Translated material
Start with slipping
The favorites of the qualifying round are already losing points
The qualifying campaign for the World Championships, which will take place in 2010 in South Africa, has truly begun in Europe. The first match of the Kazakhstan-Andorra cycle was already played last month. Last weekend, which the Russian team missed due to the will of the calendar, almost all the group favorites entered the fight. Many of them already missed the planned points in the first matches.In the first group, the Swedes started with a misfire in Albania, with Henrik Larsen playing his 100th match. The veteran, who was still in demand in the English Premier League last summer, was not memorable, nor were his partners. Except that Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit the post. In the second group, the Swiss team in Israel failed to maintain a two-goal advantage, and in the third group, the Polish team, renewed after Euro 2008, despite its advantage, was only able to achieve a draw in the opening match with Slovenia. The Scots, whom the draw allows them to count on second place after Holland in the ninth group, managed to lose to the Macedonians.
Even the reigning European champions, the Spaniards, had great difficulty in defeating the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Vicente del Bosque's debut as head coach of the national team was saved by David Villa. The Euro's top scorer in the first half, however, did not convert the penalty, but improved after the break. Ukrainians faced even greater problems. The Belarusians who arrived in Lviv looked much more powerful and could have been dissatisfied with even an away draw. But it turned out even worse. In the third minute of stoppage time, the ball hit the hand of one of the Belarusian defenders, and Andrei Shevchenko converted the penalty awarded by the referee.
Also, already in stoppage time, the world champion, the Italian team, achieved victory over Cyprus. The Cypriots, who had their representative in the group stage of the Champions League, have already grown to the status of strong middle peasants at the national team level. In the match with the Italians, the hosts were determined to take three points, but were left with nothing after Di Natale's strike in the second minute of added time.
But all these local failures and difficulties pale in comparison to the failure of the French team. The team of Raymond Domenech, who miraculously avoided resignation after the Euro, was disgraced in Austria. The hosts benefited from the experience gained at the home European Championship, as well as the change of coach. The debut of Karel Brückner, who built his team's game on counterattacks, turned out to be extremely successful - a 3:1 victory over the French, which even the absence of Ribery, Vieira and Sagnol could not justify. The only thing that could be more offensive is the Romanians, who were defeated at home by the Lithuanians - 0:3.
Only in the fourth group, where the Russian national team will begin its tournament journey on Wednesday, there were no sensations. Guus Hiddink's team will play the first match against Wales. The Welsh did not look so formidable in their opening match against Azerbaijan and even openly forgave their opponent once without converting the penalty. However, the sending off of Brazilian Fabio Ramim, naturalized in Azerbaijan, was not in vain for the guests, and they conceded in the 83rd minute - 18-year-old Wolverhampton striker Sam Vokes scored.
The favorite of the fourth group, the German team, managed without any problems at all. The vice-champions of Europe predictably defeated Liechtenstein (6:0) and are now awaiting a meeting with Finland.
World Championship qualifying round. Group 1. Albania - Sweden - 0:0, Hungary - Denmark - 0:0, Malta - Portugal - 0:4. Group 2 . Moldova - Latvia - 1:2, Israel - Switzerland - 2:2, Luxembourg - Greece - 0:3. Group 3. Poland - Slovenia - 1:1, Slovakia - Northern Ireland - 2:1. Group 4. Wales - Azerbaijan - 1:0, Liechtenstein - Germany - 0:6. Group 5. Armenia - Turkey - 0:2, Belgium - Estonia - 3:2, Spain - Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1:0. Group 6. Ukraine - Belarus - 1:0, Andorra - England - 0:2, Croatia - Kazakhstan - 3:0. Group 7. Romania - Lithuania - 0:3, Serbia - Faroe Islands - 2:0, Austria - France - 3:1. Group 8. Georgia - Ireland - 1:2, Montenegro - Bulgaria - 2:2, Cyprus - Italy - 1:2. Group 9. Macedonia - Scotland - 1:0, Norway - Iceland - 2:2.