Revolution in Africa

The grandees of the Dark Continent were left out of the World Cup

2. Switzerland

6. Faroe Islands

While the strongest teams of the Old World were just preparing to take to the field in the qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup, sensational news began to arrive from the Dark Continent one after another. The revolution in African football, as recent events here have marked, has led to the fact that the upcoming World Cup in Germany will be held without recognized leaders of the continent. Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Morocco - all these teams, whose best players have long defended the honor of the best clubs in Europe, will not go to the World Cup. This is due to a new wave of “dark horses”, or rather “elephants” from Côte d’Ivoire, “black panthers” from Angola, “hawks” from Togo and “black stars” from Ghana.

They tried to slow down the upstarts until the last minute, but the favorites did not take advantage of the gifts - Cameroon, for example, was allowed to take a penalty awarded for no apparent reason in the fifth added minute of the match with Egypt, but the powerful blow of Inter Milan defender Pierre Wome only shook the post and finally buried the hopes of the “indomitable lions.” The fifth African representative at the World Cup will be the Tunisian team. The “Eagles of Carthage” ended their match with their neighbors, the “Satin Lions” from Morocco, in a draw and won the coveted ticket to Germany.

Marco van Basten was unable to fully realize his potential as a player due to an unfortunate injury, but his coaching career exceeds all expectations. Having no experience working with the club, the 40-year-old Dutchman took charge of his native team and began to work wonders with it. Having recruited untested youth into the team, he forced them to play in a way that the team from the Land of Tulips had not done for a long time. The Dutch, led by one of the strongest midfielders in Europe at the moment, Rafael van der Vaart, beat the Czech national team on the road in beautiful style - 2:0 and secured a trip to Goethe's homeland next summer.

Moreover, with their victory, the “orange” gave tickets to Germany to two other teams - England and Poland, each of which, even if they do not become first in the European Group 6, will get to the final tournament of the World Cup from second place. By the way, according to the regulations, there should be two such lucky ones. The winners of the eight groups qualify directly for the World Cup, joined by the top two runners-up (excluding matches against seventh-finishing teams) and the three play-off winners.

As for the founders of football, they again played a lackluster match. The English barely defeated the Austrians, thanks to Lampard's converted penalty. Well, David Beckham has once again made history, now of all English football. For the first time in the 133-year history of the English team, its captain was sent off the field. Moreover, never before has a national team player received a red card twice. The “spice boy” saw the “red light” for the first time in a memorable match with Argentina (he was not the captain at that time). The second time this unpleasant moment happened last Saturday at the Old Trafford stadium, when within one (!) minute David managed to foul his opponent twice.

So, three quarters of the participants in the World Championship starting on June 9 next year have already been determined. In addition to the lucky ones already mentioned, as well as the hosts, these are Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Costa Rica, as well as Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Mexico and Ukraine, who previously secured this right .

Match results. Europe. Group 1. Finland - Romania - 0:1 (Mutu 41 pen.), Czech Republic - Holland - 0:2 (van der Vaart 30, Opdam 37). Group 2. Georgia - Kazakhstan - 0:0, Ukraine - Albania - 2:2 (Shevchenko 45, Rotan 86 - Bogdani 75, 82), Denmark - Greece - 1:0 (Gravgard 39). Group 3. Russia - Luxembourg - 5:1 (Izmailov 7, Kerzhakov 18, Pavlyuchenko 65, Kirichenko 75, 90 - Reiter 52 pens). Slovakia - Estonia - 1:0 (Hlinka 76). Portugal - Liechtenstein - 2:1 (Pauleta 49, Nuno Gomes 86, Fischer 32). Group 4. Cyprus - Ireland - 0:1 (Elliott 6), Israel - Faroe Islands - 2:1 (Benayoun 1, Zandberg 90 - Samuelsen 90), Switzerland - France - 1:1 (Magnin 79 -- Cisse 52). Group 5. Scotland - Belarus - 0:1 (Kutuzov 5), Norway - Moldova - 1:0 (Rusfeldt 49), Italy - Slovenia - 1:0 (Zaccardo 77). Group 6. Northern Ireland - Wales - 2:3 (Gillespie 46, Davis 50 - Davis 27, Robinson 38, Giggs 61) , England - Austria - 1:0 (Lampard 24, pens). Group 7. Lithuania - Serbia and Montenegro - 0:2 (Kezman 42, Vukic 88) , Bosnia and Herzegovina - San Marino - 3:0 (Bolić 48, 75, 85), Belgium - Spain - 0:2 (Fernando Torres 56, 59). Group 8. Bulgaria - Hungary - 2:0 (Berbatov 30, Lazarov 55), Croatia - Sweden - 1:0 (Srna 56 pen.).

Group 1 I V N P M O

1. Holland	11	10	1	0	27--3	31
2. Romania	12	8	1	3	20--10	25
3. Czech Republic	11	8	0	3	32--12	24
4. Finland	11	5	1	5	21--16	16
5. Macedonia	11	2	2	7	11--24	8
6. Andorra	11	1	2	8	4--31	5
7. Armenia	11	1	1	9	6--25	4

October 12. Finland - Czech Republic, Holland - Macedonia, Andorra - Armenia.

Group 2 I V N P M O

1. Ukraine	12	7	4	1	18--7	25
2. Türkiye	11	5	5	1	22--9	20
3. Denmark	11	5	4	2	22--11	19
4. Greece	11	5	3	3	14--9	18
5. Albania	11	4	1	6	11--19	13
6. Georgia	11	2	4	5	14--24	10
7. Kazakhstan	11	0	1	10	5--27	1

October 12. Kazakhstan - Denmark, Greece - Georgia, Albania - Türkiye.

Group 3 I V N P M O

1. Portugal	11	8	3	0	32--5	27
2. Slovakia	11	6	4	1	24--8	22
3. Russia	11	6	4	1	23--12	22
4. Latvia	11	4	3	4	18--18	15
5. Estonia	11	4	2	5	14--17	14
6. Liechtenstein	12	2	2	8	13--23	8
7. Luxembourg	11	0	0	11	5--46	0

October 12. Slovakia - Russia, Luxembourg - Estonia, Portugal - Latvia.

Group 4 I V N P M O

October 12. France - Cyprus, Ireland - Switzerland.

Group 5 I V N P M O

October 12. Belarus - Norway, Slovenia - Scotland, Italy - Moldova.

Group 6 I V N P M O

October 12. Austria - Northern Ireland, England - Poland, Wales - Azerbaijan.

Group 7 I V N P M O

October 12. Lithuania - Belgium, San Marino - Spain, Serbia and Montenegro - Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Group 8 I V N P M O

October 12. Hungary - Croatia, Sweden - Iceland, Malta - Bulgaria.

Arthur PETROSIAN