The path to the finals in Moscow varies, depending on which continent you come from. South America may have the simplest but the toughest. With only 10 countries participating, they can go with a simple home and away match against each side. At the end of the 18 matches, the top four go to finals and fifth place plays the winner of the Oceania confederation qualifying process in a two match playoff. The bad news is that there are four sides ranked in the world top 10 - Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile - so getting one of those top four spots is a tough proposition. After eight matches, form is sort of holding but not exactly as Uruguay sits atop the standings followed by Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, with Ecuador in the playoff spot. Chile is just 7th but with matches against Ecuador and Peru over this break, they could easily move into the top four. You can follow South American qualifying on beinSports on Thursday and Tuesday.
With 53 nations competing for spots, Africa's qualifying is more complicated. The bottom 26 teams played a home and away first round. The 13 advancing from that round are joined with the 27 sides that got a first round bye for a second round of home and away matches. The 20 surviving the second round are then divided into five groups of four for group play. The winners of each group get WC final spots. Group play begins during this break. No surprises so far. The top ranked sides - Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia and Senegal are in separate groups. Cameroon, not a bad side, is in the group with Algeria. Tough break.
Oceania's process seems really complicated for a small confederation. I will simply state that New Zealand will face Papua New Guinea in a two-legged final to determine who gets to play the fifth place country from South America. I must also ask why Australia is not part of this confederation.
Apparently because they are part of the Asia confederation. Last time I checked Australia was its own continent but never mind. Talk about a complicated process to get to four teams from 46. First round is lower ranked teams. Second round is eight groups of five. Eight winners plus four best second place advance to third round, which is round robin play in two groups of six. First and second from this group play get a WC spot. The two third place sides play a two legged tie to determine who gets to play the fourth place team from CONCACAF. Australia, Japan and South Korea look like good bets for three of those spots. Iran, Uzbekistan, and Syria are in the mix too.
Still with me? Good.
Europe, even with 54 countries competing for 13 slots, is not that complicated. Teams are divided into nine groups of six for round robin play. The nine winners get spots, the eight best second place teams are paired for home and away matches, with the four winners getting the other four slots. We're only at match day two there so there's a long way to go. Scroll around Fox Sports and ESPN between now and Wednesday and you'll find plenty of these matches.
CONCACAF is fairly complicated. Early rounds are home and away matches for the lower ranked teams in the 35 nation confederation. Then we get to the fourth round with three groups of four, who do round robin play with the top two in each group advancing to what is affectionately known as the "hex." Six teams play home and away. Top three are into the final, fourth place plays third place from Asia for a final spot. Hex play doesn't start until the November break.
And there you have it, more info on World Cup qualifying than you could ever want.
The Good, the Bad and the Ultimately Still Bad
Full credit to the Union for a tough match against the Red Bulls. They took an early lead, came back from 1-2 to tie. Yes, they played hard, which was good. And against possibly the hottest team in the MLS right now. But they still lost 2-3. And the score kind of flatters them. How many errant passes? The 50-50 challenges seemed to go against them about 90-10. Results from other precincts were not helpful either and we now sit in 6th, three points up on New England. Still, a win over Orlando seals the playoff deal though.
Afterwards I was thinking positive spin - tough result against a top team, playoffs still possible, etc. Upon further review, I'm less upbeat. Yes, the team is not bottom of the table material but maybe has only progressed to also-ran status. And Barnetta's departure at the end of the season to return to his hometown team, along with Noguiera's exit earlier this year threatens the progress we have seen. No other player, except maybe Blake, has been as important to this team as Barnetta. Without a number 10 of higher or similar quality to replace him, Blake's heroics will only serve to keep the margin of defeat lower.
We. Can't. Watch
Hey, that works on two levels. With no streaming available, I was left to follow Newcastle-Rotherham on The Chronicle's live blog. Christian Atsu's goal (this week's YouTubeable Moment) had the Magpies up 1-0 but they couldn't find a second and had some serious defending to do later on. Apparently it got hairy enough that the blogger posted the header We. Can't. Watch. But they held on for the three points and remain in third place.
Worst Prediction?
Apologies to whomever may have tuned into Leicester-Southampton on my recommendation. Who would have expected a 0-0 draw from those sides? There was more interesting stuff elsewhere. Certainly Tottenham dismantling Man City 2-0 was noteworthy. There was no aspect of the game in which Spurs weren't top drawer. Except PKs. Should have been 3-0. Friday's Everton-Crystal Palace 1-1 draw had some spirit to it. Man United couldn't have been too pleased about a 1-1 draw with Stoke. Chelsea eventually tamed Hull 2-0.
And then we have Arsenal's 1-0 defeat of Burnley on a Koscielny goal at 90+3. What a kick in the teeth for a game Burnley side. The goal came with controversy, except most focused on the wrong aspect. See the picture to the left. Oxlade-Chamberlain kicked the ball and it hit Koscielny's arm and went into the goal. Most of the immediate post game commentary was about whether it was handling. Though it would seem unfair to allow a goal that clearly came of off Koscielny's arm, that's not the test. The question is whether Koscielny deliberately handled the ball. For me the evidence says no. But, there's a second, more important problem that you can see from the picture. Where is Koscielny at the time the ball was struck? Yes, he's ahead of the ball with only one defender between him and the goal line. Clearly offside. I was surprised it didn't come up in immediate post game analysis but there was plenty of discussion on the web.
Sack Race
The ax fell on Swansea's Francesco Guidolin after a 1-2 loss at home to Liverpool. Recall that the oddsmakers had him as mostly like to be first to go. With Guidolin's departure, West Ham's Slaven Bilic moves to top with David Moyes (Sunderland) and Tony Pulis (West Brom) in "hot pursuit." The historical accuracy of these odds would give me pause if I was one of these guys and considering buying a house in the city where I managed.
International Break
Scan your local listings and you'll find plenty of international football to watch for the next week.
Australia used to be in Asia, but it prevented New Zealand from ever qualifying from the World Cup. When they switched to Asia, it allowed both of them to qualify.
ReplyDeleteI read Blake is extremely likely to be headed overseas sooner rather than later. He is already 26, even though he hasn't been around long...spent time in college, then two years wasted on the bench/injury.