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I started following football closely a couple of years ago, so it’s strange to experience another offseason. Transfer speculation and activity (Gareth Barry to Man City?!) only whet the appetite.

Thankfully, crucial World Cup qualifying matches and entertaining friendlies are on the horizon.

A look at some of this month’s results, provided by FIFA:

Uzbekistan		0:0	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Head-to-Head»
01/06/2009	Tashkent		Friendly
China PR		1:0 (1:0)	Iran	Head-to-Head»
01/06/2009	Qinhuangdao		Friendly
France		0:1 (0:1)	Nigeria	Head-to-Head»
02/06/2009	St. Etienne		Friendly
United Arab Emirates		2:7 (0:4)	Germany	Head-to-Head»
02/06/2009	Dubai		Friendly
Turkey		2:0 (0:0)	Azerbaijan	Head-to-Head»
02/06/2009	Kayseri		Friendly
Oman		0:0	Korea Republic	Head-to-Head»

Uzbekistan		0:0	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Head-to-Head»
01/06/2009	Tashkent		Friendly
China PR		1:0 (1:0)	Iran	Head-to-Head»
01/06/2009	Qinhuangdao		Friendly
France		0:1 (0:1)	Nigeria	Head-to-Head»
02/06/2009	St. Etienne		Friendly
United Arab Emirates		2:7 (0:4)	Germany	Head-to-Head»
02/06/2009	Dubai		Friendly
Turkey		2:0 (0:0)	Azerbaijan	Head-to-Head»
02/06/2009	Kayseri		Friendly
Oman		0:0	Korea Republic	Head-to-Head»

The writing is on the wall for Raymond Domenech if he cannot get France into form. While Les Bleus still boast the talents of Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery, a generational shift beckons with Karim Benzema, Yoann Gourcuff and Jeremy Toulalan. It remains to be seen if Domenech, coach of the 1998 winning squad and the infamous 2006 finalists, is the man for the job.

Domenech would not be blamed for looking enviously across the Pyrenees. France’s neighbor, Euro 2008 winner Spain, have an abundance of talent and the team tactics to match.

Coach Vincent Del Bosque named a strong side for the Confederations Cup in South Africa later this month, a precursor to next summer’s World Cup.

Champions League winners Barcelona send five players, including the instrumental Xavi and Andres Iniesta, to power their possess-and-pass game.

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Diego Lopez (Villarreal).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Valencia), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Xavi (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Valencia), Juan Mata (Valencia), Albert Riera (Liverpool).

Forwards: David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Fenerbahce), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Fernando Llorente (Athletic de Bilbao).

 

Promote the World Cup!

FIFA is urging South Africa to spread word about the 2010 World Cup.

You would think that the World Cup, the largest and most prestigious international football competition, could sell itself, but apparently that’s not the case:

World Cup Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan criticised what he saw as a lack of enthusiasm in the country.

“There is only one country that will host this World Cup and that is South Africa. And yet you find countries like Canada, Australia are more enthusiastic it seems than our own South African population,” he said.

Ouch.

Maybe one of the reasons why the World Cup has not been attracting the sort of attention FIFA expects is because of the precarious positions of some traditional powers:

France sits in third place in European qualifying Group 7 at 1-1-1, trailing Serbia and Lithuania by a whopping five points. Les Bleus are in jeopardy of falling even further behind on March 28, when they play at Lithuania.

The top team in each European group advances to South Africa, and the second-place teams are paired into two-leg playoffs for a spot. But the real danger for France is finishing out of the top two and being eliminated altogether. Austria and Romania are also tied with France at four points, and one of them could get hot as well.

“Nobody said it would be easy, especially not me,” beleaguered coach Raymond Domenech told reporters recently. “We still have matches to play. Qualification plays itself out in a series of matches.”

The French public is less convinced. In the last home qualifier, the 80,000-seat Stade de France was barely half full.

Portugal
Imagine this scenario: The world’s best player not in the World Cup.

The problem for Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning FIFA Player of the Year, and Portugal is not their distance from first place in European Group 1; they’re only two points out of the top spot. The problem is how many teams are ahead of them.

The 2006 semifinalists are 1-1-2 and tied with Sweden for fifth place in the seven-team group, and Sweden has played one fewer game. That makes the March 28 qualifier against the Swedes in Porto even more of a must-win. After that, the next three are on the road.

What got Portugal, now coached by Carlos Queiroz after Felipe Scolari left for Chelsea, into this mess was a 3-2 loss at home to Denmark.

Said Ronaldo: “I know that from now on everything will be more complicated.”

 

USA beats Mexico

Results from today’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers:

11/02/09 13:30	Serravalle		San Marino	0:3 (0:2)	Northern Ireland
11/02/09 20:30	San Jose		Costa Rica	2:0 (0:0)	Honduras
11/02/09 13:45	Dublin		Republic of Ireland	2:1 (0:1)	Georgia
11/02/09 12:30	Ta’Qali		Malta	0:0	Albania
11/02/09 04:20	Yokohama		Japan	0:0	Australia
11/02/09 18:14	Columbus		USA	2:0 (1:0)	Mexico
11/02/09 19:00	San Salvador		El Salvador	2:2 (0:2)	Trinidad and Tobago
11/02/09 05:00	Tashkent		Uzbekistan	0:1 (0:0)	Bahrain
11/02/09 00:00	Pyongyang		Korea DPR	1:0 (1:0)	Saudi Arabia
11/02/09 05:30	Tehran		Iran	1:1 (0:0)	Korea Republic

Landon Donovan with ball, from Mexsport

The U.S. opened their CONCACAF final round play with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Mexico in Columbus, Ohio. Michael Bradley tapped in from close range late in the first half, then clinched the points with a long-range strike in extra time.

The U.S. will play their next qualification match at El Salvador on March 28. El Salvador came from two goals down to draw with Trinidad and Tobago at home.

David Villa scores for Spain against England. Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

In friendly news, Euro 2008 champions Spain beat England, 2-0, tarnishing David Beckham’s record-tying 108th appearance for the Three Lions.

Lionel Messi shooting against France, from AFP

In the other powerhouse friendly of today, Argentina trounced France in Marseilles, 2-0, thanks in part to the efforts of Lionel Messi.