Having waltzed through the qualifying process for their past two major tournaments, Spain find themselves in an undignified tangle at the halfway point on the road to the World Cup in Brazil.
While most of the fancied nations appear well-placed to qualify for next year’s finals automatically, world champions Spain head to Paris to play Group I leaders France today knowing a defeat would leave them five points adrift.
They are not alone in feeling a little vulnerable. England, despite an 8-0 victory in San Marino on Friday, go to Montenegro trailing the tiny Adriatic nation by two points and with two of Serie A’s leading strikers to contend with.
Photo: Reuters
Portugal too, have plenty of work ahead of them to reach the country they discovered. They make the long trip to Azerbaijan sitting third in Group F, without suspended captain and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, and with the pressure growing on coach Paulo Bento.
“We are in a difficult situation, but nothing is impossible. Winning in Azerbaijan is the only way to continue the fight for qualification for the World Cup,” defender Joao Pereira said.
Spain’s surprise home draw with Finland on Friday followed last October’s 1-1 home draw with France and handed the initiative to Les Bleus, who beat Georgia 3-1 on Friday.
Anything less than a victory at the Stade de France would leave Spain contemplating a back door entry to Brazil via the playoffs.
“We were always going to Paris to win and nothing has changed,” striker David Villa told Spanish newspaper Marca. “The result against Finland has given us even more reason to go there and get three points.”
Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal said that although the clash with France could not be considered a “final,” whoever wins it would take a huge step toward Brazil.
“It’s too early to talk about it like a final, but we don’t have much margin for error,” Monreal said. “If we lose, we would be five points behind and in a small group it would be complicated to finish in first position.”
Spain have won three of their past four matches against France, including at last year’s Euro 2012 finals in Ukraine, and the last time they tasted defeat was in the round-of-16 of the 2006 World Cup.
Montenegro versus England does not have the same tradition as a meeting of France and Spain, but nevertheless the Balkan nation have quickly proved they are capable of mixing it with the big boys of world soccer.
England failed to beat them in Euro 2012 qualifying, drawing home and away, and another failure to do so would make it an uncomfortable time before they face Moldova in September.
The question marks at the heart of England’s defense, which has been robbed of the likes of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, as well as several others to injury, remain after an 8-0 win in San Marino in which Roy Hodgson would have learned nothing.
Montenegro’s Italy-based strikers Mirko Vucinic and Stevan Jovetic will be ready to exploit any weakness in that area in what will be a noisy atmosphere in Podgorica.
“They have got certain individuals in the world-class category. We are well aware of the task in hand and know it’s a much tougher game,” said England captain Steven Gerrard, who along with Ashley Cole was rested against San Marino. “I don’t know whether crucial is the right word to describe this game, but it is certainly a result we need.”
A total of 17 matches take place across Europe today, after which the qualifying picture may be a little clearer.
Italy can consolidate top spot in Group B when they travel to Malta, with second-placed Bulgaria facing Denmark.
Germany can move eight points clear in Group C with victory at home to Kazakhstan, while in Group D the Netherlands will look to make it six wins out of six when they host Romania.
Group A is emerging as one of the most tightly-contested sections, with Belgium and Croatia locked together on 13 points. Belgium face Macedonia today and will hope Wales can take points off of Croatia in Cardiff.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care