Sport | Football
England close to World Cup ticket
What does Wayne Rooney have that is steadily being taken away from his Manchester United colleague Cristiano Ronaldo? Well, a chance to play at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
- By Duane Fonseca, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:05 June 19, 2009
Dubai: What does Wayne Rooney have that is steadily being taken away from his Manchester United colleague Cristiano Ronaldo? Well, a chance to play at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Rooney's England have won all seven of their Group 6 qualifying matches and are on the verge of qualifying for the winter spectacle in the Rainbow Nation, but the same can't be said of Ronaldo's Portugal, who are stuttering with just nine points from six matches, their chances of making the finals getting slimmer with each passing round.
Portugal is currently ranked third in Group 1, ahead of Sweden, another big name that has stumbled, only because it has scored two more goals than the Swedes. The teams share an identical win-draw-loss (WDL) record of 2-3-1, but it's a worrying statistic especially since Denmark and Hungary the top two in the group in that order are way ahead. Denmark have 16 points in the bag already, while Hungary are on 13. The worrying factor for Portugal is that of their four remaining games, they play Denmark and Hungary once each on the road before hosting the Hungarians and Malta at home. Sweden has an easier ride in that in two of their four games they face lesser known rivals in Albania and Malta, which could mean tragedy for Ronaldo & Co. Only one team qualifies directly from each group in Europe, so even if Portugal finish second, they must play other, perhaps, tougher second-placed rivals in a two-legged play-off.
Greece top Group 2 on the basis of a superior goal difference than Switzerland; otherwise they have 13 points a piece and an identical WDL record of 4-1-1 after six games. Slovakia are the team to beat in Group 3 with 15 points from six games, while Northern Ireland (seven matches) are second two points adrift. Poland must pull up their socks if they hope to take second place as they're a further three adrift of the Ulstermen on 10, but have a game in hand.
Germany and Russia are sure to qualify from Group 4, but who will go through as leaders is still uncertain.
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