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Let the games begin...or should that be the qualifiers? I know there WERE games played before Saturday 4th but that day had the biggest glut of qualifying games to date so why not mark it with a thread to get things underway...

Will WC'06 see another underdog take the crown like EC'04? Who knows! Judging by the way the BRAND NAMES played yesterday, anything's possible! Not even Sweden knocking in 7 against Malta away from home impressed.

No... it was Israel that took the plaudits! Holding France to a draw in Stade De France takes some achievement...particularly in a competitive game. Nice one...BUT the Israelis's are in OUR group. Tough times ahead, I think!

GREECE proved against lowly Albania what we knew all along...EC'04 was a terrible tournament. Good luck to them for winning it BUT shame on the so called WORLD POWERS they beat!

There again WC2002 wasn't very much either. A poor German team contested THE FINAL...the same team that couldn't even beat a second string Czech team and get out of their group two years later...

Roy THE BOY Keane makes a return for Wednesday's night Battle Of Basel! That injury he had for the Cypriot game seems to have cleared up rather quickly...more likely he told that Scottish git with the purple head -Alex Ferguson- where to go...about time he stood up for himself and got his priorities right...

In a GREEN shirt!!! Let the first REAL test of The Republic's WC qualifiers commence!!!

It now seems Damien Duff has only a 50/50 chance of playing Wednesday night. He's without doubt a vital cog in the Irish playing machine and will be badly missed if he dosen't make it...

What's wrong...no-one got a team that's going to Germany in 2006? An easy romp for us Irish so...as nobody else is going to turn up!!!

we wish, but kerr needs to sort himself out for the france game

It WOULD help if he used the offside trap a bit more to releive the pressure...the Swiss were'nt caught offside even once...and not giving the ball away cheaply would benefit things too!

Like I was saying...no one else going to the World Cup???

Obviously not! Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...dem days are counting to Stade De France...

I THINK that the fact that YOU randomly CAPITALIZE words is throwing people off who are TRYING to read this.

US is in GOOD position to qualify, even though THEY have to play in the tough away conditions such as at Jamaica, EL salvador, ETC. Should get into the next round quite easily, looks like it will be the US, MEXICO coming out of CONCACAF with a host of teams battling for the third SPOT.

DUTCH ALL THE WAY!!!

if the dutch get along with each other who knows?

bite me, TR

Now THAT has to be THE best comeback EVER!!!

With Van Basten in charge they just might get their chance!!!

You don't REALLY expect to win THE WORLD CUP, do ya???

Like Roy Keane got along with his team in Saipan, you mean???

no, but stop rubbing it in cry

Hey, you won The European Championship, did'nt ya???

I want more! more! I'm greedy!

No harm in that but the opposition now have a handle on how Greece play...I'd change your style and confuse them...score early, make more of the offside trap -something us Irish could learn a thing or two about- and hit them on the counter when frustration eventually sets in...

that's all greek to me I don't follow soccer

but somehow it makes sense

Ask Yerss...his team NEARLY won the EC in '80 with such similar tactics...and a damn fine team Belgium were in them days!!!

Until they beat US in a WC qualifier a year later with the help of a PORTUGUESE referee...

This time week it will all be over...

Sacre Bleu!!! No...not our gutsy performance in Paris but Lichtenstein drawing 2-2 with Portugal...now, that's what I call STORMING THE BASTILLE!!!

Kudos to THE BOYS IN GREEN btw...another big step to THE LAND OF, er, Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006!

except that the Bastille doesn't exist any more...

I guess even after only three games we can discount Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland from making the journey to Germany 2006. I did'nt really expect N Ireland to get there but I thought Wales and Scotland would be in with a shout come the last series of qualifiers this time next year...

Wales were well beaten by England despite the 2-0 scoreline and as for Scotland? If Mr Voghts dosen't get the boot after their 0-1 home defeat to Norway then there's something wrong! His Scotland managerial career should have been rescinded years ago!

England will top their group with ease with probably The Poles taking up second spot. It was a very important win for them in Vienna last night.

THE REPUBLIC are well on course too after that excellent result last night. Brian Kerr is beginning to get things right! A few goals Wednesday against The Faroes might just see us finish the year in pole position. I would'nt write off the French by any means but even if we don't finish top spot then surely one of the two automatic second place berths is a reasonable expectation.

