World Cup Qualifying Group 8

[boovidge]

Thread for news discussion about the group and our opponents (instead of having a million different Georgia/ montengro/Italy etc threads) Please add news about squad selection, injuries, results etc etc

Fixtures:

Saturday, 6 September 2008
Cyprus v Italy 19:45
Georgia v Rep of Ireland 17:00
Montenegro v Bulgaria 19:00

Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Italy v Georgia 19:50
Montenegro v Rep of Ireland 18:00

Saturday, 11 October 2008
Bulgaria v Italy
Georgia v Cyprus

Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Georgia v Bulgaria
Italy v Montenegro
Rep of Ireland v Cyprus

Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Rep of Ireland v Georgia

Saturday, 28 March 2009
Cyprus v Georgia
Montenegro v Italy
Rep of Ireland v Bulgaria

Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Bulgaria v Cyprus
Georgia v Montenegro
Italy v Rep of Ireland

Saturday, 6 June 2009
Bulgaria v Rep of Ireland
Cyprus v Montenegro

Saturday, 5 September 2009
Bulgaria v Montenegro,
Cyprus v Rep of Ireland
Georgia v Italy

Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Italy v Bulgaria
Montenegro v Cyprus

Saturday, 10 October 2009
Cyprus v Bulgaria
Montenegro v Georgia
Rep of Ireland v Italy

Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Bulgaria v Georgia
Italy v Cyprus
Rep of Ireland v Montenegro

[boovidge]

Montenegro: The Dangerous Newcomers to the International Party

Montenegro might be ranked 143rd in the world but they shouldn't be underestimated

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/02/montenegro.europeanfootball?gusrc=rss&feed=football

[mjpcc]

Excellent - do you happen to have the kick off times?

[boovidge]

Excellent - do you happen to have the kick off times?

only the times for saturday and wednesday so far.

[boovidge]

Cannavaro ready for Azzurri return

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro claims he is fit and ready to lead the defending champions as they begin their World Cup qualifying campaign against Cyprus on Saturday.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0903/cannavarof.html

[Inside Man]

Must pick up 6 pionts from first two.

[eirebhoy]

For what it's worth Georgia's only injured first teamer is a defensive midfielder called Jaba Kankava who's out with a broken ankle. A regular for Dnipro who are a decent team.

[eirebhoy]

I'm surprised how weak the Bulgaria team looks based on the clubs the players are playing for (their club's most recent league finish in brackets):

GK Dimitar Ivankov (Bursaspor, 13th Turkey)

LB: Alexandar Tunchev (Leicester City, 22nd English Championship)
CB: Lucio Wagner (Levski Sofia, 2nd Bulgaria)
CB: Igor Tomasic (Maccabi Tel Aviv, 6th Israel)
RB: Stanislav Manolev (Litex Lovech, 3rd Bulgaria)

CM: Stanislav Angelov (Energie Cottbus, 14th Germany)
CM: Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa, 6th England)

AM: Velizar Dimitrov (Metalurg, 12th Ukraine)
AM: Martin Petrov (Manchester City, 9th England)
AM: Zdravko Lazarov (Shinnik Yaroslavl, 1st Russian 2nd division)

FW: Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur, 11th England)

[Allstar]

I'm surprised how weak the Bulgaria team looks based on the clubs the players are playing for (their club's most recent league finish in brackets):

GK Dimitar Ivankov (Bursaspor, 13th Turkey)

LB: Alexandar Tunchev (Leicester City, 22nd English Championship)
CB: Lucio Wagner (Levski Sofia, 2nd Bulgaria)
CB: Igor Tomasic (Maccabi Tel Aviv, 6th Israel)
RB: Stanislav Manolev (Litex Lovech, 3rd Bulgaria)

CM: Stanislav Angelov (Energie Cottbus, 14th Germany)
CM: Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa, 6th England)

AM: Velizar Dimitrov (Metalurg, 12th Ukraine)
AM: Martin Petrov (Manchester City, 9th England)
AM: Zdravko Lazarov (Shinnik Yaroslavl, 1st Russian 2nd division)

FW: Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur, 11th England)

Berbatov's gone to united now :D:D:D

[Kingdom]

The Bulgars are most impressive going forward, and its defensively where we are possibly weakest. It will be interesting.

[boovidge]

Full Bulgarian squad:

Goalkeepers: Dimitar Ivankov (Bursaspor), Stoyan Kolev (Otelul Galati)


Defenders: Alexandar Tunchev (Leicester City), Valentin Iliev (Terek Groznyi), Zhivko Milanov (Levski Sofia), Stanislav Manolev (Litex Lovech), Igor Tomasic (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Lucio Qagner (Levski Sofia), Ivan Ivanov
(CSKA Sofia).


