BBC Sport

 

A World Cup qualifier between North and South Korea in Shanghai on Wednesday finished in a goalless draw.
The match was moved from the intended venue of Pyongyang after the North had refused to play the anthem and fly the flag of their rivals.

Manchester United midfielder Ji-Sung Park and Fulham's Seol Ki-Hyeon were both in the South Korea team.

North Korea's Hong Yong-jo and Jong Tae-se had chances as the teams met for the third time in World Cup qualifiers.

South Korea had won the previous two meetings, which took place during the qualification campaigns for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

But they could find no way through the stubborn North Korea defence in Shanghai.

Seol, Cho Won-Hee and Park Chu-Young all had chances for South Korea.

And afterwards Park said: "We should have won this match. We couldn't finish around the net."

Fifa ordered the match to be played in Shanghai after South Korea appealed against the North's refusal to fly their flag or play their national anthem.

North Korea had proposed to play a folk song respected by both countries and the use of a joint flag they both played under at the Olympic Games.

South Korea has allowed the North to fly its flag and play its anthem in past home games and will do so again when they meet in Seoul in June.

The two countries, separated by the world's last Cold War frontier, have yet to sign a peace treaty following the 1950-1953 war which divided the Korean peninsula.

BBC Sport

 

A series of stunning upsets brought 2010 World and Nations Cup qualifying alive in the third round of the group stage.

A sequence of big names were humbled as African champions Egypt, Angola, Ghana, Morocco and 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa all suffered defeat.

Cameroon and Ivory Coast were held to draws, as were Senegal and Zambia.

Sunday's fixtures saw Group 4 leaders Nigeria maintain their perfect record with a 1-0 victory in Equatorial Guinea.

A lone goal from defender Joseph Yobo, his second in two matches, once again helped the Super Eagles to pick up three points.

The three other teams of the group, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone, all trail Nigeria by six points.

In another of the day's games Cape Verde beat Mauritius 1-0 in Group 1 with a penalty from their Spanish-based striker Dady.

Cape Verde stay within a point of group leaders Cameroon.

Meanwhile, in Group 7 the 1-1 draw between Madagascar and Mozambique was delayed for ten minutes when a last-minute penalty sparked uproar from the away side.

Madagascar's Guy Hubert Mamihasindrahona converted the spot kick, but Mozambique's players felt the decision had robbed their side of a win.

Both teams still trail Botswana and Ivory Coast in the standings who each have five points.

Lesotho lost 1-0 at home to Libya in a match played in Bloemfontein, South Africa. 

The victory means Libya go joint top with Ghana; the Black Stars remaining Group 5 leaders on goal difference.

Zambia drew away to Swaziland in Group 11 in a result that keeps the three-team table wide open.

Meanwhile, Liberia completed an improbable comeback against Senegal in Monrovia.

In the first qualifier to be played in the country since 10 fans died attending the last Lone Star's game in June, Liberia scored two late goals to earn a 2-2 draw in Group 6.

The result leaves Liberia rooted to the bottom with two points from three games while Senegal top the group with Gambia on five.

In Saturday's games Egypt were facing a disappointing draw in Malawi until things got even worse for Hassan Shehata's team in Blantyre.

Chiukepo Msowoya's volley in stoppage time at the end of the game sparked celebrations across Malawi, but gloom in Egypt.

The reigning African champions now lie third in their group, and face a tough battle to reach the next phase.

Ghana may be the second best team in Africa at the moment, according to the Fifa rankings, but that did not count for much when they encountered Gabon in Libreville.

The Nations Cup hosts from earlier this year had a strong side on display, but were not able to continue their good start to the campaign.

2006 World Cup finalists Angola - who host the 2010 Nations Cup but must still try to qualify for South Africa - went to Kampala and were beaten 3-1 by a triumphant Uganda.

Angola though do still retain the advantage in their group.

South Africa face the opposite challenge - they host the 2010 World Cup but must still qualify for the Nations Cup.

That task was made more difficult when they went down 1-0 to Sierra Leone in Freetown - just reward for some strong performances by the Leone Stars.

Rwanda are the surprise front-runners in Group 8, after a thumping 3-1 win over Morocco.

Cameroon, the best team in Africa according to Fifa's rankings, were furious with their goalless draw in Tanzania and Ivory Coast had to come back from a goal down to secure a draw against Botswana.

