D Thursday, October 15, 2009 METROSPORT 31 GOLF (until Sunday) European Portugal Masters (Ocenico Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura) HORSE RACING Brighton, Ludlow, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Punchestown. WORLD CUP EUROPEAN QUALIFYING GROUP ONE Denmark .........0 Hungary .......... 1 Buszaky 35 Sweden ...........4 Albania ........... 1 Mellberg 6, 42 Salihi 56 Berg 40, Svensson 86 Portugal ..........4 Malta .............. 0 Nani 14, Simao 45 Miguel 52, Edinho 90 P W D L F A Pts Denmark 10 6 3 1 16 5 21 Portugal 10 5 4 1 17 5 19 Sweden 10 5 3 2 13 5 18 Hungary 10 5 1 4 10 8 16 Albania 10 1 4 5 6 13 7 Malta 10 0 1 9 0 26 1 GROUP TWO Latvia ..............3 Moldova .......... 2 Rubins 31, 44 Ovseannicov 25 Grebis 76 Sofroni 89 Greece .............2 Luxembourg .. 1 Torosidis 30 Papadopoulos 90og Gekas 33 Switzerland ....0 Israel ............... 0 P W D L F A Pts Switzerland 10 6 3 1 18 8 21 Greece 10 6 2 2 20 10 20 Latvia 10 5 2 3 18 15 17 Israel 10 4 4 2 20 10 16 Luxembourg 10 1 2 7 4 25 5 Moldova 10 0 3 7 6 18 3 GROUP THREE Czech Rep ......0 N Ireland ......... 0 Poland .............0 Slovakia .......... 1 Gancarczyk 4 og San Marino .....0 Slovenia ......... 3 Novakovic 24 Stevanovic 68 Vitaioli 82 og P W D L F A Pts Slovakia 10 7 1 2 22 10 22 Slovenia 10 6 2 2 18 4 20 Czech Rep 10 4 4 2 17 6 16 Northern Ire 10 4 3 3 13 9 15 Poland 10 3 2 5 19 14 11 San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 47 0 GROUP FOUR Azerbaijan ......1 Russia ............ 1 Javadov 54 Arshavin 14 Germany ..........1 Finland ........... 1 Podolski Johansson 11 Liechtenstein.....0 Wales............... 2 Vaughan 16 Ramsey 80 P W D L F A Pts Germany 10 8 2 0 26 5 26 Russia 10 7 1 2 19 6 22 Finland 10 5 3 2 14 14 18 Wales 10 4 0 6 9 12 12 Azerbaijan 10 1 2 7 4 14 5 Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 23 2 GROUP FIVE Bosni-Herz .....2 Spain .............. 5 Dzeko 90 Pique 13, Silva 14 Misimovic 90 Negredo 50, 55 Mata 89 Turkey .............2 Armenia .......... 0 Altintop 16, Cetin 28 Estonia ............2 Belgium .......... 0 Piiroja 30 Vassiljev 67 P W D L F A Pts Spain 10 10 0 0 28 5 30 Bosnia-Herz 10 6 1 3 25 13 19 Turkey 10 4 3 3 13 10 15 Belgium 10 3 1 6 13 20 10 Estonia 10 2 2 6 9 24 8 Armenia 10 1 1 8 6 23 4 GROUP SIX Andorra ...........0 Ukraine ........... 6 Shevchenko 22 Gusev 60, Lima 69 og Rakitskiy 79 Seleznyov 80 Yarmolenko 82 England............3 Belarus ........... 0 Crouch 4, 75 Wright-Phillips 59 Kazakhstan .....1 Croatia ............ 2 Khizinichenko 26 Vukojekic 10 Kranjcar 90 P W D L F A Pts England 10 9 0 1 34 6 27 Ukraine 10 6 3 1 21 6 21 Croatia 10 6 2 2 19 13 20 Belarus 10 4 1 5 19 14 13 Kazakhstan 10 2 0 8 11 29 6 Andorra 10 0 0 10 3 39 0 GROUP SEVEN Lithuania .........2 Serbia ............. 1 Kalonas 18pen Tosic 59 Stankevicius 67pen France .............3 Austria ............ 1 Benzema 18 Janko 48 Henry 26pen Gignac 66 Romania .........3 Faroe Isl ......... 1 Apostol 16, Bucur 65 Egil 83 Mazilu 88 P W D L F A Pts Serbia 10 7 1 2 22 8 22 France 10 6 3 1 18 9 21 Austria 10 4 2 4 14 15 14 Lithuania 10 4 0 6 10 11 12 Romania 10 3 3 4 12 18 12 Faroe Islands 10 1 1 8 5 20 4 GROUP EIGHT Bulgaria ...........6 Georgia .......... 2 Berbatov 6, 23, 35 Dvalishvili 34 Petrov 14, 44 Kobiashvili 52 pen Angelov 31 Italy .................3 Cyprus ............ 2 Gilardino 78, 81 Okkas 12 Quagliarella 90 Chrysostomos 48 Rep of Ire ........0 Montenegro 0 P W D L F A Pts Italy 10 7 3 0 18 7 24 Rep of Ireland 10 4 6 0 12 8 18 Bulgaria 10 3 5 2 17 13 14 Cyprus 10 2 3 5 14 16 9 Montenegro 10 1 6 3 9 14 9 Georgia 10 0 3 6 5 13 3 Is Maradona and Messis World Cup dream still alive? For a report of last nights crucial Uruguay v Argentina game, go to metro.co.uk/football COUNTDOWN TO SOUTH AFRICA Whos through South Africa (as hosts). Africa: Ivory Coast, Ghana. Asia: Australia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan. Europe: Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Holland, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Slovakia. North/Central America: Mexico, USA. South America: Brazil, Paraguay, Chile. And whos facing the play-offs Europe: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia, Ukraine, France, Ireland. Rest of world: New Zealand v Bahrain (1st-leg 0-0), Honduras or Costa Rica v fifth- placed South American team. The big casualties Surprisingly, after so much speculation, the big guns are still in the mix. Sweden, Croatia and the Czech Republic are the biggest names to miss out. Anxious wait: Maradona Ireland draw blankREP OF IRELAND................... 0 MONTENEGRO......................... 