..::Football III::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Belgium 1-1 Wales: Ramsey strikes late to secure unlikely draw

A late Aaron Ramsey goal earned Wales a dramatic 1-1 draw with Belgiumat the Stade Roi Baudouin on Tuesday. The Wales captain popped up in the dying minutes to slot home and cancel out Kevin De Bruyne's second-half opener to take the edge off what was a celebration for Belgium, with a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup already secured.



The impressive result could help to ease some of the pressure on Wales boss Chris Coleman, whose future had been the subject of much discussion before the match.

Belgium boss Marc Wilmots named a strong side, despite having already wrapped up top spot in Group A, with Romelu Lukaku, Moussa Dembele and De Bruyne all handed starts.

Craig Bellamy was handed his final international appearance up front for the visitors, while Chris Gunter became the youngest Welshman to reach 50 international caps.The visitors looked bright in the opening exchanges, with Bellamy, Simon Church and Ramsey linking well in the middle of the park.

But it was the hosts that carved out the first clear-cut opportunity after 20 minutes, as Lukaku raced away from James Collins to test goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey from a tight angle.

Wales had a chance of their own soon after as Ramsey exchanged a neat one-two with David Vaughan on the edge of the box, before skewing his shot harmlessly wide.Belgium immediately responded and should have taken the lead when De Bruyne found himself on the end of a teasing Kevin Mirallas cross, but failed to find the target.

They were nearly ahead in spectacular circumstances 10 minutes later as Toby Alderweireld managed to flick the ball over Vaughan, before smashing a deflected volley off the bar.Lukaku wasted another good chance just before the break, heading Mirallas' cross just wide.

The Everton striker caused more problems for the Wales defence within the first few minutes of the second half, powering into the box before firing over the bar.
Wilmots brought on Eden Hazard in an attempt to try to find a way through a tenacious visiting rearguard, which suffered a blow when Collins limped off after 55 minutes.

But it was Hazard's team-mate De Bruyne who finally broke the deadlock 10 minutes later, capitalising on a defensive error down the right before driving a low shot past the keeper.It nearly got worse for Wales a couple of minutes later, with Hennessey forced to make a smart save to deny the impressive Mirallas.

Mirallas was denied by the Wolves keeper again 15 minutes from time, before Axel Witsel sent an acrobatic shot over the bar, as the hosts looked to added to their advantage.Wales did manage to test Thibaut Courtois as the match began to wind down, the goalkeeper palming away a Sam Vokes' effort.

Harry Wilson came on for Hal Robson-Kanu to become the youngest player to appear for Wales, but it was veteran Bellamy who provided the moment of magic for Wales' equaliser, teeing up Ramsey in box for a cool finish with just two minutes left.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

England 2-0 Poland: Rooney & Gerrard book Three Lions' World Cup spot

England booked their place at next summer's World Cup in Brazil with a 2-0 win over Poland at Wembley on Tuesday night.

The Three Lions had a host of chance in the first half before Wayne Rooney eventually opened the scoring just before the break, heading the ball past the otherwise excellent Wojciech Szczesny.

Roy Hodgson's charges endured a nervy second period as they failed to kill off the match, until captain Steven Gerrard burst forward, dinked the ball over Szczesny and put the tie beyond doubt.

Chris Smalling was given the nod to replace the suspended Kyle Walker in the England starting line-up, while Michael Carrick was preferred to Frank Lampard in midfield.

Poland, meanwhile, backed by a huge following of around 18,000 fans, made three changes to the side beaten by Ukraine on Friday night, with Szczesny replacing Artur Boruc in goal, while Piotr Celeban and Waldemar Sobota also came in.

The game started at a frantic pace, with the in-form Andros Townsend, rampaging up the right flank once more, stinging the palms of Szczesny. Danny Welbeck latched onto the rebound, but could only send his header wide of the post.

Poland were dangerous on the counterattack and Sobota should have done better when he was afforded too much space but fired wide of the near post, then England were given another let off when Robert Lewandowski raced clear but fired wide with only Joe Hart to beat.

There was no let up in the action as the tricky Townsend rattled the crossbar with a thumping left-footed strike, before Welbeck somehow dragged a shot wide from point-blank range when it seemed easier to score.

