20 1st Twenty20 international, Johannesburg (d/n)
Play starts at 16:00 GMT
Scorecard
22 2nd Twenty20 international, Cape Town (d/n)
Play starts at 16:00 GMT
Scorecard
24 1st ODI, Cape Town (08:00 GMT)
27 2nd ODI, Port Elizabeth (08:00 GMT)
30 3rd ODI, Centurion (08:00 GMT)
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Monday, November 18, 2013
Fifa 2014 World Cup: Who is there & who is in the play-offs?
at
1:19 AM
With the group stages of qualifying over, the final 11 teams at next summer's World Cup finals in Brazil will be decided this week in the play-offs.
Next summer's tournament will feature 32 teams, with the draw for eight groups of four to take place at the Costa do Sauipe resort in the Brazilian state of Bahia on 6 December.
BBC Sport takes a look at the definite qualifiers and the play-off contenders across the six Fifa confederations.
View the fixtures on our fixtures pages.
Africa
Nigeria were the first African team to qualify for the finals
Definitely there: Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon
Still to be decided: The final round of qualification in Africa sees the 10 group winners meet in five two-legged play-off ties, with the victors qualifying for Brazil 2014.
On 16 November, Nigeria booked their place with a 4-1 aggregate win over Ethiopia. while Ivory Coast overcame Senegal 4-2. The following day, Cameroon thrashed Tunisia 4-1 after a goalless first leg.
The remaining play-offs take place on Tuesday. Algeria will be hoping to overcome a 3-2 deficit against Burkina Faso, while Ghana should progress comfortably, having beaten Egypt 6-1 in the first leg.
Asia
Jordan beat Uzbekistan 9-8 on penalties to reach an intercontinental play-off with Uruguay
Definitely there: Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea.
Still to be decided: Jordan have a mountain to climb to reach their first World Cup.
The Middle East nation won the right to a two-legged tie against Uruguay, the fifth-placed team from South American qualifying, by beating Uzbekistan in September.
The sides met in Amman in Wednesday's first leg, where Uruguay took a 5-0 lead ahead of the second leg in Montevideo on 20 November.
Europe
Roman Zozulya opened the scoring as Ukraine beat France 2-0
Definitely there: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Spain, Russia, Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Still to be decided: Four teams will progress from the play-offs after finishing as runners-up in the group stages, with the second legs taking place on 19 November.
In Friday's first legs, Iceland - a nation with a population less than that of Cardiff or Coventry - went down to 10 men but managed to hold on in Reykjavik and keep alive their hopes of reaching a first major finals.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged Sweden counterpart Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Lisbon, with the Real Madrid forward's flying header edging out the Swedes in a 1-0 win.
Ukraine, who finished as runners-up behind England in Group H, shocked France in Kiev with a 2-0 win which saw both sides reduced to 10 men.
Second in Group I behind Spain, 1998 champions France now need to find their play-off pedigree, which saw them beat the Republic of Ireland to qualify for the 2010 World Cup thanks to Thierry Henry's controversial handball in Paris.
And Greece produced a superb performance to beat Romania 3-1, with Konstantinos Mitroglou scoring twice.
North & Central America and Caribbean
Former Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez scored against New Zealand
Definitely there: Costa Rica, United States, Honduras.
Still to be decided: Mexico, who finished fourth in qualifying, went a long way towards booking their place in Rio when they thrashed Oceania winners New Zealand 5-1 in the first leg of a two-legged intercontinental play-off on Wednesday.
Mexico, who have qualified for every World Cup bar one since 1982 - they failed to reach the 1990 finals in Italy - were close to missing out on a play-off place when they lost 2-1 to Costa Rica, scraping through thanks to a late USA winner that denied Panama fourth place.
The second leg against New Zealand takes place in Wellington on Wednesday, 20 November.
Oceania
New Zealand are hoping to reach the finals for the second successive tournament
Definitely there: None.
Still to be decided: New Zealand easily won the final group stage to qualify for their play-off against Mexico, but have it all to do after being hammered in the first leg.
South America
Will Liverpool striker Luis Suarez be Uruguay's key man?
Definitely there: Argentina, Brazil (hosts), Colombia, Ecuador, Chile.
Still to be decided: Uruguay hold a huge 5-0 lead over Jordan from the Asia qualifying group in their two-legged play-off.
Uruguay ended up level on points with Ecuador but finished fifth in the group because of an inferior goal difference.
They reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup in South Africa, where Arjen Robben's goal gave the Netherlands a 3-2 win.
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Sports
Sturridge fit for Germany friendly
at
1:14 AM
England striker Daniel Sturridge is fit and "raring to go" ahead of Tuesday's friendly against Germany at Wembley.
The 24-year-old Liverpool forward missed the 2-0 defeat by Chile on Friday because of a foot injury.
Germany will be without Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Bayern Munich pair Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer.
Sami Khedira was already absent with a knee injury, but coach Joachim Low has rested Ozil, Lahm and Neuer to try "new tactical variations and personnel".
Low said: "They are the absolute backbone of our team and, for me, it is more important to give others a chance against such a strong team as England."
England defender Phil Jones will miss the game because of a groin problem.
Continue reading the main story
“
This is not a real friendly game. England are playing Germany and it's always a big rivalry
”
Michael Ballack
Former Germany midfielder
The 21-year-old Manchester United player sustained the injury in Friday's loss and has returned to his club. His United team-mates Michael Carrick and Danny Welbeck have already been ruled out through injury.
But England boss Roy Hodgson will hope he can call on some of the players who missed the Chile game as his side will still come up against a strong Germany team, who are second in Fifa's world rankings, eight places above England.
Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker says he has recovered from a muscle problem while skipper Steven Gerrard and forward Rickie Lambert will be assessed when they report back to England's base in Watford on Sunday.
Sturridge said: "I've had a lot of treatment last few days, I've been working hard to make sure I'm okay.
"It's not a serious injury so I'm hopeful that it doesn't continue to linger on. I've been playing with it for the past couple of games and it's been hindering my performance.
"But I had a scan and I'm ready to go, I'm delighted the pain's not too bad and I'm looking forward to it."
Walker, who missed the last game against Poland through suspension, says the team want to bounce back from the Chile loss.
"The defeat was a little bit of a downer, but luckily we've got Tuesday to put things right and hopefully we do," he said.
"It's going to be a very difficult game. As a team we learned a lot on Friday against Chile, where they play the passing football, but I think it's going to be a little bit different to how (Germany) play."
Low may be without Bayern defender Lahm and goalkeeper Neuer, plus midfielder Ozil, but he could include the likes of Bayern attackers Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze, plus Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus.
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker also joins the squad after missing the 1-1 draw with Italy on Friday because of illness.
Khedira, 26, tore a cruciate knee ligament in the friendly in Milan and could be out for six months, putting his World Cup place in doubt.
Low said he was "optimistic" the Real Madrid midfielder would be fit in time for the tournament, starting in June.
Both England and Germany qualified for Brazil 2014 by topping their respective groups.
And former Germany midfielder Michael Ballack said Tuesday's game would be taken a lot more seriously than most friendly fixtures.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek: "I don't see England as being the same level as teams like Germany or Spain. They're a bit behind.
"They have a lot of talented players, but are still a big name. We always had great respect when we played England.
"This is not a real friendly game. England are playing Germany and it's always a big rivalry."
The ex-Bayern and Chelsea player added: "At the next World Cup, England must use their name, use their quality and have confidence. Then everything is possible.
"When Germany goes to a big tournament we know we have to deliver because teams before us have done it."
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