Thursday, November 19, 2009

World Cup Update

Major upsets this week in World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

Slovakia BEAT Russia and Algeria BEAT Egypt to both qualify for next years World Cup. Hundreds of Algerians in North London took to the streets to celebrate the first qualification in 24 years. Egypt is Algeria's arch rival, so the emotional intensity was super-high.

In Slovenia yesterday, thousands rallied in the streets, streaming from homes and bars in every city and town, in what is called a "euphoric victory" and what the Slovak coach said "it is a dream coming true, a fairy tale ending from a Hollywood movie." Russian President Medvedev said "luck was on the Slovenian side." But we would like to add - yeah, and your team sucked, too! Go Slovenia!

In Ireland, tempers are flaring over a handball by Thierry Henry in the Ireland vs. France match, which cost Ireland a place at the Cup. Papers are being filed, protests are happening as we speak, and France admits it was an uncalled rule violation. Another case of bad refereeing. Even the French feel badly, citing that it is not an honest victory. Irish fans are still in tears, saying they "feel cheated and robbed."

Global Standings:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/standings/index.html

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Chalk Won up for the Slovaks!!!!