There are four spots left for
European teams at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
On Friday night the first
legs of the play-offs were played and the second leg matches will be played on
Tuesday.
Some results looked
predictable but some outcomes were perhaps more surprising than others.
Here are summaries of the
first legs as well as some predictions on the second legs:
Portugal
v Sweden
This match pitted two stars
in Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic against each other. “CR7” scored
the solitary goal in a match which Paulo Bento’s side dominated.
Erik Hamren’s side is still
in the tie but “Ibra” will need to play a great game for the Swedes to have any
chance of qualification. Portugal should be able to hold on and qualify.
Aside from “CR7”, Bento can
count on Joao Moutinho, Nani, Raul Meireles and a few others. Hamren lacks
another star like Ibra and although Johan Elmander and Sebastian Larsson are
decent players, they aren’t world-beaters.
Iceland
v Croatia
Lars Lagerback’s side managed
to deal with Croatia’s attacks and kept the first leg scoreless. Iceland had to
defend after Olafur Skulason was sent-off and Gylfi Sigurdsson came off
injured.
The Croatians failed to make
their chances count and Niko Kovac’s side must to so in Zagreb. Kovac replaced
Igor Stimac recently but the move could backfire if Iceland springs a shock and
qualifies for the World Cup for the first time ever.
Greece
v Romania
A Greek victory might not
have been surprising but the Greeks scoring three might have been. Kostas
Mitroglou starred in attack by scoring a brace and veteran forward Dimitris
Salpingidis scored the other goal in a 3-1 win.
Despite scoring an away goal,
it looks unlikely that Victor Piturca’s team can overcome the deficit in the
second leg. The Greeks will probably sit back and defend for the duration. If
there is a winner in Bucharest, it will likely be a 1-0 win for Greece.
Ukraine
v France
Arguably the biggest shock of
the play-offs, Ukraine won 2-0 in Kiev. France was highly-fancied before a ball
was kick, especially with the talent at Didier Deschamps’ disposal.
Nasri flopped in midfield but
his teammates weren’t much better. Ribery failed to make an impact and Giroud
started in attack instead of Karim Benzema.
The Ukrainians don’t have a
star like Andriy Shevchenko in their squad but Andriy Yarmolenko is a fine
player and Anatoliy Tymoschuk wasn’t even used.
The French need to win by
three goals to qualify, which will be a hard task. Perhaps the more technically
gifted Benzema should start ahead of the static Giroud for France to have any
hope.
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