The Manchester United striker was presented with another chance 11 minutes before half-time when Gerrard played him in with a cushioned pass, but the 22-year-old failed to get the ball out of his feet and Szczesny came out to avert the danger.

It seemed it would be only a matter of time before the breakthrough would come and the opening goal duly arrived five minutes before the break, when Leighton Baines picked out Rooney with a pinpoint delivery and the striker rose unmarked to head home from six yards out, his seventh goal in six Group H appearances.

Poland made a bright start to the second half and Gary Cahill did well to get in the way of a goal-bound shot from Mateusz Klich, on as half-time substitute.

Cahill came close to a second England goal five minutes after the break when the busy Szczesny palmed away his downward header from a Gerrard corner, then Grzegorz Krychowiak almost put the ball into his own net when stretching to cut out Rooney's dangerous cross.

Lewandowski went one-on-one with Hart once again on the hour-mark, but the England keeper raced out and narrowed the angle to thwart the Borussia Dortmund striker.

Rooney almost had a second after 66 minutes only for Szczesny to tip away the England striker's long-range strike that was bound for the far corner, while Sturridge was also denied by the Arsenal keeper once more.

But just as the tension in Wembley was becoming unbearable, captain Gerrard struck the decisive blow that guaranteed the three points England needed to top the group, driving into the penalty area before neatly finishing past Szczesny to seal the Three Lions' place in Brazil next summer.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

England pattaGodak improve wela thiyanawa

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Spain 2-0 Georgia: Negredo and Mata on the mark

Spain qualified for the World Cup after beating Georgia 2-0 at Carlos Belmonte to finish top of Group I.

The world champions went into the match needing only a point to finish ahead of France, but they never looked like dropping points on their way to a comfortable win.

Georgia were under pressure for almost all of the match and substitute Juan Mata secured the win for Spain just after the hour mark, extending Del Bosque's unbeaten run in competitive home matches to 13.

The Spain coach made six changes from the narrow 2-1 win over Belarus on Friday, including returns for Iker Casillas and Andres Iniesta, while Alberto Moreno made his debut at left-back.

And the hosts dominated proceedings early on, with Negredo going close on two occasions in the first 25 minutes as he shot straight at the goalkeeper from close range and then saw his overhead kick tipped over the crossbar.

Negredo's persistence paid off eventually, however. Iniesta, playing in his home town of Albacete, got to the byline and played a low pass into the danger area which Negredo clipped home.

Georgia should have equalised a few minutes later as Casillas parried Tornike Okriashvili's shot into the path of Nikoloz Gelashvili, but the forward fired over the open goal.

Luck was on Georgia's side just before half-time when Negredo hit the post from close range, and Guram Kashia was there to clear his resulting header off the line.

Unsurprisingly, Spain's superiority continued into the second half, but they found the Georgia defence tougher to break down before eventually doubling their lead.

Aleksander Amisulashvili attempted to clear a cross from the left, but he headed the ball straight at Gerard Pique and Mata lashed the ball into the bottom corner, three minutes after coming on.

With 22 minutes to play, Iniesta would still have been hopeful of getting a goal of his own and he produced a good effort with his left foot that was deflected over.

Mata was also finding space and he nearly set Navas up in the 72nd minute with a low cross to the back post, but the Manchester City forward was crucially tackled at the vital moment.

And although the hosts pressed for more goals, ultimately they settled for a two-goal win as they booked their passage to the finals in Brazil next year.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

France, Portugal & the European nations in the World Cup play-offs

France and Portugal are among the nations to have secured a place in the play-off round of European qualification for World Cup 2014.

France beat Finland 3-0 in their last Group H game but Spain's win over Georgia ensured les Bleus were consigned to second, while Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team-mates finished a point behind Fabio Capello's Russia in Group F.

The one Uefa group runner-up that will miss out on a play-off spot due to their worst record against the first, third, fourth and fifth-placed sides are Denmark due to their only being eight spots up for grabs.

Group B's race for second between four teams - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Armenia and the Danes - went down to the wire, and the way the countries took points off each other worked against them in the end.

