FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualifiers!

2010 World Cup Qualifiers Review

All the match reports from around the world as 2010 World Cup qualification edges towards the finishing line.
Germany booked their ticket for next summer's World Cup finals with a slender 1-0 victory over Russia in Moscow.
Miroslav Klose scored the only goal of the game in the 34th minute as Germany weathered early and late storms and rode their luck after Jerome Boateng was sent off on his debut in the 69th minute.
But Joachim Low's side held on to open up an unassailable four-point lead at the top of Group Four with one game remaining, leaving Guus Hiddink's Russia with the consolation of a place in the play-offs.
Denmark join Germany at next summer's Finals as Jacob Poulsen's first goal for his country secured them a 1-0 victory over Sweden.
The AGF Aarhus midfielder struck from long range, with goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson partly at fault.
The visitors had two second-half strikes disallowed and were unable to capitalise on their dominance after the break, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic a central figure.
Serbia were the third side to book their spot in South Africa with a 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Romania.
Nikola Zigic put the home side in front after 37 minutes and Marko Pantelic, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and a double from Milan Jovanovic - all in the second half - completed the rout.
A miserable night for Romania was completed by a red card for captain Cristian Chivu in the 84th minute.
The win puts Serbia four points clear at the top of Group Seven, so France will have to content themselves with a place in the play-offs after also winning 5-0 against the Faroe Islands.
Andre-Pierre Gignac, who had scored his first goal for France against the Faroes in the 1-0 victory last year, set Les Bleus on their way with a first-half brace and William Gallas extended their lead shortly after the break.
Late goals from Nicolas Anelka and substitute Karim Benzema put the icing on the cake and helped ease the pressure on under-fire coach Raymond Domenech.
Roman Wallner converted a penalty 10 minutes from time as Austria defeated Lithuania 2-1 in Innsbruck to secure third place in Group Seven.
Marc Janko fired the hosts into a 16th-minute lead but Marius Stankevicius levelled for the visitors after 66 minutes.
However, Wallner stepped up to confidently stroke in the winner from the spot after Franz Schiemer was brought down in the penalty area.
Portugal overcame the early loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to move into pole position for a Qualifying play-off with a 3-0 victory over Hungary in Group One.
Two goals from Simao Sabrosa and a header from Liedson earned the hosts their first home win in the qualifying campaign.
That, coupled with Sweden's 1-0 defeat away to group winners Denmark, saw Carlos Queiroz's side move into second place, a position they can wrap up if they beat Malta in Guimaraes on Wednesday.
Spain remained on course to complete a perfect record in qualifying as they made it nine wins from nine with a 2-1 victory over Armenia in a rain-drenched Yerevan.
In a clash between a Spanish side who had already secured their spot in next year's World Cup finals and an Armenia team whose outside hopes of going to South Africa had vanished long ago, it was the European champions who came out on top thanks to Juan Mata's second-half penalty.
Mata coolly slotted home what would prove to be the winning goal from the spot in the 64th minute, just six minutes after Armenia had stunned their visitors by equalising through Robert Arzumanyan.
Spain had earlier taken the lead with a brilliant goal from Cesc Fabregas midway through the first half.
The Czech Republic picked up a hollow 2-0 victory over Poland as Slovenia's 2-0 win over Slovakia left them needing a San Marino miracle to keep their dreams alive.
Substitute Tomas Necid and Jaroslav Plasil scored the second-half goals as Ivan Hasek's team did their bit, but they were frustrated by events elsewhere.
Slovenia's triumph in Bratislava, courtesy of goals from Valter Birsa and Nejc Pecnik, meant they remain two points clear of Hasek's men with only group minnows San Marino - who have lost all nine of their matches, scoring just one goal and conceding 44 - to play.