Only problem is if we do qualify they better build bigger stadiums in Germany to accommodate all the travelling fans!

(about the belgian team of the 80's: damn straight it's a good one! we reached fourth place even in mexico! best result ever!)

pffff... I'm almost screaming out to get our fat idiot that's unfortunatly our national coach fired! we have an ass of a goalie, an idiot of a left defender and a naive central defender all from the team he used to coach (FAVORITISM!!!)

Nearly forgot...team of the day goes to little Litchenstein, of course! Malta and The Faroe Islands did themselves proud too with a decent draw for the former and a *should have won it* draw for the later...

And finally...Slovakia continue to impress!

I thought reaching the 1980 EC final and only being beaten by a late German goal was your best result, no?

we keep the mexico WC as higher for some reason

Yeah, I suppose the WC is more of a *badge tournament* like The Champions League is held in higher esteem than The UEFA Cup, so to speak!

but we all know that the CL is a pathetic excuse to raise money

France is soo pathetic these days...unfortunately the other team aren't doing well either.

Another three points for us in the bag...lack of firepower up front meant only a couple of goals but it's the points that count at the end of the day! Robbie Keane became Ireland's top goal scorer of all time as expected. He should have had a hat trick though. Our next game in March against Israel in Tel-Aviv will open up the group one way or another...

Little Andorra got their first ever competitive win and Lichtenstein proved that Saturday's draw against Portugal was no fluke by thumping Luxembourg away from home 0-4...

But team of the day goes to Portugal. Trouncing ANYONE 7-1 is quite an achievement but Russia? The Soviet boys should be ashamed of themselves! Portugal to top the group and Slovakia for second spot, methinks!

Poland may even get an automatic second qualification place after their third away win with an Azerbaijan double header to come as well as home games to Wales and N Ireland. Their last game against England should decide things....

And how Berti Voghts is still hanging in there after another dismal result in Moldova is beyond me!

Yep. As I said some months, Portugal can do the best and the worst in only one week.

I am preparing to lose against Luxembourg 0-10 and to smash Slovakia for 40-0

I never understood my team. We will be underdogs and a top team at the same time forever

You are like ourselves then...make us favourite to win a game and we screw up...make us the underdog and we bare our teeth...

Is everyone forgetting about the teams that top the South American qualifiers?

The mighty BRAZIL and not forgetting Argentina!!!

With the addition of Kaka in the brazil line-up and Ronaldo still on fire, i don't think they can be beaten. But i would like to see Holland in at least the semi's if not the final!

argentina have gone down hill im sorry to say, as for brazil, they can win it again no problem

england all the way ..we will win the world cup in 2006!!

*runs away and hides*

No need to run away and hide, Dean my boy...I think England have a good a chance as any to win WC2006. If they had just finished things off againt France and Portugal in the EC instead of sitting on a one goal lead I think they would have won it!

england can do it, but they need a change of personnel

this i'd be my line up for wc2006

kirkland

glen johnson
ledley king
john terry
wayne bridge

wright phillips
lampard
gerrard
ashley cole

defoe
rooney

my team would be

robinson

terry
ferdinand
cole
neville
w phillips
gerrard
lampard
beckham
owen
rooney

I've put our team aside a long time ago...
Concentrating on Slovenia, my second home

Gremo Slovenci!!

Thats pretty much the team i'd pick only id have robinson in goal instead of kirkland, as long as theres no james or beckham im happy

Rushie to take over WALES? No better man to make a miracle of things!

abbi i was thinkin robinson but i aint sure.

rushie might be ok

Rushie is highly touted!

Rushie turned down the Welsh job today to concentrate on Chester. Bertie's departed from the Scotland job, and no loss, but I don't agree with his family being verbally abused!

It's no wonder the last WC was such crap! Even a thread for the future one garners no interest!!!

sorry redeemer, it only seems to be popular when the actual qualifiers are on, be patient dude.

what?! no cole, ferdinand, campbell and neville...we need them..are u kidding?? we need beckham as well...he can change a game

we need owen, ferdinand, campbell and neville, and beckham

no f*cking way, they are so shit.

language please whistling1

owen aint shit...ferdinand and campbell are definetly not shit...neville aint...i understand ya point on beckham but i would still have him in my team

apologies on the language

owen ok, maybe if hes still in the same form as now

ferdinand only because he has experience and good technique (as in hes comfortable on the ball), but even then he loses concentration way too easily.

