The third ones are not superfluous

Leaders fail to break away from their pursuers

In the qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup, there was a struggle not only for the leading positions, but also for third places, which, if the favorites misfire, will give them a chance to compete in the future to advance from the groups. Finland, for example, in our group 4, does not let the Russian team go far. And other companies have their own “dark horses” ready to rush to the finish line.

In Group 1, the teams of Portugal and Sweden unexpectedly found themselves in this role. Their gap from the leading Denmark is already 4 points (the Portuguese lost 7 points). So the caution with which the teams acted in the head-to-head meeting is quite understandable. The Portuguese failed to score for the third match in a row, and another 0-0 draw calls the competence of Portugal national team coach Carlos Queiroz into question. For him, this qualifying cycle could end on Wednesday after the match with a very difficult Albanian team.

It seems that the Hungarian team is finally ready to take advantage of its unexpected chance to reach the finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1986. Its leader, Erwin Koeman, continues to prove the progressiveness of the Dutch coaching school. Even though his teammates from the famous Dutch national team of 1988, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten and brother Ronald Koeman have long been well-known in the coaching business, Edwin will easily catch up with them at this rate.

In the group, the 2 leaders are kept within line of sight by Israel and Latvia. True, the Dorora Kashtan team, which, by the way, is the only one in this company that has no defeats, missed the opportunity to besiege the Greeks. In a return match of sorts on Wednesday, the Israelis will have a much more difficult time. And the same Latvians don’t care where to play with Luxembourg.

In Group 3, perhaps the San Marino team cannot be considered as a potential candidate for at least second place. Even the Northern Ireland team, whose leadership was considered temporary and was explained primarily by two successful games with outsiders, proved the fallacy of this opinion to the Poles in Belfast. Now the Irish have Slovenia in turn, which is very inspired by the successful result of the derby with the Czechs.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are muddying the waters in Group 5. The Belgians may have been unsettled by the stoppage caused by disturbances in the stands. And having conceded three goals into their own goal in 15 minutes, Rene van der Eijkin’s team is now forced to look up to the Bosnians in the standings. They, in turn, surprise with their performance: 16 goals in 5 matches - one of the best results in the current qualifying cycle. Only the European vice-champions, the Germans, score the same amount.

According to all pre-start forecasts, in Group 7 Serbia was left to play the role of the team that the French and Romanians would look back on. However, the Serbs themselves rushed to the top of the standings, and victory in Bucharest is their best help. Romania is fighting with France for second place, and judging by the strained victory of the “tricolors” over modest Lithuania, the favorite here is far from clear.

Group 8 is almost the only one where there are no clear competitors to the two leaders. Georgia, it seems, has finally put an end to this unsuccessful qualifying round, Cyprus and Montenegro are not yet ready to so abruptly move from the camp of “dwarfs” to the company of travel applicants, and Bulgaria will not break out of the captivity of draws.

And only in group 9 the whole struggle unfolded just for second place. The first option was left to the Dutch, which they proved once again by defeating Scotland.

Group 1. Malta - Denmark - 0:3, Albania - Hungary - 0:1, Portugal - Sweden - 0:0. Group 2. Luxembourg - Latvia - 0:4, Moldova - Switzerland - 0:2, Israel - Greece - 1:1. Group 3. Northern Ireland - Poland - 3:2, Slovenia - Czech Republic - 0:0. Group 5. Armenia - Estonia - 2:2, Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - 2:4, Spain - Turkey - 1:0. Group 7. Romania - Serbia - 2:3, Lithuania - France - 0:1. Group 8. Cyprus - Georgia - 2:1, Ireland - Bulgaria - 1:1, Montenegro - Italy - 0:2. Group 9. Holland - Scotland - 3:0.

Group 1 I V N P M O

1. Denmark	4	3	1	0	9--2	10
2. Hungary	5	3	1	1	5--2	10
3. Portugal	5	1	3	1	6--3	6
4. Sweden	4	1	3	0	2--1	6
5. Albania	6	1	3	1	3--3	6
6. Malta	6	0	1	5	0--14	1

Group 2 I V N P M O

1. Greece	5	3	1	1	10--3	10
2. Switzerland	5	3	1	1	9--6	10
3. Israel	5	2	3	0	9--6	9
4. Latvia	5	2	1	2	8--6	7
5. Luxembourg	5	1	1	3	3--11	4
6. Moldova	5	0	1	4	2--9	1

Group 3 I V N P M O

1. North Ireland	6	3	1	2	11--6	10
2. Slovakia	4	3	0	1	8--5	9
3. Czech Republic	5	2	2	1	5--2	8
4. Slovenia	5	2	2	1	5--3	8
5. Poland	5	2	1	2	8--7	7
6. San Marino	5	0	0	5	1--15	0

Group 5 I V N P M O

1. Spain	5	5	0	0	11--1	15
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina	5	3	0	2	16--6	9
3. Türkiye	5	2	2	1	5--3	8
4. Belgium	5	2	1	2	9--9	7
5. Estonia	5	0	2	3	4--15	2
6. Armenia	5	0	1	4	3--14	1

Group 6 I V N P M O

1. England	4	4	0	0	14--3	12
2. Croatia	4	2	1	1	8--4	7
3. Ukraine	3	2	1	0	4--1	7
4. Belarus	3	1	0	2	4--4	3
5. Kazakhstan	4	1	0	3	5--11	3
6. Andorra	4	0	0	4	1--12	0

Group 7 I V N P M O

1. Serbia	5	4	0	1	12--5	12
2. Lithuania	5	3	0	2	6--4	9
3. France	4	2	1	1	6--6	7
4. Austria	4	1	1	2	5--7	4
5. Romania	4	1	1	2	5--8	4
6. Faroe Islands	4	0	1	3	1--5	1

Group 8 I V N P M O

1. Italy	5	4	1	0	8--2	13
2. Ireland	5	3	2	0	6--3	11
3. Bulgaria	4	0	4	0	3--3	4
4. Cyprus	4	1	1	2	4--5	4
5. Montenegro	4	0	2	2	3--6	2
6. Georgia	6	0	2	4	4--9	2

Group 9 I V N P M O

1. Holland	4	4	0	0	8--1	12
2. Iceland	4	1	1	2	4--6	4
3. Scotland	4	1	1	2	2--5	4
4. Macedonia	3	1	0	2	2--3	3
5. Norway	3	0	2	1	2--3	2

Andrey VDOVIN