2010 WORLD CUP PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

 

 

Well, 23 teams have secured a spot at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa already(including 9 from Europe, including England). Already it is looking like an interesting tournament with some unusual names due to make an appearance on football's biggest stage. However a bunch of other teams have wound up on the now familiar side road of the playoffs(or in the case of Africa, the group stages are still ongoing). There are 9 spots in South Africa up for grabs(4 for European teams) and the UEFA playoffs alone include one or two interesting ties. That's certainly my main area of interest so how are things going to play out in the closing stages of qualificaion?

Republic of Ireland vs France: Well the Irish making the playoffs was something I got right but no way in hell did I think the French wouldn't get to South Africa at the first time of asking. However, qualifying got a bit wierd so here we have what is probably the tie of the round. The first leg will be at Croke Park. The big thing the Irish have in their favour is that, England, they have a quality Italian gaffer in Giovanni Trappatoni and they were able to give Italy a match in the qualifiers. However even though I'll be rooting for the men in green, realistically, I never expected them to get all the way to South Africa and it'll be doubly hard against a full strength France side. Les Bleus to win.

Portugal vs Bosnia: This is a rediculous tie. Ronaldo and crew really should have booked their place in South Africa already but couldn't find their form till late on in the qualification campaign. On the other end of the scale, Bosnia should have been taken to the cleaners. The first leg will be at the Magalhaes Pessoa stadium and on home turf Portugal really should be able to put the tie to bed early on. Bosnia have some useful players but even their coach admits this was his worst case scenario. Portugal to win with class - it's their perfect opportunity to shake off the qualifying cobwebs once and for all and give the Bosnians a serious reality check.

Greece vs Ukraine: Like Portugal vs Bosnia this is a matchup between a team I thought would already be heading for South Africa and I team I didn't think would make the playoffs. The first leg wil be at the Karaiskakis Stadium. The thing with this tie though is that the reason I didn't think Ukraine would make it, was because they were in a seriously tough group. Greece were in a cinch group and blew it! The fact that Greece were a seeded team for the playoff draw just shouws you how dumb the FIFA ranking can be. Ukraine are definately the better team in this tie and should smoothly make their way to South Africa over two legs.

Russia vs Slovenia: Well Russia was one of those teams that was obviously going to be in the playoffs given their group draw. Slovenia on the other hand, looked nowhere near making the cut. The first leg will be at the Luzhniki Stadium. Russia have become a credible entity in football and I have learned not to underestimate them. Slovenia I got a look at against England last month...but their football team isn't anywhere near as good as their basketball team. I did think first time around that the Russians would win a playoff tie pretty smoothly and I have no reason to doubt them now, Guus Hiddink's crew look to be on course for South Africa.

So what's happening elsewhere in the world?

Intercontinental playoffs: The first tie to check out has to be Bahrain vs New Zealand partly because the idea of either side reaching the football World Cup is seriously strange. The first leg has already been played at Manama's National Stadium and was drawn 0-0 - which probably means that the cool guys from the Arabian Gulf have blown their chance and it'll be the Kiwis in South Africa. The other tie sees Costa Rica face Uruguay with the first leg at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa. This is an interesting tie between two sides that would be dissapointed to miss out. On a hunch though I'll say that Uruguay are probably the better off of the two.

Africa: There's still some loose ends in the African qualifiers. In Group A, Cameroon have to beat Morrocco away or draw and hope that Gabon don't beat Togo away. If Cameroon lose, they have to hope Togo can beat Gabon. Looks like Cameroon are the safe bet to go to South Africa. In Group B, Tunisia have to beat Mozambique away or otherwise simply hope that Nigeria don't beat Kenya away. Tunisia hold the cards there. In Group C it comes down to one match. Egypt vs Algeria. Even if Egypt win it'll only force a drawing of lots. Given that Egypt aren't completely useless anything could happen there but the safe pick is for Algeria to go to South Africa.

So, here are the teams I think will go on to claim the last 2010 World Cup spots:

France

Portugal

Ukraine

Russia

New Zealand

Uruguay

Cameroon

Tunisia

Algeria

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