campbell is so bloody clumsy, he cant read the game, the only thing he has is strength and a bit of pace

neville, oh my god where do i start, positioning needs a lot of work, too prone to errors (im a united fan, ive seen em all), not as much pace as he used to have, poor heading and ok tackling. that is not international class.

beckham is poor, he might change one game, but the last one he changed was greece, and just barely. euro 2004 finally showed him for what i always said he was, a poser who insults the memory of former greats who played for england (and im irish). he's not qualified to wear that armband and he never will be. i remember watching him in his early united days, this guy had great potential, he could have been one of the greats, but that woman ruined him, and he's a shadow of the player he could have been.

What you mean to say is when the EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS are on...as it IS the *World* Cup, I would have thought that those not in the EUROPEAN ZONE might just have something to say on how their national side is getting on...

France - Poland tonight, with a totally renewed team. Woohoo.

Belgium lost its third qualifier yesterday from Serbia (at home ffs) with 0 to 2 they played their worst game so far (can't believe I paid to go and see them suck so hard) we have 1 out of 9 points and we have scored 1 goal out of 3 games, game over.

Same old story, huh? 0-0 Couldn't score in a BASTILLE, er sorry, brothel!

I'm genuinely surprised at how *down-market* Belgium have become. In the past they've always made a damn good stab at qualifying and, considering they're such a small country like ourselves, have always made a good impression of themselves on the WORLD STAGE when they got there.

Still, every country goes through transition. Another four years and with a different manager and different personnel, they'll probably bounce back. Just don't go losing the seeding status. A team ranked third or less always finds it difficult to get out of a group. Thankfully, when WE were seeded 3rd for WC 2002, WE caught the Dutch with their knickers down and eliminated them. But it was hard going...

The team of yesterday goes to the Ukraine for hammering the Turks 3-0 in Ankara...but the most fun to watch was the friendly between Spain and England and LOONY ROONEY doing a Gazza and making a complete show of himself...

Poland must be smiling!!!

yea we'll bounce back some day soon I hope

US easily qualified for the final group.

The only team that is in the same class as the US in CONCACAF is Mexico, and the US is looking strong now. With Donovon emerging as a top flight player, McBride being the solid up front presence as always and the new young star in Eddie Johnson...the US is looking good. If Reyna is healthy and can manage the center of the field alongside Mastroeni, with Pope anchoring the defense and Beasely and Donovon on the wings...the US looks to be much better than last world cup.

China may have been eliminated at this early stage but UZBEKISTAN seems to be hammering the opposition...new faces for every WORLD CUP always makes things more interesting!

Go Uzbekistan ! whistling

You might as well support them mate as the VA-VA-VOOM gang ain't gonna get very far!!!

The Irish and Dutch strikers are in form in THE PREMIERSHIP I see...stroker boy Van Nistelrooy excluded...roll on THE WORLD CUP!!!

End of year FIFA World Rankings...and WE'RE up two places to No. 12. Nice one.

England DROP to No. 8. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to *pick up the pieces*!!!

Scotland are a staggering 86th in the world! Alongside the might of Burkino Faso...............BURKINO FASO!

How the mighty have fallen. I canna wait for the next qualifier, against Italy. In Italy. Yay.

This day four weeks sees the European Zone resuming with a glut of WC qualifiers. Like Kenny Cunningham said, ISRAEL hold the key to our group and a win in Tel-Aviv would set things up nicely for us to make an appearence in Germany next year.

I just hope Kerr dosen't go out there happy to get a draw. Not with FRANCE and SWITZERLAND breathing down our necks! A win or nothing Brian old boy.

I hear there are the guts of 5000 Irish fans making the trip. The Israeli travel bureau said that they get about 4000 Irish tourists in ISRAEL every year. I venture that'll be their lot for the next tweleve months!!!

Right! A couple of days left to kick-off so here, for what it's worth, are a few match predictions on the so-called home games. Along with a forecast for a very important game in our group...

England 1 N Ireland 0
Wales 2 Austria 1
Italy 2 Scotland 0
France 1 Switzerland 1

I haven't forgotten The Republic BTW! It's just that I never make a prediction on our results. Superstition you may call it. I'm just hoping for a win, of course!

England 1-0 to N Ireland.
I think it will be higher considering Canada beat N Ireland.