Midfielders: Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa), Stanislav Angelov (Energie Cottbus), Stanislav Genchev (Vaslui), Chavdar Yankov (Hanover 96), Velizar Dimitrov (Metalurg Donetsk), Blagoy Georgiev (Slavia).


Strikers: Dimitar Berbatov (Man United), Martin Petrov (Manchester City), Zdravko Lazarov (Shinnik Yaroslavl), Dimitar Rangelov (Energie Cottbus), Ivelin Popov (Litex Lovech).

[irishultra]

On Paper(bar Petrov and Berbatov) I think Montenegro look better. We really should be getting second in this group. Yes I'm biased, but I think if a neutral compared our squad to them, they would say we look better.

Some might say we have players playing in the Championship, but in reality a lot of those players would jump at the opportunity to play in the Championship. Also I would say Doyle and Hunt are among the top 5 players in the Championship.

[boovidge]

Bulgaria do have alot more experience of qualifying for tournaments (i think i read 5 world cups)

We should be careful not to do a "dunphy" and claim their players are rubbish because we havent heard of them.

[irishultra]

They last qualifed for a tournament in 2004 though. I don't think they qualifed for the 2002 world cup, but I'm probably wrong.

Do you think experience of qualifying for the 1994 world cup for example actually has any effect on their modern day players?

However I will say they got 25 points in their last campaign, 8 more than us. Their points tally indicates they are better than us but in fairness I think we were in a tougher group.

[boovidge]

They last qualifed for a tournament in 2004 though. I don't think they qualifed for the 2002 world cup, but I'm probably wrong.

Do you think experience of qualifying for the 1994 world cup for example actually has any effect on their modern day players?


psychologically, qualification might look like less of a hurdle. I'm sure their fans expect a second place finish.

[eirebhoy]

Yeh they were 1 point behind Holland in their last group and had the same group of players as they currently do so I won't be writing them off. If anything they'll do better than their last campaign as the players should know each other inside out.

[irishultra]

Off-topic but have you seen Hollands stats for their last campaign?

They scored like 15 goals...so much for open attacking play.. Its strange because their defence is just good, while their attacking players are very good.

[newbie]

did anyone see N. Ireland v Bulgaria last season?? I wasnt impressed one little bit with Bul....they were absolute RUBBISH at the back...the other main thing i noticed was absolutely everything went through Petrov...straight out to the wing to him each time. thnk god FInnan is back.

[TheBoss]

Bulgaria, Montenegro and Cyprus are very similar, like to attack but not defend, we need a solid defence to cope with attacking mentality and try to hit them on break at least in the away games.

[irishultra]

I think thats the case for every team in this group :D

Bulgaria had the best defensive record out of all the teams in the group, including Italy, who scored the most goals out of everyone in the group.

[boovidge]

Tblisi should have been venue - Cuper

Georgia boss Hector Cuper has insisted his adopted country's World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland could have been played in Tbilisi.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0905/georgia.html

[boovidge]

He said: 'The first thing I know is that they have a head coach with big experience. This is a coach who has achieved a lot in his career. This is a very strong national team, especially physically and especially when they are playing in defence.

Has he not seen our team at all?:confused:

[musicinmouth]

From Uefa.com (http://www.uefa.com/competitions/worldcup/news/kind=1/newsid=746608.html)


Montenegro will make their competitive debut as an independent nation in Saturday's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria, with Football Association of Montenegro president Dejan Savićević insisting: "If I didn't believe we could beat any team in this group I wouldn't be doing this job."


Even Italy
The Gradski Stadium has a capacity of just 11,000, which for a nation of less than 700,000 is usually quite sufficient. However, for Saturday's Group 8 game, and next Wednesday's fixture against the Republic of Ireland, demand for tickets has vastly exceeded supply, with plenty of Montenegrins sharing FSCG president and former AC Milan star Savićević's optimism about a group which also features Italy, Georgia and Cyprus. "I think that we could even beat Italy, but we must also be realistic," added the 41-year-old former midfielder. "We are a small country, we are debutants and we don't expect miracles. We just want to give our best, but if our players do that in every match anything could happen."