Sweden were the only team heading into the final round of matches to be guaranteed to be in the play-offs, with Germany a distant Group C winner, no teams challenging their second place and the bottom-placed team already decided.

The second team to know their play-off fate were Greece, as Bosnia and Herzegovina won to deny the Euro 2004 winners automatic entry to the tournament in Brazil next summer.

Croatia already bagged second place in Group A and were able to avoid missing out on the play-offs despite losing 2-0 to Scotland in their final game on Tuesday.

Iceland - who have never reached a major international tournament in their footballing history - will be delighted to have a crack at World Cup 2014 qualification after Slovenia were defeated 1-0 by Group E winners Switzerland, meaning the Scandinavians' 1-1 draw with Norway was enough to finish second.

Turkey's 2-0 defeat to Netherlands ensured that Romania finished ahead of their Group D runner-up challengers and Fatih Terim's men slipped from second to fourth, with Hungary hopping into third with their 2-0 win over Andorra.

The final spot on Tuesday went to Ukraine, who hammered San Marino 8-0 but were pipped to first place in Group G by England, who beat Poland 2-0 in their Wembley clash.

The draw for the two-legged ties will take place on October 21 in Zurich, with giants France potentially seeded second, opening up the possibility of a clash with fellow pre-draw play-off favourites Portugal.

The top seeds are expected to be Croatia Portugal, Greece and Bosnia although October's Fifa ranking is yet to be released, with France, Sweden, Romania and Iceland set to be the other four sides.

 

[rcccc]

 

[rcccc]

 

[rcccc]

 

[rcccc]

 

[rcccc]

 

[Persius]

what a game ?? panama vs usa . fantastic ..

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Costa Rica 2-1 Mexico: El Tri takes fourth despite loss on wild night

Mexico will have the chance to play its way into next summer's World Cup, but not without a major assist from its age-old rival.

As was the case during its entire Hexagonal adventure, nothing came easy for El Tri, which lost at Costa Rica 2-1 Tuesday but still finished fourth in the standings after the United States' 3-2 victory over Panama. As a result, Mexico will enter a home-and-away playoff with New Zealand next month for a place at the 2014 World Cup.

Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio, a second-half substitute, scored the winner for Costa Rica, powering a free header past Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in the 64th minute. That goal seemed to have put Mexico out of World Cup contention after Panama took a 2-1 lead on the USA, but Graham Zusi's late goal and Aron Johannsson's winner eliminated Panama and ensured that the loss would not put a shocking end to Mexico's qualifying campaign.

Mexico battled from behind for much of the night, but not before having the chance to seize control of the game early on. Chicharito continued his struggles, failing to convert Mexico's first great chance of the night. After a sharp passing sequence sent Oribe Peralta through behind the defense, the Santos Laguna forward squared his ball to Chicharito as Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas raced off his line. Chicharito attempted to one-time his shot into the vacated net, but he scuffed it and mishit it off Peralta, who was standing in an offside position by the far post, therefore negating the strike.

Mexico was made to rue that miss moments later, as Bryan Ruiz opened the scoring. The Fulham man scored in the 25th minute, getting in behind Mexico center backs Rafa Marquez and Hugo Ayala, latching onto a clipped, bouncing ball over the top and heading the ball to create space for himself as he turned and fired a left-footed volley past a helpless Ochoa.

As of that moment, considering Panama's 1-0 lead over the USA, Mexico was out of the World Cup, but Peralta ensured El Tri would jump back into fourth place just four minutes later. Again it was Chicharito that had a potential chance elude him, as Navas came off his line to swat a ball off his foot in the area. Peralta was there to fire home a follow-up shot off the underside of the crossbar, though, to level the score.

Chicharito missed another opportunity at the end of the first half, with Peralta sparking the build-up with a ball down the right channel for Javier Aquino. The Villarreal winger crossed to the near post, where Chicharito was making his run, but he put his first-time chance into the side netting.

Chicharito departed in the 60th minute for Friday's goal-scoring hero Raul Jimenez, but not before picking up a yellow card that will have him suspended for the first leg against New Zealand.

Saborio, who replaced Ruiz in the 49th minute, put Costa Rica back ahead off a free header in front of Ochoa minutes later, which put Mexico back out of the qualification places for just a moment until the USA tied things up with Panama just seconds later.

