WCQ Weekend

Another World Cup qualifying weekend is upon us. There are a lot of games in the next couple of days. Here are a few that I think will be interesting from each zone as well s my assessment of Italy's matchup against Montenegro. I hope to watch a number of games and hopefully give my take on what I saw on Monday. Enjoy!

Oh and if you'd like to check out all the games there's no better place than Fifa.com.

Europe

Portugal v. Sweden: While it is still early both of there perennial contenders find themselves towards the bottom of Group 1. Group leaders Denmark are sure to pick up full points away to Malta so each team will be looking for a maximum take with the losers sure to face an uphill battle from then on. Good news for Portugal as the always dangerous Deco has been cleared to feature in this match.

Northern Ireland v. Poland: Both are tied with 7 points in a tight Group 3. Look for David Healy to add to his storied international career. I don't know why but I'd love to see Northern Ireland in South Africa.

Republic of Ireland v. Bulgaria: At the beginning of the campaign I'd had slated Bulgaria as stronger than Ireland but they sit 7 points back of the Irish and will need this game if they hope to gain any ground on their hosts or Italy. But the Irish had the smarts to hire an Italian to lead them and I think they'll take this one in Dublin despite Dimitar Barbatov's best efforts.

Spain v. Turkey, Netherlands v. Scotland, and Israel v. Greece are also games I expect to be competitive. I do like the home side in each though.

And of course there are the Azzurri. I love that Lippi is back in command and the attacking style he employs which is not always typical of the Italians. Montenegro will look to stifle the world champions and have a solid back line. With that said I think Lippi will use a 4-3-3 with Udinese pair Di Natale and Quagliarella complimenting the in-form Iaquinta up front. It might be tight but as an Italy fan I'm quite used to that and I expect the group leaders to take full points away from home.

Africa

Togo v. Cameroon: Arsenal's Adebayor has the OK to play in this match which could be a high-scoring display of attacking African soccer.

Mozambique v. Nigeria: I won't pretend to know a ton about African soccer but I do know the classically dominant teams and Nigeria certainly fits that description. From what I have read however a Mozambique team that recently tied the Ivory Coast could prove a stern test for the Super Eagles away from home.

South America

Uruguay v. Paraguay: Top of the standings Paraguay will face a tough trip to Montevideo especially without Roque Santa Cruz who should sit despite being named to the squad. I expect Paraguay to play conservatively as they are sitting pretty right now and a Uruguayan playmaker like Forlan will have the quality to catch them napping.

Ecuador v. Brazil: Ecuador are a quality side despite many who claim their best asset is their location. Quito is indeed a difficult place to play and Brazil's record there is not stellar but I expect the Selecao to be raring to go.

I just picked these matches at random since all of the South American qualifiers are always rife with passion and quality.

CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean)

3 games since only 6 teams remain in contention. The US is sure to have it's hands full in El Salvador but I do expect a close win. Trinidad and Tobago will face a tough match against the Hondurans in Port of Spain. Both teams are without key players in Yorke (T&T) and Suazo (Honduras) and the Soca Warriors have a pretty poor record against Honduras, even at home.

The most intriguing matchup here is Mexico v. Costa Rica. Mexico and their manager, former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, desperately need not only a win but a strong result but Costa Rica have proven to be no pushover in the past and recently with a 2-0 defeat of Honduras. I expect El Tri to take it at home but it is sure to be a heated match.

Oceania

Haha. I imagine few care but New Zealand has predictably already won the right to face the 5th place AFC team in a home and home playoff for a spot at South Africa 2010.

Asia

Japan v. Bahrain: Japan can distance itself from the bottom of its group with a win at home over Bahrain. I expect they'll do so and rumor has it that Nakamura's free kicks have been a focal point for the Japanese and I'll call the Celtic hitman to tally at least one goal.

Iran v. Saudi Arabia: Both teams have experience and one win can vault them into better position to catch the two Koreas which top the group. I can't imagine Tehran is a very welcoming place to play.

Whoa that took a long time, doubt I'll do another one of these for the second slate of games in a few days but who knows? We'll see how much I enjoy this weekend.

International Soccer

Don't get me wrong, I love club soccer. I follow my clubs passionately and most of the year it's leagues and cup competitions that dominate the headlines. But as we get closer and closer to another World Cup the international games start to pick up.

International sports in general are a great leveller. Take the Olympics for instance. For the majority of the time no one gives a damn about who the best pole vaulter or speed skater is. But strap a flag on their uniform and all of a sudden it means something totally different. While MLS struggles to build up more of its fan base, U.S. Soccer at least seems to draw interest. That may mean that there is more interest in the sport as a whole but I think some kind of nationalism has at least a little but to do with it.

With that said, many of these games mean 10x as much to other countries. I will never forget the USA/Honduras Gold Cup match I saw at Giants Stadium. Sam's Army was there doing a great job as usual but one look at the colors throughout the stadium proved who had the real support of the crowd. When Honduras scored to go 1-0 up, the place went nuts. I love the passion soccer fans exhibit in general. Add passion for one's country to this and it's hard not to get caught up.

FSC has some OK Asian qualifiers on this weekend but GolTV actually has a few I'm waiting eagerly like Spain v. Turkey and The Netherlands v. Scotland. Way too many games to even begin a comprehensive analysis but I'll post a few teams and players to watch tomorrow with maybe a few little previews. I'd also like to analyze the groups in each qualifying zone sometime soon but until then, later days.