FIFA.com

 

After the penultimate round of Asia's third stage of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ on Saturday, seven more teams booked progression to join Uzbekistan in last ten, leaving only two pairs of contenders to battle it out for the remaining two places in the last fixtures on 22 June.

Australia, 1-0 losers to Iraq in the previous match a week ago, bounced back with a 3-1 thrashing of hosts Qatar to deservedly claim first place in Group 1. In the other match, China bowed out after the 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Iraq, who need just a point to go through in the next match against Qatar.

Group 2 saw Bahrain and Japan each advancing as expected. Japan carved out a 3-0 win against hosts Thailand and the result, coupled with Bahrain's 1-1 draw against Oman in the other match played later, saw the two group favourites establishing unassailable advantages with a game to spare.

The qualifying task in Group 3 looked much more straightforward for the teams from the Korean peninsula, who progressed to the last ten hand in hand. In the earlier match, Korea DPR comfortably dispatched Jordan 2-0 at home. The result not only sent coach Kim Jong-Hun's charges through but also assured their southern neighbours a place in the next stage, even without their 3-1 triumph over Turkmenistan.

Group 4 runners-up Saudi Arabia, under newly appointed coach Nasser Al Johar, underlined their credentials as Asia's big boys by claiming the group's second qualifying berth with a 2-0 win over hosts Singapore, with Abdoh Autef and Ahmed Al Fraidi on target in each half.

After grabbing their first win over UAE last week, Ali Daei's Iran continued their winning form as they registered a 2-0 victory over Syria to safely sail through. UAE, 3-2 winners over Kuwait in an thrilling game, will face Syria in the last match needing a draw to go through.

ESPNsoccernet

 

The United States began World Cup qualifying with a crushing 8-0 win over Barbados while Trinidad & Tobago's hopes of repeating their 2006 finals appearance were dented by a 2-1 home loss to Bermuda on Sunday.

In other second preliminary round first-leg matches, Jamaica hammered Bahamas 7-0, Canada won 3-0 in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Mexico stuttered to a 2-0 win over Belize in the first meeting of the two neighbours.

U.S. captain Landon Donovan had complained about the format of the CONCACAF qualifiers, which forces the region's top nations to play two-leg ties against rank outsiders for a place in the group stage, but he had little to worry about against Barbados.

Clint Dempsey opened the scoring when he turned in Carlos Bocanegra's pass after only 53 seconds, Michael Bradley fired the second after 12 minutes and Brian Ching made it 3-0 in Carson, California.

Dempsey and Ching added further goals in the second half while Donovan and Eddie Johnson were also on target and Daryl Ferguson put through his own goal.

Jamaica and Canada also made sure that their return matches would be little more than formalities.

Ricardo Gardner, Demar Phillips and Marlon King put the Reggae Boyz in control by scoring in a eight-minute spell in the first half at Kingston's National stadium.

Luton Shelton added two more after the re-start and Andrew Williams and Omar Daley shared the other goals.

Canada's Ali Gerba came on as a seventh-minute substitute for the injured Rob Friend in Kingstown and scored late in each half in their 3-0 win.

Issey Nakjima-Farran opened the scoring from Tomasz Radzinki's pass in the 32nd minute.

Mexico were less convincing, taking more than one hour to break down the amateurs of Belize. Carlos Vela broke through in the 62nd minute and Mexico's record scorer Jared Borgetti added the second with a stoppage-time penalty, his 44th international goal.

Belize were technically the home team but the game was played in Houston as the Central Americans do not have a stadium which meets FIFA standards.

The only upset involved Trinidad who were sunk by two first-half goals from Bermuda striker John Nusum.

Southampton's Stern John replied for the Soca Warriors, who are led by former Colombia coach Francisco Maturana.

Two players were sent off as Panama beat El Salvador 1-0 at home and Colombian-based Luis Tejada scored the only goal after 21 minutes.

Panama's Juan Perez was dismissed in the 61st minute at the rain-soaked Rod Carew baseball stadium and El Salvador's Manuel Salazar followed in the 90th minute.

The only goalless draw was in Port-au-Prince where Haiti were held by Netherlands Antilles.

ESPNsoccernet

 

Brazil lost 2-0 to 10-man Paraguay and Argentina needed a stoppage-time equaliser to hold Ecuador 1-1 at home in South American World Cup qualifiers on Sunday.

