Showing posts with label euro 2008 qualifying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label euro 2008 qualifying. Show all posts

Thursday, June 7, 2007

This Week's Interesting Stories:




A lot of good soccer this week and a lot of transfers. In EURO 2008 Qualifying, Armenia made a sensational shock by defeating Poland 1:0, Finland defeated Belgium 2:0 and Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan played a 1:1 draw. Serbia and Portugal sitting this one out and is almost clear that Portugal and Serbia will be the contenders for the first spot in that group as Poland seems to be losing the "magic touch". Another great game took place in Zagreb, Croatia where Croatia and Russia ended in a 0:0 draw, but an excellent played game with a lot of attacking football. As far as club football goes, it's very interesting that Buffon extended his contract with Juventus even though he said that he wanted to leave, the contract is valid until 2012 when Buffon will probably end his career. Roberto Carlos will join LA Galaxy as his contract had expired with Real Madrid and will join Galaxy on a free transfer, nothing new on Ivica Kralj who is also supposed to sign for the LA side. Frank Ribery the Frenchman has signed a contract with Bayern Munich and Finally, Danko Lazovic had signed with PSV Eindhoven. He is the second Serbian in 3 years to wear number nine for the club after Mateja Kezman a.k.a "Batman". Lazovic reminds me more of the "Punisher" which is what he literately does for a living 'punishing the opposing team for every mistake made and sometimes has a problem with his attitude" In the next post I will give every Serbian player who is in the starting 'A' squad a Super Hero nickname. Thank you for reading this post.

Check Out The Second Half Highlights From The Armenia-Poland Match:

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Finland vs Serbia 0:2 (0:1)



Excellent game in Helsinki for the Serbs. The early goal scored by Bosko Jankovic allowed Serbia to control the game how they wanted to. Serbia dominated 70% and Finland only looked dangerous only in a few occasions but Serbian star defenders Nemanja Vidic and Mladen Krstajic made it almost impossible for The Finland side to convert. Serbia scored their second goal in the last quarter of the second half where Milan Jovanovic scored on his debut from Danko Lazovic's assist. Serbia today didn't just get the two goals and three points, Serbia can also be proud of Antonio Rukavina and Zdravko Kuzmanovic as they were the two youngest players on the field and yet probably the bravest. They both had a few cracks on the goal and I must say that this new attribute is mostly important for Serbia. Serbia finally has not one, but two players that have courage to take long shots. Finally, I must congratulate the whole Serbian squad for their immaculate performance against Finland and the superiority that they showed.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Nikola Zigic Punished 3 Matches:

Nikola Zigic has been given a 3 match ban by UEFA for receiving a red card against Kazakhstan. He already missed one game against Portugal and so he will be gone for 2 more games against Finland and Belgium which are both very tough EURO 2008 qualifiers being played away. Javier Clemente will have to call another striker - probably Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege) or Mateja Kezman (Fenerbahce) who are both in good for as of late. Serbian fans would rather see Mateja Kezman but Milan Jovanovic has been on fire for Standard Liege so it's a tough call.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

EURO 2008 Qualifying Scores & Standings:


Group A:
Azerbaijan 1 - 0 Finland
Poland 1 - 0 Armenia
Serbia 1 - 1 Portugal

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Poland 7 5 1 1 12 5 16
Portugal 6 3 2 1 13 4 11
Serbia 6 3 2 1 8 4 11
Finland 6 3 2 1 7 3 11
Belgium 6 2 1 3 4 6 7
Kazakhstan 6 1 2 3 3 8 5
Azerbaijan 6 1 1 4 2 13 4
Armenia 5 0 1 4 0 6 1


Group B:
Ukraine 1 - 0 Lithuania
Georgia 3 - 1 Faroe Islands
Italy 2 - 0 Scotland

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Ukraine 5 4 0 1 8 4 12
Scotland 6 4 0 2 11 6 12
France 5 4 0 1 12 2 12
Italy 5 3 1 1 9 5 10
Georgia 6 2 0 4 13 12 6
Lithuania 5 1 1 3 3 5 4
Faroe Islands 6 0 0 6 1 23 0

Group C:
Hungary 2 - 0 Moldova
Malta 0 - 1 Greece
Turkey 2 - 2 Norway

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Turkey 5 4 1 0 14 3 13
Greece 5 4 0 1 8 4 12
Bosnia-Herzegovina 5 2 1 2 10 12 7
Norway 5 2 1 2 9 6 7
Hungary 5 2 0 3 8 8 6
Malta 5 1 1 3 5 10 4
Moldova 6 0 2 4 3 14 2

Group D:
Czech Republic 1 - 0 Cyprus
Republic of Ireland 1 - 0 Slovakia
Wales 3 - 0 San Marino

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Germany 5 4 1 0 21 3 13
Czech Republic 6 4 1 1 15 4 13
Republic of Ireland 6 3 1 2 10 7 10
Slovakia 6 3 0 3 15 11 9
Wales 5 2 0 3 8 9 6
Cyprus 6 1 1 4 9 16 4
San Marino 4 0 0 4 0 28 0

