World Cup Qualifiers Highlights, Part 1

With the World Cup draw now behind us, Soccerphile's Ozren Podnar takes a quick look at the recently completed qualifiers.

The qualifying stage for the Weltmeisterschaft in Germany is over but it will not be forgotten. There were upsets, turnarounds, incidents and refereeing slips aplenty: first Ukraine's qualification, Portugal's thrashing of Russia, England's defeat in Belfast, fighting in Istanbul, the rise of Liechtenstein... Here they all are, immortalized in a brief Soccerphile dossier...

EUROPEAN ZONE

Group 1

Van Basten's winning run

The triple Golden Ball winner, Marco van Basten, has shown his worth as a coach. Having selected a number of lesser known players from the Dutch League, he took Holland through an easy qualification, winning 10 and drawing 2 of the 12 games. His opponents claim Holland was also lucky, but the results speak for themselves.

Group 2

Goodbye Greece

Your reporter was not confused by the Greek win at Euro2004. The prediction was: "They would not reach the World Cup final stage. They have used up their luck for the next 100 years."

Already on September 9th, 2004, Greece stumbled to Albania in Tirana 2-1. Murati and Aliaj, with goals in the first 11 minutes, brought the Greeks down where they belong: European mediocrity.

Ukraine Gets their five minutes of Glory

Three times Ukraine went down in the playoffs: in 1997 against Croatia, in 1999 against Slovenia, and in 2001 against Germany. It will be Shevchenko's first appearance in a big international competition. We cannot say he did not deserve it.

Group 3

Liechtenstein Stops Portugal

Portugal is a recognized soccer power, but Luiz Felipe Scolari's scouts did not correctly study the play of a fledgling minor power of sorts - Liechtenstein. The Portuguese must have expected easy three points, especially after Pauleta and Hasler with an own goal made it 2-0 in their favour. In the second half, though, Liechtenstein came level through Burgmeier and Beck and created the major shocker of the qualifiers.

Thrashing of Russia

If they could not beat Liechtenstein, Portugal demolished Russia by 7-1 just four days later, with two apiece by Cristiano Ronaldo and Petit.

Group 4

Israel undefeated, but eliminated

A 10-game unbeaten run did not help Israel reach even the playoffs. The brave Near East team avoided defeat in France, Switzerland and Eire, but did not manage to beat their rivals at home either. Narrow wins over Cyprus and the Faeroe Islands kept Israel in third place, level with Switzerland. No World Cup for them since 1970.

Group 5

Slovenia frustrates Italy

Italy is a superpower, Slovenia a team of ordinary workers, but the difference was not noted in the clash between neighbours. Slovenia both outplayed and defeated Italy by 1-0 in Celje. The Azzurri of course finished on top, but for Slovenia beating its southern neighbor with 25 times the population will be an eternal source of comfort to the tiny Alpine nation.

Group 6

England Loses in Belfast

England delighted everybody by defeating Argentina by 3-2 in a friendly. Previously, their fans were less than delighted by their displays in the qualifiers. The loss to a weak Northern Ireland squad by 0-1 was "the peak" of England's campaign, and the fans saluted Sven-Göran Eriksson by chanting "Sack the Swede".

Group 7

Spain-Bosnia: The latest goal

In a game that would turn out to be decisive, Bosnia led Spain by 1-0 in Valencia and held on to the lead until the 90th minute. And until the 92th minute. And until the 94th minute. And until the 96th minute. However, they failed to win because Marchena sent the ball into the net early in the 97th minute, or the 52th minute of the second half. At the time, Bosnia was also two men down. The English referee Bennett's watch had a rhythm of its own.

Group 8

Mighty Malta hold Croatia

Croatia beat a tough Sweden twice, but could not defeat Malta. On September 7th they were held 1-1 in La Valletta. If the chequered squad did not make it, their fans did. On the stands of Ta'Qali, the Croatian hooligans performed a "magnificent spectacle" with torn seats and broken fence bars, clashing bravely with a far larger police force. 100 Croats were sentenced for misdemeanour and deported, with a kind petition not to return to the Island for a while.

Ibrahimovic's masterpiece in Budapest

We need not love Zlatan as a person, but as a player he is an ace. The winning goal against Hungary in the added time was a masterpiece of a soccer genius. Having dribbled past a petrified defender, he smashed the ball just under the bar from a narrow angle. That was the goal that virtually sent Sweden to Germany.

PLAYOFFS

Istanbul, the pearl of the East

Turkey won the third place at the last World Cup, but they will not defend their bronze from Japan and Korea. In the playoffs against Switzerland they needed another goal to go through after losing 0-2 in the Alps and winning by 4-2 at home. If it was exciting on the turf, how exciting do you figure it was when the locals assaulted the Swiss on the way to the dressing room? A FIFA investigation is underway, and Turkey faces a drastic punishment. We hope it will not be suspension from the next World Cup. Let them play their home games in Greece; that would be a sufficient punishment.

Ozren Podnar

Related Links

Best of the 2006 Qualifiers Part 2
World Cup 2006 Qualifying Groups
World Cup 2006 Groups A-H
20 Greatest Goals
20 Greatest Comebacks
20 Greatest Almost Comebacks

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