش خبرگزاري رويترز، امارات تنها گل خود را در دقيقه 71 با ضربه "اسمائيل الحمدي" بدست آورد اما گل سوم را به فاصله 9 دقيقه بعد توسط لي دريافت کرد و "کواک تائه هي" در دقيقه 88 گل چهارم را براي ميزبان به ثمر رساند.
تيم کره جنوبي که در انديشه هفتمين حضور پياپي در رقابتهاي جام جهاني است، در اولين ديدار خود در اين مرحله از رقابتها، برابر کره شمالي 1-1 متوقف شد اما امارات متحده عربي تاکنون در هر سه بازي خود تن به شکست داده است.

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تيم ملي فوتبال ژاپن در ديدار خانگي که امروز در ورزشگاه سايتاما در چارچوب رقابتهاي مقدماتي جام جهاني 2010 برگزار شد، به تساوي 1-1 مقابل ازبکستان تن داد.

ازبکستان در دقيقه 26 مسابقه توسط "ماکسيم شاتسيخ" دروازه تيم ميزبان را گشود اما ژاپني ها تا پنج دقيقه به پايان نيمه نخست تلاش کردند تا سرانجام با گل "کيجي تامادا" به جبران گل خورده بپردازند.
به گزارش خبرگزاري رويترز، تيم ژاپن با اين نتيجه در رتبه دوم گروه آ در قاره آسيا قرار گرفت درحاليکه استراليا نيز در ديدار عصر امروز موفق شد قطر را با نتيجه 4 بر صفر مغلوب کرده و صدرنشيني خود را با شش امتياز تثبيت کند.
"برت امرتون" هافبک باشگاه بلکبرن انگليس دو گل براي "ساکروس" ها (استراليا) به ثمر رساند. وي در نيمه نخست يک پنالتي را به گل تبديل کرد اما ديگر گلهاي استراليا را "تيم کاهيل" بازيکن باشگاه اورتون و "جوش کندي" به ثمررساند.
کاهيل چهاردهمين گل ملي خود را در بيست و نهمين بازي ملي وارد کارنامه اش کرد.
تيم ژاپن ماه گذشته در منامه به برتري 3-2 برابر بحرين دست يافته بود اما ازبکستان در هر دو بازي نخست خود تن به شکست داده بود.
رقابتهاي مقدماتي جام جهاني 2010 در قاره آسيا در دو گروه پنج تيمي پيگيري مي شود و دو تيم برتر هر گروه جواز حضور در آفريقاي جنوبي را دريافت خواهند کرد.

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بنابراعلام فدراسيون بين*المللي فوتبال (فيفا) در نخستين روز از مرحله اول پيش فروش بليت*هاي مسابقات جام جهاني ،۲۰۱۰هر دقيقه ۲۰۰نفر ثبت نام كرده اند.

طبق اطلاعيه فيفا، ۶۰هزار نفر در پنج ساعت نخست، تقاضاي خود را ثبت كرده اند كه بسيار فراتر از انتظار است، علاوه بر اين كه در آفريقاي جنوبي نيز هزاران نفر با مراجعه حضوري به بانك ها، فرم خريد بليت را دريافت كرده اند.

برگزاركنندگان جام جهاني ۲۰۱۰استقبال بي*نظير مردم از خريد بليت*ها در روز نخست را نشانه موفقيت اين مسابقات تعبير مي*كنند.

روند آماده*سازي ورزشگاه*ها در آفريقاي جنوبي براي مدتي منتقدان را نگران كرده بود، اما فيفا معتقد است هيچ جاي نگراني وجود ندارد.

درحال حاضر ۷۰۰هزار قطعه از مجموع سه ميليون بليت مختص ۶۴بازي در رقابتهاي ۱۱ژوئن تا ۱۱جولاي ،۲۰۱۰به فروش گذاشته شده است.

هواداران تا پايان ماه مارس فرصت ثبت نام دارند و قرعه كشي بليت*ها در ماه آوريل انجام مي*شود.

بهاي بليت*ها از ۲۰تا ۹۰۰دلار تعيين شده كه نسبت به بليت*هاي ۱/۵۰تا ۵۰ / ۲دلاري مسابقات ليگ در آفريقاي جنوبي، تفاوت قابل ملاحظه*اي است.