WC Germany ’06: it’s taking shape
By Lulu the goatkeeper October 10 2005
With twenty four out of thirty two teams having already made it to the World Cup and only one match to go, plus playoffs, the next World Cup to be played in Germany next year does not seem to be that far away anymore.
By Lulu the goatkeeper October 10 2005
With twenty four out of thirty two teams having already made it to the World Cup and only one match to go, plus playoffs, the next World Cup to be played in Germany next year does not seem to be that far away anymore.
The main surprises are the four debutants from Africa, where after 10 games, the qualification process is over.
Tunisia is the only African team this time that is not playing their first World Cup, as they won their group (group 5) leaving Morocco out of it. Angola is one of the debutants, they won their group (#4) and left Nigeria out, a traditional team in World Cups. Ghana won Group 2 beating Congo and South Africa and Togo won Group 1, where Senegal, a sensation in 2002, did not make it. Ivory Coast did the same with Cameroon, another African giant, in Group 3, in a thrilling definition, as Pierre Webo could have given his team the passport to Germany with a penalty, but he sent it wide.
This definition in Africa means that we will see a different set of stars in Germany. While we were thinking about Samuel Eto’o, El Hadji Diouf, Obafemi Martins and many others, the ones that will actually get to play the World Cup will be Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Michael Essien and Udinese’s Sulley Muntari (Ghana), Monaco’s Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) and Benfica’s Mantorras (Angola).
In Europe, we already knew for a long time that we would be seeing Shevchenko and Ukraine in Germany, and this weekend many other teams earned their way to it too. There is still one round to go to be played this Wednesday and then the playoffs will be formed.
In Group 1, Holland qualified after beating the Czech Republic 0-2. Portugal won Group 3 comfortably as they beat Liechtenstein 2-1. Group 5 was won by Italy, that defeated Slovenia 1-0, and that same result got Croatia as they saw off Sweden and won Group 8.
England was lucky to qualify as they depended on the Czech Republic’s result in order to be the best second-placed, but they still can win Group 6 if they beat the current leader Poland. France may have to go to playoffs as they only managed to scrape a draw on one in Switzerland in Group 4, lead by Israel with 18 points and a match ahead, while France and Switzerland have 17 points. The same with Spain in Group 7, currently lead by Serbia and Montenegro, but they beat Belgium 0-2.
In Asia, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia are already thinking about Germany, while Uzbekistan and Bahrain ended 1-1 in the first match of the playoff that will see the winning team fight for a place in the World Cup against the fourth team from Concacaf. Mexico and USA are already in and Costa Rica is close to becoming the third qualified.
Brazil and Argentina were the last two teams to have qualified a long time ago, and now Paraguay and Ecuador join them. The fifth place in South America will go on a playoff against Australia, that have won the group from Oceania. Chile, Colombia and Uruguay, currently fourth, are fighting for this place.
Tunisia is the only African team this time that is not playing their first World Cup, as they won their group (group 5) leaving Morocco out of it. Angola is one of the debutants, they won their group (#4) and left Nigeria out, a traditional team in World Cups. Ghana won Group 2 beating Congo and South Africa and Togo won Group 1, where Senegal, a sensation in 2002, did not make it. Ivory Coast did the same with Cameroon, another African giant, in Group 3, in a thrilling definition, as Pierre Webo could have given his team the passport to Germany with a penalty, but he sent it wide.
This definition in Africa means that we will see a different set of stars in Germany. While we were thinking about Samuel Eto’o, El Hadji Diouf, Obafemi Martins and many others, the ones that will actually get to play the World Cup will be Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Michael Essien and Udinese’s Sulley Muntari (Ghana), Monaco’s Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) and Benfica’s Mantorras (Angola).
In Europe, we already knew for a long time that we would be seeing Shevchenko and Ukraine in Germany, and this weekend many other teams earned their way to it too. There is still one round to go to be played this Wednesday and then the playoffs will be formed.
In Group 1, Holland qualified after beating the Czech Republic 0-2. Portugal won Group 3 comfortably as they beat Liechtenstein 2-1. Group 5 was won by Italy, that defeated Slovenia 1-0, and that same result got Croatia as they saw off Sweden and won Group 8.
England was lucky to qualify as they depended on the Czech Republic’s result in order to be the best second-placed, but they still can win Group 6 if they beat the current leader Poland. France may have to go to playoffs as they only managed to scrape a draw on one in Switzerland in Group 4, lead by Israel with 18 points and a match ahead, while France and Switzerland have 17 points. The same with Spain in Group 7, currently lead by Serbia and Montenegro, but they beat Belgium 0-2.
In Asia, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia are already thinking about Germany, while Uzbekistan and Bahrain ended 1-1 in the first match of the playoff that will see the winning team fight for a place in the World Cup against the fourth team from Concacaf. Mexico and USA are already in and Costa Rica is close to becoming the third qualified.
Brazil and Argentina were the last two teams to have qualified a long time ago, and now Paraguay and Ecuador join them. The fifth place in South America will go on a playoff against Australia, that have won the group from Oceania. Chile, Colombia and Uruguay, currently fourth, are fighting for this place.
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