World Cup Round Up: Qualifying Resumes, Euro 2008 D-day, Goal-line Technology

It is going to be a great weekend for fans of international football. World Cup qualifying resumes in South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In Europe, it is do or die time for many countries trying to qualify for Euro 2008. Get ready to sit back and chew on your fingernails as you watch the scores come in from all over the world. In the meantime, here are a few of the stories from the world of international football today.

SPY SCANDAL. As much as everyone loves a good spy story, the reports that someone was secretly filming Scotland’s training session ahead of their epic clash with Italy Saturday have been downplayed by the Scots themselves. I really wonder how much you can learn from watching a training session anyway. Most of the time it seems like teams are just standing around and going through the motions.

I’m kind of sick of the build up to the Scotland-Italy match, but I found this article about the most Scottish town in Italy to be a good read.

Peru has resorted to putting spells on Brazil. Let’s see if that can stop Kaka.

Japan’s coach Ivica Osim has suffered a stroke and is in serious condition. The 66-year-old has been under a lot of scrutiny in Japan and has made some crazy comments since taking over for Zico last year. We certainly wish him a quick and speedy recovery.

Djibouti defeated Somalia 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Africa. How freakin’ cool would it be if Djibouti made it all the way to South Africa 2010? Ain’t going to happen, but dreaming about tiny, obscure countries doing big things is what makes qualifying so much fun.

Will we see goal-line technology in use at the 2010 World Cup? We might if things work out well when FIFA tests it at the FIFA World Club championships in Japan. My guess is that it won’t be used in South Africa. Innovation always come slow to FIFA.

The former boss of Cameroon, Winfried Schaefer, is in talks with Iran to become their next head coach. The Iranian job is a tough one. The country has some very talented players but there is also a lot of government meddling in the football federation.

Brazil has a new kit that doesn’t look very different than its previous one.

South Africa also has a new kit.

The 10-day strike at the construction site of the Durban 2010 stadium might be over soon. That is good news.

The main FIFA site looks at South America’s World Cup qualifiers.

Here’s a quick rundown of who needs to do what in Europe.

Upcoming International Fixtures

Saturday, 17 November 2007

Vanuatu v New Zealand
Fiji v New Caledonia
Comoros v Madagascar
Argentina v Bolivia
Colombia v Venezuela
Peru v Brazil
Guinea-Bissau v Sierra Leone
Uruguay v Chile
Paraguay v Ecuador

European Championship Qualifying
Albania v Belarus, G, 19:00
Andorra v Estonia, E, 17:00
Bulgaria v Romania, G, 16:00
Czech Republic v Slovakia, D, 19:30
FYR Macedonia v Croatia, E, 19:00
Finland v Azerbaijan, A, 14:00
Germany v Cyprus, D, 19:00
Greece v Malta, C, 19:30
Holland v Luxembourg, G, 19:30
Israel v Russia, E, 18:00
Latvia v Liechtenstein, F, 16:00
Lithuania v Ukraine, B, 18:00
Moldova v Hungary, C, 17:00
Northern Ireland v Denmark, F, 19:45
Norway v Turkey, C, 18:00
Poland v Belgium, A, 19:30
Portugal v Armenia, A, 21:00
Scotland v Italy, B, 17:00
Serbia v Kazakhstan, A, 19:45
Spain v Sweden, F, 21:00
Wales v Rep of Ireland, D, 15:00

International Friendlies
Australia v Nigeria, 15:00
France v Morocco, 20:00
Mali v Senegal,
South Africa v USA, 13:30
Uzbekistan v China PR

Sunday, 18 November 2007
Tajikistan v Singapore
Syria v Indonesia
Thailand v Yemen
Turkmenistan v Hong Kong

Finally, this will be my last post on World Cup Blog. I have decided to pursue some other passions. It has been an absolute joy watching the site develop over the past couple of years. I look forward to seeing it reach even another level under the leadership of Daryl. He can be reached at: daryl[at]worldcupblog.org. I wish each and every one of you a healthy and happy life!