Pressure builds on road to South Africa
Europe's nations are back in FIFA World Cup qualifying action this weekend and there are some intriguing fixtures in store, not least Romania versus France where defeat could spell disaster for the former world champions.
France will take most comfort from a 1-1 draw against Germany in Magdeburg after Younes Kaboul's 23rd-minute strike cancelled out Ashkan Dejagah's earlier effort in the first leg of this play-off for a place in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Dejagah strikes
Dejagah put Germany in front on 14 minutes but the lead was short-lived with Kaboul replying soon after to set up an intriguing second leg in Metz next Wednesday. Dieter Eilts's side appeared nervous from the outset yet the mood at the Ernst-Grube Stadion soon improved as the hosts began to create chances. Aaron Hunt spurned an opening on ten minutes, Sami Khedira also came close before Dejagah made the breakthrough with a deflected left-foot shot from the edge of the area.
Kaboul hits back
France equalised nine minutes later following a mistake by Manuel Neuer who was back in the team following injury. The goalkeeper misjudged a corner, allowing Kaboul to head in and bring France level. Germany started to lose their grip on proceedings following the goal and struggled to apply meaningful pressure. There was little home improvement after the interval either, as France continued to look dangerous on the break. Mesut Özil had the best opportunity for Germany at the mid-point of the second half but failed to hit the target with a shot from 12 metres, so the momentum passed to France for Wednesday's second leg.
Eilts upeat
Though disappointed with the result, Germany coach Eilts insisted his side were not out of the tie. "We were well in control of the game and played well until they scored," he said. "After the equaliser we lost our rhythm and not much else worked for us. With a 1-1 draw it's certainly not all over and I'm still convinced we will qualify for the European Championship."
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First of all, he hardly needs traffic from the likes of me, and anyway, I figure most people automatically check his blog as a matter of their daily internet routine, someplace in between the weather, TeenHotties.com and looking in on how badly their 401k is tanking.
But I'll make an exception for TODAY'S PIECE ON THE CUBAN DEFECTORS who hit the bricks while the Cuban National team was in DC.
Not because it's a preemptive strike against all the halfwits - some of them rather well-known writers - who were roundly critical of USSF last Spring over this same issue, feeling that they "needed to provide more security" to help the Cuban security police keep these guys under wraps.
The day the United States Soccer Federation hires armed men to treat foreign athletes like prisoners is the day I will personally invite...click here to read more...
Manchester City are in danger of an early exit from Europe after a shock 1-0 home defeat by Danish side Midtjylland in their UEFA Cup second qualifying round first-leg match.
It was the worst possible start for City manager Mark Hughes as midfielder Danny Olsen struck in the 15th minute to give Midtjylland a good chance of progressing to the first round after the return leg in two weeks' time.
"We needed to be more dynamic, we needed a bit more personality on the field of play," Hughes told ITV Sport. "I thought Midtjylland were excellent – a big, strong team who understood the counter-attack game very well."
City's Premier League rivals Aston Villa enjoyed a 4-1 win at Iceland's Hafnarfjordur after Gareth Barry, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor gave them a 3-0 halftime lead.
Denmark defender Martin Laursen headed the fourth goal for the 1982 European Cup winners after Matthias Gudmundsson had pulled one back for the home side.
Two goals by Igancio Pia and a third by Argentine striker German Denis handed 1989 UEFA Cup winners Napoli a 3-0 win at Albanian side Vllaznia while Vfb Stuttgart, their opponents in that final, laboured to a 2-1 home victory over Gyor ETO.
Early goals by Serdar Tasci and Ciprian Marica fired Stuttgart into a 2-0 lead before Zoltan Boor threw the Hungarian side a lifeline on the stroke of halftime.
Danish sides enjoyed a perfect night as Nordsjaelland won 2-1 at Scottish first division (second tier) team Queen of the South, FC Copenhagen beat Norway's Lillestrom 3-1 and Brondby romped to a 4-0 rout at Finland's Haka Valkeakoski.
Benjamin Kibebe and Patrice Bernier scored for Nordsjaelland either side of a Sean O'Connor goal in the first half for last season's Scottish Cup finalists while Brondby scored three goals in the last 20 minutes to sink Haka.
Red Star Belgrade earned a 2-2 draw at Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia and Croatia's Hajduk Split held out in a 0-0 stalemate at former Spanish champions Deportivo Coruna.
Brazilian striker Edgar volleyed Red Star into an early lead and Igor Burzanovic equalised with a long-range shot after Dutch defender Joost Broerse and Marcin Zewlakow had turned the match.
But Cypriot fans had plenty to celebrate when Omonia Nicosia won 1-0 at AEK Athens with a goal by Cape Verde striker Cafu.
It was the second upset win for a Cypriot team over their Greek rivals in two days after Anorthosis Famagusta thrashed Olympiakos Piraeus 3-0 in their Champions League third qualifying round tie on Wednesday.
Hertha Berlin strolled to a 2-0 win at Slovenian team Interblok Ljubljana with a brace by Serbia striker Marko Pantelic, while Poland's Lech Poznan enjoyed the biggest win of the night by hammering Grasshoppers Zurich 6-0.
The WIT Georgia v Austria Vienna tie will be a one-off match on Aug. 28 because the Georgian club could not field a team for the first leg due to the conflict in its country
The other second leg ties will also be played in the week of Aug. 25 with the 16 winners advancing to the first roun
