Soccer Goal Quest: WC Euro Playoffs Come Down To The Wire

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