Spanning the Globe: World Cup Qualifying in Africa, Asia and South America

October 15th, 2007 | by: WC Bob | Comments Off

It was a busy weekend of World Cup qualifying with games played on three continents. We saw Macau officially eliminated, Madagascar kick of their campaign in style, and some surprises in South America. Here is a down and dirty review of the action, as well as a look ahead at the upcoming qualifiers this week.

Africa
Madagascar 6-2 Comoros Islands – Playing in their first World Cup qualifying match ever, the cool kids from the Comoros couldn’t keep up with mighty Madagascar. Nantes striker Faneva Andriatsima scored four times in the rout. The second league will be played in Comoros on November 17.

Upcoming matches:
Oct. 17: Sierra Leone v Guinea-Bissau

Asia
Thailand 7-1 Macau – After pasting Macau 6-1 at home, Thailand traveled to the Chinese island and put a spanking on an overmatched squad 7-1. The result means Thailand advances to the next round of qualifying while Macau will have to sit at home and watch the rest of the world try to advance to South Africa 2010.

Upcoming matches:
Oct. 18: Kyrgyzstan v Jordan
Oct. 21: Mongolia v North Korea
Timor-Leste v Hong Kong
Sri Lanka v Qatar
Bahrain v Malaysia
China v Myanmar
Oct. 22: Pakistan v Iraq

South America
Uruguay 5-0 Bolivia
Argentina 2-0 Chile
Ecuador 0-1 Venezuela
Peru 0-0 Paraguay
Colombia 0-0 Brazil

Most surprising result from the first round in South America? I would say Venezuela coming away with three points against Ecuador. Venezuela showed some signs of life when they hosted the Copa America this summer, but to knock off an Ecuador side that has qualified for the past three World Cups is a big win, especially since they did so on the road. If you haven’t seen it already, here is the goal of weekend from Venezuela’s Jose Manuel Rey.

Most surprising hero? How about the play of Juan Roman Riquelme for Argentina. He was simply special in helping to lead his country to a win over Chile.

Most underwhelming performance? Yes they got a result on the road against an improving Colombia side, but watching Brazil play a defensive 0-0 draw is something that takes getting used to.

Upcoming games:
Oct. 16
Venezuela v Argentina
Oct. 17
Bolivia v Colombia
Paraguay v Uruguay
Chile v Peru
Brazil v Ecuador