Chile completed a dramatic day by winning 2-0 at high altitude in Bolivia with two goals from defender Gary Medel, the first a bicycle kick.

Brazil and Argentina's poor displays should add to the usual spice when the two meet in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday in the next round of matches.

Paraguay's win in Asuncion, their fourth in the last eight matches against Brazil, took them three points clear at the top of the 10-team group with 13 points from five games.

Argentina are second with 10, followed by Colombia (9), Brazil (8), Venezuela and Chile (7) and Uruguay (5).

The top four teams qualify directly for the 2010 World Cup and the fifth play off against a side from the CONCACAF region.

Paraguay twice hit the woodwork and were rarely troubled by Brazil despite having defender Dario Veron sent off in the 48th minute.

Striker Roque Santa Cruz side-footed Paraguay ahead from close range in the 26th minute and set up the second for Salvador Cabanas one minute after Veron's dismissal.

'There are days when things don't work,' said Brazil coach Dunga, whose team lost 2-0 to Venezuela in a friendly 10 days ago.

'We didn't have any difficulty on controlling our opponents,' said Santa Cruz.

In Buenos Aires, substitute Rodrigo Palacio came on in the 89th minute and scored the winner five minutes later with the last kick of the game after the Ecuador defence lost concentration.

The visitors, who have four points, went ahead when midfielder Patricio Urrutia rifled a 20-metre shot in off the crossbar following a clever Carlos Tenorio backheel in the 69th minute.

'We were lucky to draw the match with the last move of the game,' said Argentina coach Alfio Basile.

'We played well in our last games and today we didn't. There's not much to add.'

Bolivia were delighted to be able to face Chile in La Paz at 3,600 metres above sea level after FIFA last month overturned a ban on internationals at high altitude.

But their joy dissolved on the half hour when Medel scored with an overhead kick from 12 metres. The defender then finished off the hosts with another goal from a corner in the 77th minute.

As well as the altitude, both teams had to contend with a shocking pitch at the Hernando Siles stadium.

Rosenborg91

Jun 16 2008, 01:20 PM

Paraguay is a great side, Chris. They are over Argentina too.

TC Admin

Jun 17 2008, 12:28 AM

Oceania



All seems to be progressing nicely No real shocks I don't think

NZ Soccer

 

All Whites one win away from World Cup playoff
June 14 2008

AUCKLAND - The Thai Airways All Whites moved closer to reaching the 2010 FIFA World Cup on Saturday without kicking a ball as their main rivals for the OFC Nations Cup, New Caledonia, could only manage a 1-1 draw in Vanuatu.

Ricki Herbert’s men now need to beat New Caledonia just once when the two sides meet home and away in September to secure a place in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and a two-legged playoff with Asia’s fifth-best team for a place at the 2010 World Cup.

New Zealand leads the Oceania qualifying series for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa with three wins from as many starts in 2007, including a 2-0 win over Fiji in Lautoka on October 17 and back-to-back wins over Vanuatu in November.

After a scoreless first half in Port Vila, Ramon Djamali put New Caledonia in front in the 75th minute but the visitors’ celebrations were short lived as Etienne Mermer headed Vanuatu level just two minutes later.

In Port Vila: Vanuatu 1 (Etienne Mermer 77) New Caledonia 1 (Ramon Djamali 75)

Remaining fixtures:
June 21 – New Caledonia v Vanuatu
September 6 – New Caledonia v New Zealand
September 6 – Fiji v Vanuatu
September 10 – New Zealand v New Caledonia
September 10 – Vanuatu v Fiji
November 19 – New Zealand v Fiji (neutral venue)

New Zealand’s 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying results to date
Oct 13 (Albany) New Zealand p:p Fiji
Oct 17 (Lautoka) Fiji 0:2 New Zealand Ivan Vicelich 33, Shane Smelltz 87
Nov 17 (Port Vila) Vanuatu 1:2 New Zealand Smeltz 53, David Mulligan 90+4
Nov 21 (Wellington) New Zealand 4:1 Vanuatu Mulligan 14, 82 Smeltz 27(pen), 34

Rosenborg91

Jun 16 2008, 10:56 PM

Iraq beat them, tho, didn't they? Can both Iraq and Australia advance to the WC?