Footy Speak

A Saudi Arabian footballer has scored what may be the fastest goal on record – with a shot from the halfway line that nestled in the net just two seconds after kick off. Nawaf Al Abed smashesd a speculative 60-yard effort as soon as the ball was tapped to him by an Al Hilal team-mate in a Saudi domestic game this weekend.

FIFA are looking into whether this is the fastest goal in competitive football history.

Big game tonight guys! I’m really excited – it’s going to be a goal bath, I’m sure. SO sure infact, I’ve placed a £50 bet on there being over 2.5 goals scored, i.e 3 goals, throughout the entirety of the match. That should return me a healthy profit. Anyway, back to the football!?

The main questions being asked before the match kicks off, is, who will start up front for England? Yahoo Eurosport put up a poll the other day, and take a look at the resutlts.

So, Defoe should be starting right? I wish there was a bookies which would take bets on this NOT happening, I’d bet my whole life savings on the fact that Heskey starts. England need someone like Heskey up there, or Crouchy. Why? Because the second Croatia put any pressure on us, we’re going to be blasting the long balls ALL night. I must say, Heskey is rather good at keeping the ball up there. Defoe, on the other hand, is a whole other can of beans.

Anyway, thats it for now. I’m planning on writing my next article on why I think Owen should at least still be in the squad. C’MON ENGLAND!

Only 10 teams were competing in the Oceania zone, and have only been allotted 0.5 tickets to SA. The winner from this zone will compete with the 5th placed Asian zone team over two legs, for the ticket. The play offs are scheduled to be played on the 10th October and 14th November.

6 tickets have been allotted to the 54 participating teams in the African zone. But only 5 will be up for grabs, as one has been allotted to the host team, South Africa. Of the 53 teams, 33 have already disqualified through round of qualifying. The remaining 20 teams have been divided in five groups and the teams that finishes top will get a ticket to the 2010 finals.

North, Central American and Caribbean zones have a total of 35 teams who will compete for 3.5 tickets to SA. The top 3 finishers will get a ticket to the 2010 finals, but the 4th placed team will contest in another two legged playoff against the 5th placed team from the South American zone. The South American zone has been allotted 4.5 tickets for the 10 teams that fall into the zone. The top four finishers will qualify for the 2010 finals automatically.

A total of 53 teams are in the European zone which is allotted 13 tickets. These teams have been divided in 9 groups. 8 of these 9 groups consist of 6 teams, and the 9th group consists of 5 teams. The top 9 finishers of the 9 groups will qualify for the 2010 finals, the 2nd placed teams from the first 8 groups, will play in a two legged play off with a designated team, the winner of which will qualify for the 2010 finals. As of now only Netherlands has qualified from the European zone.

Qualifying stage will be underway this weekend for the 2010 FIFA World Cup which is going to be hosted by South Africa. 32 teams from around the world will qualify for this month long tournament that is scheduled to be held from 11th June to 11th July 2010.

All the teams have been divided into zones according to their geographical location. So in all there are 6 zones from which the teams will advance into the 2010 finals. The 6 zones are as follows;

Africa
Asia
Europe
North, Central America and Caribbean
Oceania
South America

Each zone has been allotted different number of tickets to the finals. Asia has been provided with 4.5 tickets. This means 4 teams out of 43 teams of Asia zone will qualify for sure but the 5th team will have to play two legged play offs against the winner of Oceania zone.

Japan, Australia, Korea DPR and Korea Republic have already qualified for the 2010 finals from the Asia zone. The third placed team from both the qualifying groups of the Asia zone Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will contest in a two legged play off. The first leg will be played on 5th September in Bahrain and on 9th September the second leg will be played in Saudi Arabia. The winner will play against Oceania zone winner New Zealand over two legs. The winner will get a ticket to the 2010 finals.