Originally posted by Smasandian
England 1-0 to N Ireland.
I think it will be higher considering Canada beat N Ireland.

Yeah but N Ireland always up the ante when they play England! As do Scotland, Wales and of course The Republic. It's a pride thing, so to speak! N Ireland will go all out to stop England one way or another. I expect at least one red card!

nah we will hammer em ....n ireland will battle hard but england will be too overpowering

Originally posted by Deano
nah we will hammer em ....n ireland will battle hard but england will be too overpowering

On a wider scale of things, do you think you'll top the group?

yeh i reckon we will
no problem

Ideal world:

italy 0-3 Scotland (Anderson hat-trick, power header, mazy solo effort and a 35 yard screamer)

N. Ireland 7-0 England (a dodgy pen, a coulple of own goals, 1 direct from a corner and the rest crappy, sclaffy, deflected trundlers.)

Wales 1-0 Austria (fellow sheep lovers get a win thanks to the Austrian goalkeeper breaking Bellamy's face with a clearance and the rebound going in.)

Ireand get thumped. Just t annoy Celtic fans everywhere.

back in the real world.

Italy 3-0 Scotland.

Italy score in the early stages and don't play for the rest of the game, Scotland still manage to concede 2 more. The press will still love Walter Smith and will praise his selection of Old-Firm bench warmers over in form players from "diddy clubs." They will say there was never any real chance of winning and that we are in preparing for the next campaign by bringing in 34 year old Davie Weir alongside 30+ Steven Pressley in defence and ignoring the top scoring Scottish player Derek Riordan. 100th in world here we come.

N. Ireland 0-3 England.

Depite a hardworking performance by the Ulstermen, and England's insistance on playing a ridiculously narrow midfield (and Gary Neville), the wee ned that looks uncannily like a monkey holding it's breath (Rooney) will show that he is the best young talent in the world. (the world that the English media live in that is.) Owen'll probably score too.

Wales and the republic will both scrape 1-0 wins.

Originally posted by baracustastic
Ideal world:

italy 0-3 Scotland (Anderson hat-trick, power header, mazy solo effort and a 35 yard screamer)

N. Ireland 7-0 England (a dodgy pen, a coulple of own goals, 1 direct from a corner and the rest crappy, sclaffy, deflected trundlers.)

Wales 1-0 Austria (fellow sheep lovers get a win thanks to the Austrian goalkeeper breaking Bellamy's face with a clearance and the rebound going in.)

Ireand get thumped. Just t annoy Celtic fans everywhere.

back in the real world.

Italy 3-0 Scotland.

Italy score in the early stages and don't play for the rest of the game, Scotland still manage to concede 2 more. The press will still love Walter Smith and will praise his selection of Old-Firm bench warmers over in form players from "diddy clubs." They will say there was never any real chance of winning and that we are in preparing for the next campaign by bringing in 34 year old Davie Weir alongside 30+ Steven Pressley in defence and ignoring the top scoring Scottish player Derek Riordan. 100th in world here we come.

N. Ireland 0-3 England.

Depite a hardworking performance by the Ulstermen, and England's insistance on playing a ridiculously narrow midfield (and Gary Neville), the wee ned that looks uncannily like a monkey holding it's breath (Rooney) will show that he is the best young talent in the world. (the world that the English media live in that is.) Owen'll probably score too.

Wales and the republic will both scrape 1-0 wins.

u dream about that every nite dont ya

Originally posted by baracustastic
Ideal world:

italy 0-3 Scotland (Anderson hat-trick, power header, mazy solo effort and a 35 yard screamer)

N. Ireland 7-0 England (a dodgy pen, a coulple of own goals, 1 direct from a corner and the rest crappy, sclaffy, deflected trundlers.)

Wales 1-0 Austria (fellow sheep lovers get a win thanks to the Austrian goalkeeper breaking Bellamy's face with a clearance and the rebound going in.)

Ireand get thumped. Just t annoy Celtic fans everywhere.

back in the real world.

Italy 3-0 Scotland.

Italy score in the early stages and don't play for the rest of the game, Scotland still manage to concede 2 more. The press will still love Walter Smith and will praise his selection of Old-Firm bench warmers over in form players from "diddy clubs." They will say there was never any real chance of winning and that we are in preparing for the next campaign by bringing in 34 year old Davie Weir alongside 30+ Steven Pressley in defence and ignoring the top scoring Scottish player Derek Riordan. 100th in world here we come.