Goals from Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibisevic ensured Bosnia-Herzegovina will finish second in Group Five as they beat Estonia 2-0 to progress to the play-offs for a place in South Africa.
Miroslav Blazevic's side had won the first meeting between the sides 7-0 last September but they were made to work harder for victory this time around in Tallinn.
A cagey opening was played in an unusual atmosphere as the away fans remained quiet for 24 minutes to remember Sarajevo fan Vedran Puljic, who was killed in violence ahead of his team's match at Siroki Brijeg in the domestic league on Sunday.
Emile Mpenza's double earned Belgium a 2-0 win against Turkey in their Group Five qualifier in Brussels.
The result moved fourth-placed Belgium to within two points of the third-spotted Turks ahead of Wednesday's final round of matches.
Theofanis Gekas netted four goals as Greece all but assured themselves of a place in the qualifying play-offs after coming from behind to defeat Latvia 5-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
Gekas opened the scoring for the hosts after four minutes but Maris Verpakovskis levelled with a superb bicycle kick before putting Aleksandrs Starkovs' team ahead just before half-time.
Gekas then netted a penalty two minutes after half-time after Giorgos Samaras was fouled by Oskars Klava, and the 29-year-old headed home Vasilis Torosidis' centre to put Greece ahead for the second time in the match.
Celtic frontman Samaras then scored with a clever overhead kick with 17 minutes left before Gekas tapped home his fourth and Greece's fifth goal in the first minute of added time
Two goals in as many minutes from defender Philippe Senderos teed up a comfortable 3-0 victory for visiting Switzerland as their hopes of qualification from Group Two were boosted in Luxembourg.
Arsenal centre-half Senderos netted in the sixth minute to put his side ahead before repeating the feat just two minutes later to put the Swiss firmly in control.
Benjamin Huggel made it three after 22 minutes and the hosts were unable to muster a response.
Elyaniv Barda struck twice for Israel as the hosts maintained their slim chances of qualifying for next year's World Cup finals from Group Two with a convincing 3-1 over Moldova.
The Genk forward notched either side of a David Ben Dayan goal as Israel established a three-goal cushion at Ramat Gan national stadium before Denis Calincov's late consolation for the visitors.
Bulgaria's slim hopes of clinching a play-off place were ended as Cyprus ran out comfortable 4-1 winners in their Group Eight qualifier in Larnaca.
Constantinos Charalambides' early brace put the hosts in the ascendancy and, although Dimitar Berbatov halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time, second-half goals from Michalis Constantinou and Stathis Aloneftis sealed the rout.
The result meant Bulgaria were unable to catch second-placed Republic of Ireland and moved fourth-placed Cyprus to within two points of their third-spotted opponents with one round of matches remaining on Wednesday.
Andrija Delibasic scored the winner on his debut as Montenegro earned their maiden qualifying triumph with a 2-1 defeat of Georgia.
Radoslav Batak put Montenegro ahead after 13 minutes at Podgorica City Stadium but Georgia levelled in first-half stoppage time through Vladimir Dvalishvili.
Delibasic found the net 12 minutes from time to secure Montenegro's first win of qualifying Group Eight and leave Georgia without a win at the bottom of the standings.
World Cup holders Italy qualified for South Africa after a last-minute equaliser by Alberto Gilardino secured a 2-2 draw with their hosts the Republic of Ireland.
Belarus completed their home fixtures in Group Six with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan in Brest.
Timofei Kalachev scored twice for the hosts with Maksim Bordachev and Leonid Kovel also getting on the scoresheet.
The result was vindication for home coach Bernd Stange's decision to omit several big-name players, including Alexander Hleb, his brother Vyacheslav and BATE Borisov midfielder Igor Stasevich, in an attempt to look to the future.
Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed a huge scalp after ending England 100% record with a 1-0 win in Dnipro.
Azerbaijan moved off the bottom of Group Four courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein in Vaduz.
Vagif Javadov and Elvin Mammadov were the men on target in the second half at the Rheinpark Stadion as Berti Vogts' side secured their first ever away win.

