Some eyebrows were raised when the Irish FA made a "humble" request to Fifa to consider including Ireland in the World Cup Finals as the 33rd team. The grudging reason as we all know was the controversial play-off exit to France with the aid of Thierry Henry's 'magical' hand.
According to Fifa president Sepp Blatter, Ireland did make the request but he ruled out the possibility of allowing an extra team into the finals.
"Naturally they were unhappy with what happened and asked very humbly whether they could be team number 33....I will bring it to the attention of the executive committee but if we do that, we will also have to bring in Costa Rica," said Blatter.
The Final Draw
The Fifa's executive committee meets Wednesday in Cape Town, two days ahead of the final draw for the World Cup.
Excitement is in the air, not only for the 32 qualified nations, but millions of people will view the draw live on Friday in more than 200 countries.
It's going to be a neck-and-neck finish for eight of the European nations when they play off in the second leg on Wednesday (Nov 18) to qualify for that all-important trip to the World Cup 2010 finals in South Afica next summer.
Egypt and Algeria will meet in the return match on neutral ground in Sudan to settle the last of Africa's qualifying berths after a dramatic late goal gave the Egyptians a 2-0 win on Saturday.
Substitute Emad Moteab's late header gave Egypt the winning margin they needed over Algeria and ensured they finished level at the top of Group C, forcing a sudden-death playoff.
Another African giant, Nigeria, just managed to make it when the Super Eagles beat Kenya 3-2, and thanks to Mozambique for doing them the favour when they beat contenders Tunisia 1-0. That was a tricky one for Nigeria who were almost out of the running.
Not surprisingly, the other soccer big boys in Africa - Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana - are all through to the finals.
In the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff, a Diego Lugano goal in the first half against Costa Rica brightened Uruguay hopes of playing in South Africa. The return leg in Montevideo will give Uruguay the home advantage to confirm their qualification unless the Costa Ricans can cause a major upset.
In the Oceania/Asia playoff, New Zealand celebrated with a 1-0 victory over favourite Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup finals for the second time in their history. The All-White played in the 1982 finals in Spain which saw Italy become the world champions.
World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - 2nd Leg
Ukraine v Greece
In the UEFA playoffs, seeded Greece must be kicking themselves for failing to overcome Ukraine in the first leg in Athens where a 0-0 draw has given Andriy Shevchenko and Co the home ground advantage to perform a "Greek tragedy".
Greece are finding a hard time getting the goals and the return match in Donetsk could well end in another goalless contest if
Greece's German coach Otto Rehhagel is true to his words that they will not allow the Ukrainians to score. He's hoping they will go down to penalty kicks to settle the issue.
Don't bank on Rehhagel to pull it off. My money is on an improving Ukraine to go through to their first World Cup finals.
France v Rep of Ireland
France coach Raymond Domenech may love to tinker with the Zodiac signs but not many French fans and the media are enamoured of him because of his "weird" tinkering of the French squad.
Domenech may have taken France to the World Cup final in 2006 and ended up as runners-up to Italy but he screwed up big time in Euro 2008 and yet he's still around as coach.
A saving grace for France is that the squad has some of the most skilful and gifted players around led by captain Thierry Henry.
Going into the second leg in Paris, Les Bleus will face a fighting Ireland side under their wily Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni. We can expect the Irish to battle all the way as they did in Dublin where they went down by one goal scored by Nicolas Anelka via a deflection.
The French 'astrologer' aside, my hunch is that Irish eyes won't be smiling in Paris.
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Portugal
Portugal rode their luck in Lisbon winning by a Bruno Alves goal, but the Bosnians came close a few times with quick counter-attacks while playing a defensive game. There were scary moments late in the game when hotshot Edin Dzeko, who plays in the Bundesliga, headed against the bar. The Portuguese escaped again when Zlatan Muslimovic saw his shot hit a post.
Taking a one goal lead into the second leg in Zenica may not be enough for Portugal who are missing their pin-up boy Cristiano Ronaldo whose ankle injury is not doing their coach Carlos Queiroz any favour.
Bosnia-Herzegovina can be expected to come out of their shell to overturn the Portuguese lead. Coach Miroslav Blazevic is likely to tell his boys to be more adventurous this time despite missing three suspended players in Samir Muratovic, Emir Spahic and Elvir Rahimic who were booked.