0 PAUL McSHANE upstaged centurion Shay Given as the Republic of Ireland ended their World Cup Group Eight campaign unbeaten. The defender unwittingly blocked Montenegro midfielder Simon Vuk- cevics goal-bound 66th-minute shot with his arm, but Slovakian referee Vladimir Hrinak missed the incident and Ireland survived. Richard Dunne had earlier hit the bar with a first-half header, but only after the visitors captain Branko Boskovic had headed wide with just Given to beat. The first stage of Irelands qualifying mission ended with a whimper as a sixth draw to go with their four wins ensured they head into next months play-off games without a defeat to their names. But on a night when Given and full- back Kevin Kilbane made 100th appear- ances for their country, there was little else to cheer. Given did at least manage to negotiate the 90 minutes without picking up a booking, which would have ruled him out of the first leg of the play-off, but manager Giovanni Trapattoni saw mid- fielder Martin Rowlands carried off with what looked like a bad knee injury. Trapattoni had insisted in the run-up to the game that he would take no risks, other than the calculated gamble on Giv- en, with those players walking a discipli- nary tightrope andAiden McGeady and Keith Andrews did not even make the bench as Noel and Stephen Hunt became the first set of brothers to line up for Ire- land in nearly 30 years. Rowlands, however, was back in the dressing room within 39 minutes arriv- ing in agony on a stretcher after catching his studs in the turf and twisting his knee. There was little other than pride rest- ing on last nights result, and for long periods the contest had the air of a friendly about it. Trapattonis men went close with 27 minutes gone when Stephen Hunt picked out Damien Duff in acres of space wide on the right but the Fulham midfielder shot harmlessly into the side-netting. Given then heaved a huge sigh of relief as unmarked Montenegro captain Bosk- ovic headed wastefully wide. On the run: Ireland winger Damien Duff escapes the challenge of Montenegros Milorad Pekovic Picture: Sportsfile Dunne was unfortunate to see his tow- ering header from Stephen Hunts 42nd- minute free-kick come back off the un- derside of the bar, and Keane fired over on the turn as the hosts put the squeeze on as the interval approached. Ireland enjoyed their major stroke of good fortune midway through the sec- ond period. Vukcevic turned elegantly away from the challenges of Sean St Ledger and Dunne but, apparently un- seen by the referee, his shot cannoned back off McShanes arm and went unre- warded by a whistle. If anything, the visitors enjoyed the bet- ter of the game as time ran down. But neither side really threatened to snatch all three points in a tame conclusion which was in stark contract to the one the fans at Croke Park witnessed on Saturday. BY DAVID KENNEDY RESULTS FIXTURES Commitment: Eriksson FOOTBALLDigest FORMER Birmingham co-owner David Sullivan has revealed his interest in taking a role at West Ham. Sullivan, along with the Gold brothers, left St Andrews earlier this month following the takeover by Carson Yeung. Sullivan and David Gold are seeking another club to get involved in but the boyhood West Ham fan admits reports of financial trouble at Upton Park are putting him off any deal. Sullivan said: West Ham is a club close to my heart and I would love to be involved with them. [But] the debts that appear to be [there] seem huge. Im not sure I could face what is going on. ROBINHO will have to fight for his first-team place at Manchester City when he returns to action. The 32million striker has been sidelined by an ankle injury since September. In his absence, Craig Bellamy has struck a rich vein of form while Robinho has been linked with a January move to Barcelona. City assistant boss Mark Bowen said: Robi will always be surrounded by rumour and speculation. Hes a great guy and very much a part of the managers plans. But Robi is no different from any other player in that he will be fighting for a place when he regains his fitness. SVEN-Goran Eriksson has stated he has no interest in taking charge of the North Korea national team at next summers World Cup. It was reported the North Koreans, who have qualified for the finals for the first time since 1966, made an approach to the former England boss. But Eriksson, director of football at League Two Notts County, has denied receiving any offer. The Swede said: I dont have any offer and I have no plans to be manager, or whatever it is, for North Korea, absolutely not. When asked whether he could assure people he would be staying at Meadow Lane, the 61-year-old added: Of course I can, absolutely. HARRY REDKNAPP is not concerned about idiots as he prepares to return to Portsmouth with Tottenham this weekend. The former Pompey boss, who won the FA Cup in his second spell in charge at Fratton Park, left the club for Spurs last year and accepts some fans may try to make him feel unwelcome at Saturdays Premier League encounter but he claims not to be worried. He said: People who have got any sense look at what I did for that football club. Im not bothered about the idiots. There are enough good people at the club who I know well and appreciate what I did there. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html