The Weekend that Was

Saturday was a football extraveganza. Was at The Globe to watch the England v Israel match. Also saw parts of the Russia v Macedonia match. While those were going on I popped to the front to catch some England v USA rugby. After all that it was a few more beers and then Slovakia v Ireland in the back and Italy v France in the front.

Nothing really took me by surprise while I was watching the matches. Russia did good to hold on and then score another after their keeper was sent off. England looked good against Israel in a must win match. And that is that.

Time for another International Break

Steven Gerrard has been passed fit for the match again Israel tomorrow. This is a huge boost for an injury decimated England squad. I wouldn't worry though, McSven will probably put Gerrard in the wrong position.

This match is huge for England. I'm going to be Captain Obvious and say that if they don't get 3 points then qualification is going to be a lot tougher. With a match in Russia in the midweek it is imperitive that England get all 3 points from this one. Not sure if I am going to watch it, since I don't want to pay $20 and it is on at the same time as England v USA at the Rugby World Cup.

Israel are sitting pretty in the group, but they have also played an extra game compared to the other top teams. It is going to be a scorcher in London on saturday.

Scotland also have a huge match. They are in the group of death for these qualifiers and they are in 3rd behind Italy and France. A win is needed in order to keep pace with the leaders. They host Lithuania, so hopefully they can get all three points.

Should be noted that since the tourney is being hosted by Austria and Switzerland (who therefore recieve automatic bids) so the teams finishing 1-2 automatically qualify as opposed to the last time around when all 2nd place teams were in a two-legged playoff.

Moving On

It appears that Arsene Wenger has signed a 3 yaer contract extenstion that will keep him in North London until 2011. Eat it TH14. Now that this is done, let's move onto something else, shall we?

Has anyone else been shocked at the lack of playing time for Shevchenko? Yes he was injured, and may still be injured, but is it really that bad? He did play in a charity match in the Ukraine this past week, so maybe he'll be back soon. Seems odd to me to not play a 30 million pound player if he is fit.

Picks, Picks, and more Picks

At some point I'll write about the crap I watched this past weekend. in the meantime, for any readers....

Bolton 1 - 2 Everton
Fulham 1 - 1 Spurs
Pool 3 - 1 Derby
Boro 1 - 1 Brum
Newcastle 2 - 1 Wigan
Reading 1 - 1 West Ham
United 2 - 0 Sunderland
Arsenal 2 - 1 Pompey
Blackburn 1 - 1 City
Villa 1 - 2 Chelsea

5 right, including 1 perfect score

Champions Leauge Draw

Group A
LIVERPOOL
Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

Group B
CHELSEA
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg

Group C
REAL MADRID
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiakos

Group D
AC MILAN
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E
BARCELONA
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers

Group F
MANCHESTER UNITED
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

Group G
INTER MILAN
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbahce

Group H
ARSENAL
Sevilla/AEK Athens
Steau Bucharest
Slavia Prague

I think Group B is definetly the "Group of Death" but the two top teams will make it out. Oh, the teams in bold are the top seeds in each group.

You have 1 day

Jose Mourinho, well at least according to The Sun, is willing to pay a rather large sum of money to his old club for Ricardo Queresma. This would be a good move for them, in my opinion. They have lost Arjen Robben, and if more injuries pop up they won't have enough players to play the prefered 4-3-3. I think it is really just a question if they can get this settled by tomorrow night.

Goodbye Nuge

David Nugent, who only just joined Pompey something like 48 days ago, might be on his way to Derby County. Anyone else confused by this? I know that the current gaffer at Derby used to be at Preston North End, but come on, less then 50 days?

seems a bit, strange, if you ask me.