BALTIMORE, Maryland November 12, 2014 - Some of the matches are sure to be barn burners while others are almost certain to be snoozers. When every national soccer team in Europe - except France, which, because it is hosting the finals does not have to qualify for that portion of the tournament - takes to the pitch on the same weekend, that almost has to be the result. The best of the matches appear to be the ones between Iceland and the Czech Republic and between Italy and Croatia, as both matches boast teams tied for first in their respective Groups, and between Romania and Northern Ireland, as Northern Ireland is in first place in Group F, with Romania only two points behind in second place. What's more, the match is in Bucarest, and the home crowd will know that a win will put Romania into first place at year's end. The matches this weekend are the last for 2014. The match between Italy and Croatia will be in Milan, while Iceland will travel to the Czech Republic.
Other matches with great importance to the standings include Wales at Belgium, Bosnia and Herzogovina at Israel, and Poland at Georgia. Wales has zoomed into the lead in Group B with 7 points after 3 matches played. Israel is in second place, just one point behind, and with only two matches played. Belgium is in third place with four points, and also after only two matches, while disappointing Bosnia and Herzogovina - expected to struggle with Belgium for the Group Championship, is in fifth place with only two points after three matches. Wales has two wins and a draw in their three matches, while Belgium - a World Cup Quarterfinalist after its breathtaking victory over the United States - has a win over winless Andorra and a tie with Bosnia and Herzogovina. Wales also drew with Bosnia and Herzogovina, while defeating Andorra and Cyprus. Israel has defeated Andorra and Cyprus - Cyprus is in fourth place with three points - the latter match having been played in Nicosia. Bosnia and Herzogovina, besides the two draws recounted above, has been defeated by Cyprus.
For the match in Belgium, Wales has been buoyed by the return of several important players recently sidelined by injuries, including the near-legendary Gareth Bale, the Real Madrid star and one of the most prolific scorers in the game. It was Bale who, in the Tournament's opening game at Andorra, which was opening its new national stadium, brought the Welsh from behind with two second half scores. He had been sidelined for several games with a muscle injury, but returned last week with a 30-minute appearance in Real Madrid's 1-0 Champions League victory over Liverpool. Welsh Coach Chris Coleman has announced that Bale will play against Belgium. According to Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, Coleman has also revealed that midfielders Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal and Joe Allen of Liverpool, both also sidelined recently with injuries, will also play against Belgium. However, two other key players will not play: Andy King, who was sent off during the win over Cyprus last month, begins a two-game suspension with the Belgium match. And Sam Vokes, the prolific Burnley scorer, has still not recovered from a serious knee injury sustained last spring while playing for the Claret. An earlier release by the Wales squad gave hope that Vokes would be ready to go in this match. For its part, Belgium has revealed that it will have striker Christian Benteke available. The Aston Villa star injured his achilles in March and hasn't played for the national team since then. But Belgium coach Marc Wilmots has now recalled Benteke to his squad, and he is expected to play against the Welsh, Sky Sports has reported.
Poland and the Irish Republic are tied atop Group D. The Poles gained their lofty perch by virtue of their stunning 2-0 win over World Cup Champ Germany on October 11 in Warsaw. They also boast a victory at Gibralter in September, and a draw with Scotland last month in Warsaw. The Irish, for their part, tied the powerful Germans, 1-1, in Germany on October 14. They have also defeated Georgia in Tbilisi. in September, and Gibralter on October 11 in Dublin. Besides the match between Poland and Georgia in Tbilisi on Friday, The Irish travel to Glasgow to meet the Scots and Germany hosts Gibralter. Scotland goes into the match with one win, one draw and one loss. Their win was over Georgia on October 11 in Glasgow, their draw was with Poland three days later, and their loss was to Germany, by a 2-1 score, on September 7.
Other matches this weekend have the Faroe Islands at Greece, Finland at Hungary, Armenia at Portugal, Denmark at Servia, Ukraine at Luxembourg, Russia at Austria, Liechtenstein at Moldova, Slovenia at England, Estonia at San Marino, Lithuania at Switzerland, Belarus at Spain, Sweden at Montenegro, Slovakia at Macedonia, Latvia at the Netherlands, Andorra at Cyprus, Norway at Azerbaijan, Malta at Bulgaria, Croatia at Italy, and Kazakhstan at Turkey.
The complete schedule for the entire qualifying rounds can be found at http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/season=2016/matches/day=4/index.html, and that page has direct links to a comprehensive look at the Standings and other information about the Euro 2016 Tournament. France, which hosts the finals in 2016, has an automatic berth in the finals, which explains why there is no mention of the French in this story.
No comments:
Post a Comment