Didier Drogba wants to showcase Africa at the 2010 World Cup after the Ivory Coast qualified for South Africa with a 1-1 draw against Malawi.

The Chelsea striker, one of the continent's top players in recent years, fittingly scored the decisive goal in Blantyre, helping the Elephants fight from a goal down to secure a share of the spoils and claim the point they needed to finish top of Group E.

It means Drogba and his team became the second team from Africa to qualify for the global spectacle, alongside Ghana, who sealed their berth during the previous round of matches.

The pair will join hosts Bafana Bafana and three other countries from the continent, with the main emphasis for the 31-year-old being to leave a mark on world football - hopefully in the form of a dream run to the final.

"It is going to be a challenge," he said.

"To make it to the final will not be easy because there are great teams like Brazil and Germany who have won the World Cup for many years.

"But my team-mates and I want to make history and want to change the way the world sees African football.

"I hope that we'll be the team that is going to go to the final and win the competition."

The 2006 African footballer of the year, who was only on the field as a substitute three minutes prior to scoring against the Malawians on Saturday, is also pleased with the progress being made on the ground in South Africa - the first nation on the continent to ever stage the World Cup.

He added: "Let's do everything to show people a different Africa. I was here in South Africa for the FIFA Confederations Cup in June and everything was perfect. The stadiums are good and the people in South Africa are very friendly."

Team-mate Yaya Toure was thrilled to have qualified and was hoping to do much better than they did at the last tournament in Germany, where they were pooled in a tough group.

He said: "It's not going to be easy, as there are no small teams in the competition. Every team is competitive and it will be a challenge if we play teams like Brazil or Argentina.

"At the last World Cup we played really well in Germany, but we were unlucky because we were in a very tough group with Argentina and Holland and so went out in the first round."

The Barcelona midfielder, though, was confident they would learn from 2006, adding: "But I think with this kind of experience, it will be possible at South Africa 2010 to do much better. Perhaps we can make the quarter-finals and then semi-finals, this is something we can achieve."

Coach Vahid Halilhodzic was also pleased to have sealed their berth at the World Cup.

"We are very proud to participate in the World Cup for the second consecutive time and this time it is going to be better," he added with optimism.

Wayne Rooney has pulled out of England's World Cup qualifier with Belarus on Wednesday.

The Manchester United forward picked up a calf strain during yesterday's 1-0 defeat away to Ukraine.

After having the injury assessed at England's training base in Hertfordshire, he has been released back to the Old Trafford club.

The news is a shock because if anyone was expected to pull out, it had been Rooney's close friend, and Liverpool skipper, Steven Gerrard.

Whereas Gerrard only lasted until half-time at the Dnipro Arena yesterday, Rooney got through the entire game, turning in a magnificent performance for an England side that was reduced to 10 men after 15 minutes following the dismissal of Robert Green.

But whereas Gerrard has been given the all-clear to remain with the England camp for the final match of a successful Group Six campaign, even allowing for yesterday's result, Rooney must now undergo treatment in the hope of being fit for United's Premier League encounter with Bolton.

He will also be making the reverse journey to Ben Foster, who was named as Green's replacement given the West Ham keeper is now suspended for the Belarus encounter, one of only three remaining before Fabio Capello has to name his squad for next summer's World Cup.

Unless injury hits one of his other four strikers, Capello is unlikely to call in a replacement.

The Italian has the option of pushing Gerrard into a more advanced position, which he plays in so successfully for Liverpool.

Alternatively, he could pair Carlton Cole with Emile Heskey, or possibly Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was an unused substitute yesterday.

Louis van Gaal has revealed he came close to succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2002.

The Dutchman, who is now ruling the roost at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, was approached by United's movers and shakers as they desperately sought a replacement for Ferguson who had announced that he was going to retire.

Having impressed as a coach both at Ajax and Barcelona, van Gaal talked to United's then chief executive Peter Kenyon about a move to Old Trafford, only for Ferguson to change his mind and continue overseeing the Red Devils' fortunes.

"It was before the World Cup of 2002," said van Gaal.

"I was in contact with Manchester United through Peter Kenyon.

"It was said to me that Alex Ferguson was going to retire.

"The moment he'd go, I'd succeed him. But in the end Ferguson didn't want to quit."

Cesc Fabregas will miss Spain's final World Cup qualifier due to a "serious family matter".

The Arsenal midfielder left the international camp on Saturday night in order to fly to Barcelona.

He has been ruled out of action for Wednesday's clash with Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it remains unclear as to whether the matter will affect his domestic commitments.

Arsenal are set to face Birmingham in the Premier League on Saturday, but may be forced to tackle the Blues without the services of their skipper.