World Cup Corner

Côte d’Ivoire have never once qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, but that could all be about to change.

The Elephants are busy gearing up for their home clash with Cameroon in the ninth and penultimate round of qualifiers, and they go into that game knowing that history beckons. However, Sunday’s visitors have been a thorn in their side more than once in the past, and no one need remind them that the Indomitable Lions harbour their own dreams of appearing in Germany next year.

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Reuters - England striker Michael Owen believes his troubled year at Real Madrid will help him make a major impact on his return to the Premier League with Newcastle United.

“I have no regrets at all about joining Real Madrid a year ago,” the 25-year-old told a news conference at St James’ Park on Wednesday, following his 15 million pounds move on a four-year deal.

“I’m quite an inquisitive person so when I knew of Real Madrid’s interest I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life without playing in another European country. And to get the opportunity to play for one of the most famous clubs in the world was a fantastic opportunity.

“You might like it, you might not, but whatever happens at least now I have no doubts in my mind and I can live the rest of my life knowing what it was like.

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MONACO (AFP) - Champions Liverpool were drawn in the same group as last season’s English league winners Chelsea in the group stages of the Champions League.

Liverpool, who beat Chelsea in the semi-finals in last season’s competition, were without country protection in the draw after UEFA granted them special dispensation to defend the trophy.
Belgian club Anderlecht and Real Betis of Spain make up the group.

“There was a lot of speculation and now we have to play them again,” said Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, Liverpool’s hero as they beat AC Milan on penalties to win last season’s Champions League trophy.

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If we exclude the traditional strongholds of Italy and England, Western Europe has spawned just one world champion. Winners of the 1998 FIFA World Cup™ on home soil, France are the only team from this area of the continent to have raised the supreme trophy aloft.

In 1974, playing their unique brand of ‘total football’, Rinus Michels’ magnificent Netherlands side featuring Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens and Jonny Rep did make it to the final, but more often than not, the region’s teams have been little more than outsiders. To make matters worse, countries such as Andorra, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are all habitually clustered around the bottom ten rungs of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Join us as we examine the qualification prospects of the region’s teams this time around.

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Reuters.com - Argentina have arranged to play England in a friendly in Geneva on November 12 if Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men have already qualified for the World Cup, the Argentine Soccer Association (AFA) said.

The match would serve as a warm-up for the finals in Germany in 2006, for which Argentina qualified in June with a 3-1 win over World Cup holders Brazil.

But if England have not qualified by that date and are involved in a two-legged playoff during November 12-16, Argentina say they will play another top European nation.

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For any members of the fairer sex inclined to shake their heads with incredulity at famous sayings such as “Football’s not a matter of life and death, it’s far more important than that”, or more prosaic terms like “Square it, Robbo, and I’ll bury it!” help is finally at hand.

Ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, the Further Education Centre in the German city of Nuremberg has set up a course for women seeking to learn more about the beautiful game, ‘Understanding football - now it’s women’s turn!’, which is scheduled to start in November.

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The return of Zinedine Zidane alongside Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram for France’s friendly with Côte d’Ivoire bore instant fruit on Wednesday night in Montpellier.

After a year of soul-searching and indecision, Les Bleus were very much their old conquering selves against the in-form Africans, running out comfortable 3-0 winners. The victory is the perfect tonic for a French side preparing for crucial 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ qualifying matches in September and October.

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Jared Borgetti became Mexico’s all-time leading scorer when his goal set Mexico on the way to a hard-fought 2-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Costa Rica on Wednesday. Unbeaten in their 14-match qualifying campaign to date, Mexico lead the six-team final stage with 16 points from six games.

The United States guaranteed themselves at least a fourth-place finish in the CONCACAF ‘Hexagonal’ despite struggling to dispatch Trinidad & Tobago 1-0 in Hartford.

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Tunisia 1-0 home win over Kenya on Wednesday brings them closer to a place at Germany 2006. The win puts Tunisia at the top of the African qualifying zone Group 5 standings for the first time, one point ahead of arch-rivals Morocco.

Tunisia now need only to win their match against Kenya on September 3 and then draw at home against Morocco in October to qualify for FIFA World Cup finals.

In Group 4, Cyprus collected maximum points for the first time thanks to a 3-0 win in the Faroe Islands, despite playing half the match with ten men following Eleftheriou Lufteris’s dismissal.

Held to a frustrating 1-1 draw in Latvia on Wednesday, Russia were nonetheless handed an unlikely reprieve in their bid for a place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. Instead of dropping out of the race for places in Group 3 of the European Zone, the surprise goalless draw between second-placed Slovakia and Liechtenstein in Vaduz keeps Russian hopes alive.

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