
The road to South Africa 2010 is almost over. After more than two years of struggle, various teams are already with a ticket to the Black Continent while others are still fighting to get one. Last September 5 and September 9 were official FIFA matchdays, so games were played all over the world. After these matches, various teams considered heavyweights in their zones were either eliminated or face a dark future in the qualification stages. These are the highlights for each confederation.
AFC (Asia):
After a two-legged game, the small Arab country Bahrain tied 2-2 with the Arab powerhouse Saudi Arabia in a game of the Fifth Round of the qualification stage, but Bahrain made it to the Intercontinental Playoffs because of the away goal rules. It will fight for a right to South Africa against the nation of New Zealand, the Oceania Champion.
CAF (Africa):
Cameroon finally is the leader of his group after defeating 2-1 the Gabon national football team. This is a bad news for both Togo and Morocco who now need to win both their next games to aspire to get into the cup. In other news, Ghana is already qualified and Cote D’Ivoire needs just one point in the next two games to be in the Final Round. Also, Nigeria might miss their second consecutive World Cup if Tunisia wins one of its next matches.
CONMEBOL (South America):
Argentina the two-time world champion is in real trouble, after losing to Paraguay 1-0 in the Defensores de Chaco Stadium last September 9, thealbiazules are out of the direct qualification zone, two points behind the Ecuadorian national team who defeated the Bolivian squad. In other matches, Venezuela defeated 3-1 Peru, Brazil crushed 4-2 Chile, and Uruguay won 3-1 against a Colombian squad that had better game play but failed to score. Chile needs a point to secure their qualification while Ecuador needs to win and that Argentina loses or ties against Peru.
UEFA (Europe):
Portugal is almost completely eliminated of the World Cup 2010 even after it defeated the Hungarian team in Budapest, both Denmark and Sweden its group rivals tied and won respectively putting the Lusitanos two points away from the playoff stages and five points away from the direct qualification with just two matches to go, the Portuguese depend on other results to qualify.
In group 2, Switzerland is a win away from South Africa but the play off spot race has just started, with three teams: Greece, Latvia and Israel just points apart. Group 3 sees Slovakia just a point away from the Finals and four teams playing with the playoff stage pass: Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, and Poland. The next group is a duel between Russia and Germany just a point apart and missing two games. Spain has already won group 5 as has England in Group 6. France is another powerhouse in trouble as it is four points away from Serbia while Italy only needs a point to go to the Final Round.
The smallest group, Group 7 has already finished its fixtures, with the Netherlands finishing a perfect campaign with 8 wins and no loses and Norway in the playoff spot.
CONCACAF (North America):
The Hexagonal stage as it is called has almost ended, with just two match days left, the American team is first with 16 points followed by Mexico with 15, Honduras with 13, and Costa Rica with 12. Trinidad and Tobago is already eliminated and El Salvador needs to win both match days and that Costa Rica loses both only to get to the Intercontinental Playoff. Both the USA and Mexico need to win a match to pass while Honduras and Costa Rica needs event.
Miguel Gtz.