In the last world cup, only half of the teams in the QF and semis were from Europe. This time Europe's representation is almost half of all teams in the Cup. Maybe the rest of the world are not so bad after all? In fact if you make a list of the 32 strongest sides in the world right now, i doubt there would be more than 20 European teams in it.

Ridiculously easy group for Germany. Mexico and Portugal will be having it easy as wel.. Argentina & italy will have it really tough, i wouldnt be surprised to see either of them fall at the first hurdle. France, Spain, England & Brazil have well balanced groups

I just noticed that Belgium were the only country to actually qualify through qualification matches for the last 6 world cups. I guess no other country has done that That said, I would rather watch Ghana vs Italy than the terribly exciting combination of Denmark vs Belgium or Croatia vs Switzerland

They forgot to mention our tough, hard-tackling left winger Pedersen, and the physically imposing Bentley

That was close! I am somewhat worried that if Nelsen carries on like this he may be picked up by Arsenal or Liverpool pretty soon

In the last 4 games, we had to play the only two teams with perfect home records, as well as the only team with a perfect away record (before we played them). We attacked in all 3 games, scored 6 goals, and are the only team to have scored twice against Chelsea this season. I would say we did very very well.

Soccernet's The Insider has another horribly one-sided review of the match. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=350365&cc=4716 Savage is the "Premiership's most theatrical performer " "No footballer likes to see another cheating in a bid to get a player sent-off, but Blackburn's midfield maestro thinks nothing of it " yea, I am sure Soccernet's blue-eyed boys: Ruud, Pires, & Ronaldo never dived in their lives. They always "Savage spent most of the second half lambasting referee Foy about every decision that went against him, but his manager bizarrely rejected the chance to dismiss his first half antics" Hughes should have knelt down on his knees and asked forgiveness for Savage's playacting I wouldnt normally care but the fact is that Soccernet is pretty well read throughout the world and such articles may very well create enemies for us among people who have never seen us play

Reyes should have been booked for his "pansy-punch" at Savage's face. Thats the second game our players are hit with the referee doing nothing. Also was a bit surprised to see Todd starting but i am not sure whether Zurab could have done anything about Henry's goal though.

Well said FourLane Blue His worst crime is that he killed himself through his lifestyle. Did he actually harm anyone else? like Roy Keane for instance? That aside, a moment's silence would be in tribute to his skills and not his drinking.

I am not sure Cygan will start against us. Why shouldnt Senderos who is overall a better defender and plays as a left central defender, fill in for Cygan? I guess he was rested against Wigan due to the 2 matches against Turkey.

To all those who actually believed Reid was in the team of the week through merit, please take the pain of clicking that link and seeing who the other ten players are in soccernet's "Tem of The week" Granted, it says "Team of the Week", not "Best XI of the week" One clue, Crouch is there, as is Titus Bramble "And although Crouch might currently have his critics for a lack of goals, but he can at least claim an assist on Bolo Zenden's first goal, cleverly missing his penalty to allow the Dutch midfielder the luxury of an easy rebound. " "Titus Bramble performed with trademark composure and discipline in Newcastle's 3-0 defeat at the hands of champions Chelsea, and was desperately unlucky to finish on the losing side. "

We are having a problem because we cant select 2 from Todd, Nelsen, and Zura. A far cry from the days when our choices were Johansson, Amoruso, Taylor and Matteo

Savage and Tugay must take advantage of the fact that Sun Jihai will be playing in City's midfield. He is more suited to a right back position because of pace. However, he is not exactly a central midfield player. Also did anyone notice how Dunne spoke about Dickov being a "nightmare"? http://www.eleven-a-side.com/acrossthewate...sp?newsid=20040 Maybe we should unleash Bellamy, Dickov, and Kuqi all at once

and i thought i was the first person to hear the news well, i knew he would leave, but in the middle of the season , and in this fashion? Did Ferguson kick him out, or did he leave by himself?

10 points behind with a game in hand? i dont think that the wars over If Chelsea ever have an injury crisis, they may have a slump and its upto the other teams to capitalize on that. Arsenal also are due a good run sometime soon especially since Henry and Van Persie look in form.

So far Man U are the better team, but only just. All notables in Keane's roll of honor are putting in a good performance, particularly Smith who has kept Lampard and co. quiet so far.

For the first time since i started watching football (12 years back), I will be supporting Man U in a game, albeit grudgingly. What I find most appalling is that Chelsea as a team expect referees to blatantly favor them, and when they dont, they throw tantrums over the fact that the referee was neutral! Plus, "hard men" like Terry collapse after being touched while they can go and kick and shove who they want. A full strength Arsenal team is still a match for Chelsea.

I sometimes tell myself that Wigan are getting a great deal of luck, and also that they havent played Man U, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, or even us! Then I remember that they matched Chelsea, and could very well have shared top spot with them as the previous poster pointed out. It will be very interesting to see how they fare against Arsenal, Spurs and ourselves.

An excellent performance by everyone on the pitch. I am sure Young, Murphy, and Bent did their England chances a whole lot of good in front of Eriksson Friedel made some excellent savbes in the 2nd half. Tugay was superb in his midfield role, spraying passes all around. Bellamy was a constant threat in the final third of the pitch. His finishing showed the difference between a class striker and an ordinary one. The handball decision was appalling, it could have been 5-1, but I am not complaining! The only sad note is that West Ham & Newcastle won, meaning we will be 11th.

Bahrain IS not oil rich. Little of their income is from oil related goods. In fact, it is among the poorer states in the Gulf. That said, the Gulf states do enjoy a lot of clout as a collective goup, due to which Bahrain are to face T&T now. Bahrain has won only 1 out of its last 6 or 7 qualifying games. They are in pretty bad form and still on course for the WC, it would have been fairer to have them play against Uruguay in the playoffs, and Australia against T&T.

the commentator actually has the decency to admit that all the 50-50s are going chelsea's way, and hughes gets sent off that does look bad for Zura

I really dont mind if Terry breaks his leg now or something. He went down as if he was shot

Did anyone notice Gray's reaction when MGP's shot hits the net for the 2nd? The way he clutches his head, one would think that he just scored an own goal

After a long time, both our goals sound like spectacular ones, maybe candidates for Goal of the Month?

1. Arsenal 2. Man United 3. Chelsea 4. Liverpool 5. Middlesborough 6. Villa 7. Spurs 8. Newcastle 9. Blackburn 10. Birmingham 11. Charlton 12 Everton 13. Man City 14. Bolton 15. Portsmouth 16. Fulham 17. West Ham 18. West Brom 19. Sunderland 20. Wigan