New Zealand 1-0 Bahrain
Ricki Herbert, former New Zealand footballer and the current coach of the national team led them to a place in the 2010 Football World Cup today, with a 1-0 win over Bahrain in Wellington, after 27 years.
Take a Bow Mr. Ricki Herbert
Herbert said:
“Tonight’s about these boys. It’s about a group who believed and have never stopped believing and their dream continues.”
“I’ve been very honest with everybody about the quality of this team, we’ve all worked hard, we all backed the system that we truly believed was good enough to win it and they’ve gone and done it.”
In the dying minutes of the first half, striker Rory Fallon put New Zealand ahead heading in from a Leo Bertos corner.
Bahrain came back from the break highly motivated. They won a controversial penalty, which was missed by Sayed Mohamed.
The All-Whites coach added:
“They’ll be iconic, the public will embrace them, they’ll be remembered as the side to achieve it again.”
Cameroon 2-0 Morocco
Cameroon qualified for South Africa, winning 2-0 versus Morocco and recorded a sixth appearance for an African team at the FIFA World Cup finals.
Achille Webo put Cameroon ahead on 18 minutes followed by Samuel Eto’o after half-time against a lacklustre Moroccan team.
Nigeria 3-2 Kenya
Two important goals from Obafemi Martins helped Nigeria defeat Kenya and book a place in the World Cup.
The Super Eagles were trailing at half-time in a match they had to win, but managed to hit two in five minutes. Kenya levelled 12 minutes from full-time only for Martins to score the winner on 83 minutes.
Ireland 0-1 France
Portugal 1-0 Bosnia
Bruno Alves and his Portugal team-mates celebrate his goal
Portugal dominated the game from the start even without their star player- Ronaldo. The home team took advantage of their possession when an unmarked Bruno Alves stole in at the far post and netted in Nani’s pinpoint pass.
Bosnia pressed forward, leaving themselves exposed to Portugal’s rapid counter-attacks, expertly orchestrated by Deco. Chances were spurned at both ends. The Portuguese enjoyed some good fortune as the game neared its conclusion, with around two minutes from time the Bosnians hit the woodwork twice. First of all Edin Dzeko’s bouncing shot struck the crossbar, with Zvjezdan Muslimovic driving the loose ball against the base of the far post. The second leg is to be played on Wednesday.
The man of the match was Portugal’s striker Liedson, with a lively display, producing plenty of technical trickery and darting runs to keep the imposing Bosnian defenders guessing throughout the game.
Greece 0-0 Ukraine
The teams played out a goalless draw. Greece were without several of their first-teamers, but managed to hold off Ukraine, who played an enterprising first half-hour and then completely lost their sting. The return game will be played in Donetsk on Wednesday.
The Greeks had a fine opportunity with captain Konstantinos Katsouranis header bound goalwards only for the Ukraine keeper to pull off an exceptional save to keep the game all square.
Uruguay 1-0 Costa Rica
Uruguay have inched closer to qualifying for the World Cup after beating ten-man Costa Rica away from home in the first leg.
In the first-half a goal was scored by Diego Lugano, which was otherwise often scrappy.
The Ticos could not make their home advantage pay, failing to get into the Uruguay box or test Fernando Muslera. Costa Rica suffered a further blow in the 20th minute when defender Gilberto Martinez was forced off with an injury after colliding with Alvaro Fernandez and while he was off receiving treatment, Uruguay profited.
Costa Rica did have a chance to equalise just before half-time, but Bryan Ruiz’s header went over the crossbar. Things got even worse seven minutes into the second half as Azofeifa brought down Fernandez and earned a second yellow card.
However, Uruguay couldn’t make their one man advantage count. They squandered possession too often and failed to create chances.
Costa Rica were showing more purpose, but their shots were too weak to properly test Muslera. Fernandez could have doubled Uruguay’s lead with three minutes to go, but saw his header blocked by Junior Diaz.
That means Uruguay take a slim but significant advantage into the rematch at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on Wednesday night.
Egypt 2-0 Algeria
There was high drama and security concerns leading up to the match. The Algerian team bus was ambushed by Egyptian fans en route to their hotel, with a few players requiring stitches.
Egypt celebrate their goal
Reigning African champions Egypt could not have wished for a better start, with Amr Zaki giving them a second-minute lead and then Emad Meteab scoring five minutes into stoppage time to earn Egypt a victory over Algeria.
Meteab replaced Zaki after 65 minutes and, when all seemed lost, he rose highest to head the ball into the far corner of the net past Algerian goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui.
The return game will be played in Sudan on Wednesday.