It will be a tough one for Portugal against a team that have shown resilience and attacking flair in their qualifying campaign. Queiroz has plenty to do to stay ahead of the game.
Slovenia v Russia
The fact that all the first leg results, except for the Greece-Ukraine match, saw teams winning by one-goal margins reflects the closeness of these contests. Russia were the only team to net two goals against Slovenia who caught the Russians sleeping with a late goal by substitute Nejc Pecnik. Pecnik missed a golden opportunity to square the result shortly after.
The Russians dominated the game on their plastic surface but the return leg is causing apprehension. Russian midfielder Sergei Semak was reported to have expressed unease by the late Slovenian goal and there are mixed feelings because of the one-goal difference.
Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek felt that they "have found a goal that keeps us in the game."
Although playing away this time, Russia should have the players to take them to through to the finals. All they need is a draw in Slovenia but I think the Russians will win again.
World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - 1st Leg
UEFA Playoffs
Rep of Ireland 0 France 1
Russia 2 Slovenia 1 Portugal 1 Bosnia Herzegovina 0
Greece 0 Ukraine 0
Africa Playoffs
Egypt 2 Algeria 0
(Africa Group B Qualifiers) Kenya 2 Nigeria 3 Mozambique 1 Tunisia 0
Diego Maradona's rant at newsmen following Argentina's qualification for the World Cup 2010 finals in South Africa has come back to haunt him.
The Argentina coach was given a suspension of two months - from Nov 15 to Jan 15 - and fined £14,800 by FIFA for his outburst.
Maradona was in Zurich on Sunday for his hearing before a FIFA disciplinary committee.
The trouble started when Maradona rounded on his critics in the press following a crucial 1-0 win last month over Uruguay in Montevideo that confirmed Argentina's place at the finals.
In 1994 he shot at journalists with an air rifle outside his home in Buenos Aires, injuring four people, and was given a suspended jail sentence of two years and ten months.
Argentina played Spain in a friendly in Madrid on Sunday, losing 2-1.
World Cup Qualifiers - Europe Zone Play-offs, First Leg
November 14, 2009
Rep of Ireland v France (Dublin)
Portugal v Bosnia Herzegovina (Lisbon)
Russia v Slovenia (Moscow)
Greece v Ukraine (Athens)
Is it all gloom and doom for Portugal's World Cup hope?
The Portuguese are in a quandary with their Real Madrid 'galactico' Cristiano Ronaldo still suffering from a recurring ankle injiury.
It's also a big blow to Real Madrid if their £80m summer signing from Manchester United is not able to be fit in time for the upcoming clash with Primera Liga leader Barcelona who are one point ahead of them.
The crucial play-off matches for European teams kick off with the first leg on Nov 14. That won't give crocked Ron enough time to recover when Portugal face Bosnia Herzegovina in Lisbon, according to his Dutch specialist Prof Niek van Dijk.
Reports on Friday revealed that Ronaldo had been advised by Van Dilk to continue treatment before returning for a fresh evaluation in 15 days' time.
That would put a damper on the 24-year-old Portuguese superstar's chances of playing in the two-leg play-off, the second leg is slated four days later in Zenica.
Tension and thrills
Bosnia-Herzegovina, who finished in second place in the European Zone Group 5 in which Euro 2008 champions Spain came out tops, are not exactly a pushover. And with the prospect of playing their first-ever World Cup finals in South Africa, they will be more determined to upset Portugal minus Ronaldo.
Bosnia-Herzegovina are No. 42 in the Fifa World Ranking. This time around, the Bosnians have a well-balanced side and they had scored 25 goals in their World Cup qualifying campaign. That makes them one of the most prolific teams in the European Zone.
We can expect the play-off rounds to produce matches filled with tension and thrills as eight teams - France, Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Bosnia Herzegovina, Russia, Slovenia, Greece and Ukraine - make their 'last bid' to win their tickets to South Africa.
Some pundits are saying this will be a wide-open contest. The four seeded teams - France, Russia, Portugal and Greece - are by no means guaranteed of a smooth path. There could well be an upset or two, with the most likely to come from the Greece v Ukraine and Portugal v Bosnia Herzegovina games.