N. Ireland 0-3 England.

Depite a hardworking performance by the Ulstermen, and England's insistance on playing a ridiculously narrow midfield (and Gary Neville), the wee ned that looks uncannily like a monkey holding it's breath (Rooney) will show that he is the best young talent in the world. (the world that the English media live in that is.) Owen'll probably score too.

Wales and the republic will both scrape 1-0 wins.

you know there are irish people who don't support celtic don't you...

Originally posted by baracustastic
Ideal world:

italy 0-3 Scotland (Anderson hat-trick, power header, mazy solo effort and a 35 yard screamer)

N. Ireland 7-0 England (a dodgy pen, a coulple of own goals, 1 direct from a corner and the rest crappy, sclaffy, deflected trundlers.)

Wales 1-0 Austria (fellow sheep lovers get a win thanks to the Austrian goalkeeper breaking Bellamy's face with a clearance and the rebound going in.)

Ireand get thumped. Just t annoy Celtic fans everywhere.

back in the real world.

Italy 3-0 Scotland.

Italy score in the early stages and don't play for the rest of the game, Scotland still manage to concede 2 more. The press will still love Walter Smith and will praise his selection of Old-Firm bench warmers over in form players from "diddy clubs." They will say there was never any real chance of winning and that we are in preparing for the next campaign by bringing in 34 year old Davie Weir alongside 30+ Steven Pressley in defence and ignoring the top scoring Scottish player Derek Riordan. 100th in world here we come.

N. Ireland 0-3 England.

Depite a hardworking performance by the Ulstermen, and England's insistance on playing a ridiculously narrow midfield (and Gary Neville), the wee ned that looks uncannily like a monkey holding it's breath (Rooney) will show that he is the best young talent in the world. (the world that the English media live in that is.) Owen'll probably score too.

Wales and the republic will both scrape 1-0 wins.

The Republic to scrape a 1-0 win? I can safely say there will be more football played in 9 minutes in Tel-Aviv tomorrow evening than in 90 minutes at Old Trafford tomorrow afternoon!

pr1983:

Yes i know there are Irish people that don't support Celtic.

I'd be very surprised if there were Celtic fans who didn't support/have a soft spot for Ireland.

I don't like Celtic, so Ireland getting beat would amuse me.

I'll take any ausement I can get this weekend, looks like my sanity will be sorely tested.

Redeemer:

Aye, scrape a 1-0 win.

I like World Cup because, as an American, I like seeing our team improve over the years as the sport becomes more and more popular over here.

Most of our top level athletes go to basketball, our football, or baseball at a young age....because that's where the money is...

Football (soccer) in the US really didn't become much a fad until 1998...i believe that's when our women won it. or was that the gold?

I don't follow women's sports.

It's do the decent thing Tuesday morning and shake me Dutch work mate's hand! A 2-0 win for him in Bucharest and a slumming 1-1 draw for us in Tel-Aviv. The Tulip Picker'll rub it in me face for a week!!!

I'm from non-footballing country myself, perhaps the only country in South East Asia that isn't football crazy so we football fans here really feel left out. Too bad the Spanish footballing tradition didn't rub off on us, and we instead inherited the American baskteball frenzy. US lost to Mexico (seem no surprise there). Was going to root for Spain in the WC but after I saw the Lions play in the weekend I may just line myself up with Sven's boys...

You think England will be able to come close to the finals?

I'm not that sophisticated in football but my gut just tells me they'd fare better than Spain. No brainer though, considering Spain's record in the World Cup. I thought they played more solidly. There'd been bad reviews about the performance of the Spanish Team (sadly, Star and ESPN Asia only covers England World Cup matches for some reason so I can;t really compare...). The dream for me, of course, is for an Asian country to at least reach the finals. And Japan and the two Koreas losing in their qualifyers won't help that dream much.

Originally posted by Smasandian
You think England will be able to come close to the finals?

They'll qualify alright! And if they get over hicups like Argentina in '98, Brazil in 2002 and Portugal in 2004...games they should've won...then who knows?

they appear to be having lots of hickus there

Call me an optimist, or somethimg less kind, but I have faith in Poland and Austria. There still remains the possibility that the English will not get to Germany. They still have to play Poland and Austria and Wales in Cardiff.