Group E:
Estonia 0 - 2 Russia
Israel 4 - 0 Estonia
Andorra 0 - 3 England

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Croatia 5 4 1 0 15 4 13
Israel 6 3 2 1 13 6 11
Russia 5 3 2 0 7 1 11
England 6 3 2 1 9 2 11
F.Y.R. Macedonia 6 2 1 3 5 5 7
Estonia 5 0 0 5 0 10 0
Andorra 5 0 0 5 1 22 0

Group F:
Liechtenstein 1 - 0 Latvia
Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Sweden
Spain 1 - 0 Iceland

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Northern Ireland 6 4 1 1 10 7 13
Sweden 5 4 0 1 9 4 12
Spain 5 3 0 2 9 6 9
Denmark 4 2 1 1 7 2 7
Latvia 4 1 0 3 4 3 3
Liechtenstein 5 1 0 4 3 15 3
Iceland 5 1 0 4 4 9 3

Group G:
Bulgaria 0 - 0 Albania
Romania 3 - 0 Luxembourg
Slovenia 0 - 1 Netherlands

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Netherlands 6 4 2 0 8 2 14
Romania 5 3 2 0 10 3 11
Bulgaria 5 2 3 0 7 3 9
Belarus 5 2 1 2 9 11 7
Slovenia 5 1 1 3 4 8 4
Albania 5 0 3 2 3 6 3
Luxembourg 5 0 0 5 1 9 0

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Serbia VS Portugal Preview:


Serbia hosts Portugal tomorrow in Belgrade in a sold out Marakana. Serbia is coming off a 2:1 defeat to Kazakhstan and Portugal are coming in the game with a 4:0 win against Belgium. Serbia's coach Javier Clemente stated that Serbia will be attacking the whole game and that Saturday's loss against Kazakhstan is buried in the past. On the other hand Luis Felipe Scolari might have a big problem as in today's training Portugal's star winger Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the field injured which leaves Ronaldo questionable for the game tomorrow. Serbia's Zigic is suspended due to the red card he received for elbowing a player against Kazakhstan.

Serbia plays very well against good teams on its soil and the fans tomorrow will enjoy attacking soccer. I am Serbian and as a Serbian fan I wish my national team best of luck.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

EURO 2008 Results & Standings:




Group A:
Poland5 - 0Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan2 - 1Serbia
Portugal4 - 0Belgium


Azerbaijan28/03/07Finland
Poland28/03/07Armenia
Serbia28/03/07Portugal

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Poland641111513
Finland53207211
Portugal531112310
Serbia53117310
Belgium6213467
Kazakhstan6123385
Armenia4013051
Azerbaijan50141131



Group B:
Scotland2 - 1Georgia
Faroe Islands0 - 2Ukraine
Lithuania0 - 1France


Ukraine28/03/07Lithuania
Georgia28/03/07Faroe Islands
Italy28/03/07Scotland

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Scotland540111412
France540112212
Ukraine4301749
Italy4211757
Lithuania4112344
Georgia510410113
Faroe Islands50050200


Group C:
Moldova1 - 1Malta
Norway1 - 2Bosnia-Herzegovina
Greece1 - 4Turkey

Hungary28/03/07Moldova
Malta28/03/07Greece
Turkey28/03/07Norway

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Turkey440012112
Greece4301749
Bosnia-Herzegovina521210127
Norway4202746
Malta4112594
Hungary4103583
Moldova50233112



Group D:
Republic of Ireland1 - 0Wales
Cyprus1 - 3Slovakia
Czech Republic1 - 2Germany

Czech Republic28/03/07Cyprus
Republic of Ireland28/03/07Slovakia
Wales28/03/07San Marino

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Germany541021313
Czech Republic531114410
Republic of Ireland631211810
Slovakia530215109
Cyprus51139154
Wales4103593
San Marino40041270



Group E:
Croatia2 - 1F.Y.R. Macedonia
Israel0 - 0England
Estonia0 - 2Russia

Israel28/03/07Estonia
Andorra28/03/07England

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Croatia541015413
Russia53207111
England5221628
Israel5221968
F.Y.R. Macedonia6213557
Estonia4004060
Andorra40041190



Group F:
Liechtenstein1 - 4Northern Ireland
Spain2 - 1Denmark

Liechtenstein28/03/07Latvia
Northern Ireland28/03/07Sweden
Spain28/03/07Iceland

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Sweden44008212
Northern Ireland53118610
Denmark4211727
Spain4202866
Latvia3102423
Iceland4103483
Liechtenstein40042150



Group G:
Luxembourg1 - 2Belarus
Albania0 - 0Slovenia
Netherlands0 - 0Romania

Bulgaria28/03/07Albania
Romania28/03/07Luxembourg
Slovenia28/03/07Netherlands

TeamsPldWDLGFGAPts
Netherlands53207211
Bulgaria4220738
Romania4220738
Belarus52129117
Slovenia4112474
Albania4022362
Luxembourg4004160