Navas and Ochoa exchanged highlight-reel saves to preserve the 2-1 scoreline, and Costa Rica midfielder Cristian Bolanos' miss off the far post in the 75th minute did the same. With Mexico unable to beat Navas and its fate resting solely in the USA's hands, the Americans came through at the death to keep Victor Manuel Vucetich's side alive for at least two more games.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Uruguay 3-2 Argentina: Enthralling win not enough for Oscar Tabarez's team

Uruguay will need a play-off to reach the 2014 Fifa World Cup despite an enthralling 3-2 win over Argentinain Montevideo on Tuesday. Oscar Tabarez's men were unable to secure a big enough victory against an under-strength Albiceleste, finishing fifth in the Conmebol qualifying group.They will now need to overcome Jordan in a two-legged playoff in November to reach Brazil 2014.

Maxi Rodriguez cancelled out two Uruguay leads in the first half after Cristian Rodriguez and Luis Suarez had put the hosts ahead.Edinson Cavani's effort early in the second half gave Uruguay hope of overhauling Ecuador on goal difference, but they failed to find another goal.Uruguay made the livelier start in front of their home fans at the Estadio Centenario and it was no surprise when they took a sixth-minute lead.

Suarez's flat set-piece from the right caused problems in the area and eventually fell to Cristian Rodriguez at the back post.The Atletico Madrid attacker's first touch set up his chance before he fired past Sergio Romero and into the top corner.

But the hosts were only ahead for nine minutes as Rodriguez levelled for Argentina.
Rodrigo Palacio did the hard work down the left and crossed for Augusto Fernandez, who cushioned down the pass for Maxi Rodriguez to find the bottom corner.Romero got down well to keep out Cavani before Uruguay were awarded a controversial penalty on 33 minutes.

Suarez went down under the softest of contact from Sebastian Dominguez before converting the penalty, despite Romero diving to his right and almost keeping it out.
But Argentina again took no time in cancelling out the effort as Maxi Rodriguez cut in from the right before firing a powerful finish into the bottom corner.

Suarez's set-pieces caused the visitors problems throughout and Uruguay were unlucky not to go into the break ahead when Cavani headed a free-kick inches wide.

The chances continued to flow to start the second half as Cavani failed to get enough power on his header from a Suarez corner and Palacio struck an effort straight at Fernando Muslera.The combination between Suarez and Cavani helped Uruguay take a 3-2 lead in the 49th minute.

Suarez was released into space down the left and squared a pass for the PSG man, who took a touch before smashing a powerful finish past Romero.Uruguay were somehow denied a two-goal lead in the 67th minute as they struck the woodwork twice.

Christian Stuani headed a Suarez corner against the crossbar before Cristian Rodriguez cut in from the right just minutes later to drill a left-footed strike into the post.

The hosts had other chances - Cristian Rodriguez hit the side-netting, Suarez was denied and they had a penalty shout for handball turned down - but missed opportunities will see them needing a play-off to qualify.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

what a game ?? panama vs usa . fantastic ..

After 90th minute goals 2kak score karala neda USA

 

[Wolverine GTR]

 

[Wolverine GTR]

 

[Wolverine GTR]

 

[unicornx]

 

[unicornx]

Cavanige goal ekanan patta...Sirama strike ekak

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Daem hopeful Ter Stegen ignores Barcelona overtures

Borussia Monchengladbach's Filip Daems has urged goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to ignore the overtures of Barcelona to remain at the club for the time being.Speculation has raged in recent days over whether or not the German outfit can retain the services of the 21-year-old, with the Catalans reportedly earmarking him to replace the outgoing Victor Valdes next summer.

The player's agent has recently refuted reports that the Spanish giants have set the wheels in motion to lure him to Camp Nou and team-mate Daems is hoping the young shot-stopper will remain at Borussia Park."I guess it is the usual way," the veteran defender, 34, told reporters. "If you have a goalkeeper as good as we do, many great teams are interested in him.

"This boy has everything, charisma and lots of talent. He is a really good goalkeeper."He is very young and I hope he stays with us a little bit longer."

The Germany Under-21 international, whose contract expires in 2015, has played eight times this season.