If England make the playoff I think the powers that be will mean that another Scotland Vs England play-off will happen. How sweet that would be. The Scots on an impressive run of results meet a much vaunted but underachieving Ennglish team........

Can anyone else see the headlines?

Originally posted by baracustastic
Call me an optimist, or somethimg less kind, but I have faith in Poland and Austria. There still remains the possibility that the English will not get to Germany. They still have to play Poland and Austria and Wales in Cardiff.

If England make the playoff I think the powers that be will mean that another Scotland Vs England play-off will happen. How sweet that would be. The Scots on an impressive run of results meet a much vaunted but underachieving Ennglish team........

Can anyone else see the headlines?

Is Rodney Steward still giving his country the same support as he always used to? Unlike that c*nt Sheena Easton he was always proud to be a Scot!!!

England has a pretty good chance of making the World Cup.

Im a little confused also. How can Scotland get in a playoff with England. One team has 15 pts while the other has 2. That doesnt make much sense to me.

The winner of all the European qualifying groups go directly to the world cup finals in Germany.

The 2nd placed teams in the European groups are drawn against each other in play-offs and the winners progress.

There are still lots of games left in each group and so a team with 2 points (Scotland) can still get enough points to finish 2nd in the group and make the play-offs.

Conversely, there are still enough games left for a team with 15/16 points (England) to drop into 2nd place in their group.

Hence it could be possible for Scotland to be drawn against England in a play-off.

This is all unlikely and wishful thinking on my behalf. But hey, I'm Scottish and to me beating the English is a wonderful thought.

Originally posted by baracustastic
The winner of all the European qualifying groups go directly to the world cup finals in Germany.

The 2nd placed teams in the European groups are drawn against each other in play-offs and the winners progress.

There are still lots of games left in each group and so a team with 2 points (Scotland) can still get enough points to finish 2nd in the group and make the play-offs.

Conversely, there are still enough games left for a team with 15/16 points (England) to drop into 2nd place in their group.

Hence it could be possible for Scotland to be drawn against England in a play-off.

This is all unlikely and wishful thinking on my behalf. But hey, I'm Scottish and to me beating the English is a wonderful thought.

What happened in '78? Ye were supposed to win The World Cup then! Great goal by Gemill BTW...pity it was too late!!!

Yeah, I know about the whole qualifying thing.
It seems highly unlikely because England plays all the games at home aside from Wales. I cant really see them losing but it could happen.
I dont they're undereachieving. They havnt lost a game, drawn one and one the rest. They're first in their division, so how could they underachive?

Originally posted by The Redeemer
What happened in '78? Ye were supposed to win The World Cup then! Great goal by Gemill BTW...pity it was too late!!!

Happier times, pity I wasn't born.

My dad tells me '78 was great because the English didn't qualify, so the Scots got all the attention for once. Bloody Peru, and Iran. Typical Scotland, play dire against the wee teams and then leave a mountain to climb, then get so close against the big teams but never quite manage it.

We really did have an ace team back then. *sigh*

Still, we live in hope.

Thanks baracustatic for the info. This then really puts Spain in major trouble if it takes second to Serbia in their group. It will have to fight for its place in Germany, and the nil nil outcome last time with the group leader doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Is is true England will send just the second team to Chicago against the friendly with US in May?

Maybe. Its alot of travelling for one friendly and especially with League games for the respective teams, its not really good to have some players go to the States.
It would be cool to see the first team.
Canada is actually facing the first team of Portugal in a couple of weeks.

ENGLAND!!

With the football season almost over, i look forward to the WC qualifiers and friendlies lest i get withdrawal symptoms... uh-oh, I'm going back to work June 1 and i know being responsible will crash into my viewing skeds lol. Anyone here has an idea how Greece will fare this time after that unsuspected Euro win? and what about Argentina which won the gold in the Olympics?

the start of Scotland's miraculous turnaround begins on Saturday.

Germany here we come!

To anyone who cares, please tell me how the Argentina Brazil match will go... Asia ESPN or Star won't cover it.

Scotland do the usual. Play rubbish against rubbish. Sneaky win, but a win none-the-less.

Tricky game tomorrow in Belarus. They have a true star in Hleb. Arsenal, Barca and AC all after him. If we stop him we have a chance. Although the fact our squad is full of walking wounded won't help.

Still a glimmer of hope, and that's all I need to cling on to.