World Cup Qualifying play-offs preview (2nd legs)
The first leg of all four World Cup qualifying play-offs produced some exciting football with some of the world's elite players desperately trying to lead their team to the finals in South Africa next year. However, a thrilling climax is on the cards as all four games are still very much in the balance entering the second leg matches this Wednesday.
France(1) vs. (0) Republic of Ireland
The luck of the Irish deserted Giovanni Trapattoni’s team on Saturday evening as France took a narrow one goal advantage to the Stade de France courtesy of a deflected Nicolas Anelka goal in the 72nd minute. Ireland will go to Paris still optimistic despite a first leg loss. They matched their opponents for the majority of the 90 minutes and arguably created the best chance when Liam Lawrence was presented with an open goal, only for Manchester United’s Partice Evra to divert the ball wide with the finest of deflections. Republic of Ireland Coach Trapattoni is expected to name an unchanged side in Paris after a spirited first leg performance from his starting XI.
France will be forced to make changes with both Eric Abidal and Jeremy Toulalan picking up injuries at the weekend. Raymond Domenech is expected to stick with a similar formation to the first leg though, which saw Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry dropping deep causing Ireland numerous problems with their pace and trickery. France look to have everything in their favour having completed qualifying unbeaten at the Stade de France. Republic of Ireland will go there with no fear though as they look to maintain their reputation of slaying the giants of international football.
Bosnia-Herzegovina (0) vs. (1) Portugal
Carlos Quiroz and his Portuguese stars will travel to Bosnia knowing that qualification is far from certain. Portugal failed to establish a sizeable lead in the first leg as Bosnia-Herzegovina produced a resilient performance to restrict their opponents to just the one goal.
Bosnia Coach Miroslav Blazevic has established Bosnia-Herzegovina as a team to fear during the 2010 qualifying campaign with only European Champions Spain able to conquer them away from home. With home support and world class striker Edin Dzeko who already has nine goals during the campaign in good form, the Bosnian fans will be hopeful of downing Portugal in their backyard. Portugal have no new injury concerns but with the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, will once again rely on the talented, but inexperienced Nani and Raul Meireles to cause the Bosnians problems going forward.
Bosnia-Herzegovina's chances were dealt a blow however when influential trio Elvir Rahimic, Emir Spahic and Samir Muratovic all picked up yellow cards in the first leg that resulted in a one match suspension.
Slovenia(1) vs. (2) Russia
When Russia held a 2-0 lead with just two minutes remaining of the first leg in Moscow, many would have dismissed the chances Slovenia - the surprise package of qualifying. However, a late header from substitute Nejc Pecnik shocked the Russians and gave Slovenia added hope heading back home for the second leg. Many saw this tie as a mismatch between the now fancied Russian side that includes stars such as Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko who now play their domestic football at big European clubs, against a Slovenian side which consists of relatively unknown players from a country that has never really succeeded in the sport.
However, Slovenian Coach Matjaz Kek has created a great spirit in recent years and has seen it rewarded with a much improved qualifying campaign which has seen them reach the play-offs and in the process knock out big European opposition - notably the Czech Republic. Russian Coach Guus Hiddink is as tough as they come though and Kek has his work cut out on Wednesday as he attempts to out-think Hiddink who knows he has a squad far superior of the Slovenians.
Neither side has any added injury concerns for the return leg, as Russia are expected to stick with Pavlyuchenko upfront while Arshavin and two goal hero from the first leg Dinyar Bilyaletdinov are expected to support him from midfield positions. Slovenia will hope that top scorer Milivoje Novakovic and creative midfield Robert Koren will be firing on all cylinders in the second leg as they look to extend a World Cup campaign that has already surprised football fans across Europe.
Ukraine (0) vs. (0) Greece
The cagiest first leg of the four play-off ties, both sides cancelled each other out as it seemed neither team were confident of taking a demanding lead. Surprisingly it was Ukraine who created the better chances as the Greeks put in a lacklustre performance in front of their home crowd. Expect both Greece coach Otto Rehhagel and Ukraine counterpart Alexei Mikhailichenko to have their sides fired up for what has now become a winner takes all second leg.
Both sides are full of experienced international players who have tasted success on the big stage and know what will be required on Wednesday when they meet again. Ukraine look particularly strong going forward with strikers Andriy Shevchenko and Liverpool’s Andriy Voronin and other attacking options including Sergiy Nazarenko and Artem Milevskiy looking to give the Greek defence plenty to think about.
They will however have to be wary of the goal threat that their opponents possess including the overall top scorer in the European qualifying zone Theofanis Gekas and Celtic striker Georgios Samaras. Despite a goalless first leg, expect plenty of goalmouth action in Dontesk on Wednesday as both sides go all out for a place on the world stage in South Africa.
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