Ambitious youngster
Savićević's confidence is not without basis. Montenegro - part of Yugoslavia, then Serbia, and then Serbia and Montenegro prior to achieving independence in 2006 - boasts some excellent players, especially in attacking positions. At 24, AS Roma striker Mirko Vućinić is one of the highest-rated strikers in Serie A and can boast great support in 18-year-old Stevan Jovetić, who celebrated his recent move from FK Partizan to ACF Fiorentina with two goals in August's 3-3 friendly draw against Hungary. "I am very excited," said the teenager. "I can't wait to start a match. Bulgaria are a very strong team, with a lot of class players, but we also have a good squad. We don't have experience in qualifiers, but we have a great desire to make a good start. I will be very satisfied if we take four points in the first two games."

'For sure'
Attacking midfielder Simon Vukčević completes a dangerous offensive trio for Zoran Filipović's team. The 22-year-old has lost his place in the starting lineup at Sporting Clube de Portugal this season, and said: "If I am honest, I am not 100 per cent ready, but I will do my best to help my team-mates in this historic match. We have a very good atmosphere in the squad which is very important. It will be all for one and one for all. But, we are not favorites against Bulgaria or the Republic of Ireland. We are newcomers, a small national team, and we don't have the right to beat anyone. But we have every right to play for victory and we will do that for sure."

[irishultra]

Glad to see Cuper hasn't done his homework.

[Dodge]

For those interested, Cyprus v Italy is live on channel "sportsxchange TV". its Channel 417 on NTL digital. its on Sky too

[irishultra]

What time is kick off?

I'll definetly be watching that game. It will be interesting to see how Cyprus will do in this campaign. I think the 5-2 has us over estimating them, considering they did finish second last in the group, but with their clubs doing well in Europe they might be on a high(although I think the team that got into CL had very little Cypriot players)

[Brendan 82]

Anyone thinking that Montenegro might turn over Bulgaria on Saturday? Or at least get a draw. Seems to be some problems in the Bulgaria camp

[eirebhoy]

Anyone thinking that Montenegro might turn over Bulgaria on Saturday? Or at least get a draw. Seems to be some problems in the Bulgaria camp
Have a look at "Montenegrin's" view on his team:

"We have very strong offansive with Vučinić(AS Roma),Jovetić(Fioretina) and Vukčević(Sporting Lisabon-scored nice goal against Bolton last year in Uefa cup-they wanted to buy him later for 12 milion euro).
Our middlefield is quite good also with Peković(Mainz),Bošković(Rapid Wien) and Drinčić who plays for Russian team Amkar you probablly never heard of,but believe me he is good enough to play in premier league clubs like Wigan,Sunderland...
We also have good side backs with Pavićević(Cotbus-Germany) and Božović(Rapid Bucuresti).Our main problem are our center backs Tanasijević(Dinamo Moscow) and Batak(Ankaraspor) who are not on top of their performance."

That team aint bad at all.

[SuperDave]

by all accounts cyprus were better than italy tonight! di natale lucky to net the winner

and bulgariansn got lucky too with a last minute equaliser having been reduced to ten men.

montenegro ain't gonna be easy folks...

[Sproston Green]

Cyprus vs Italy was live on Sky SportsXchange channel - new one on me.

Italy very lucky - the Cypriots should have scored just before they nicked the win, corner turned wide when it seemed harder to miss. Then the Italians steal it at the death - admittedly, a very good move. It's a shame as to have been the only away winner on opening day would have been a promising start.

It's mad that the late goal concession seems not be confined to just our matches in this group :eek:

We're like a recovering alcoholic who thinks they've beaten their "late goal leaking addiction" so celebrate with a quick half in the 93rd minute!

[Wolfie]

The return of the dreaded "Groupa Del Morte"

To quote the well-worn cliche - there's no easy games in this group.

Its going to be relentless.:eek:

[boovidge]

Gattuso Out of Georgia Clash

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=874298.html#gattuso+georgia+clash

do you reckon there's a chance Georgia could pull an upset here? Italy played terribly against Cyprus.

[Razors left peg]

Gattuso Out of Georgia Clash

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=874298.html#gattuso+georgia+clash

do you reckon there's a chance Georgia could pull an upset here? Italy played terribly against Cyprus.

where is that game being held?

[boovidge]

Udine

Italy at home so they have to be clear favourites. Can always hope though. :)

[Razors left peg]

said it before a long time ago and I'll say it again... I really believe we will top this group. All of the teams are decent but no one is outstanding, and I think we will be well organised enough and we have enough quality players... and for anyone that says that its ridiculous to think we can beat Italy, like Ive been told on here before...think Austria 3 France 1... reputations count for nothing and Italy like France are on a low ebb at the moment and the will not magically improve instantly, it will take a little time and I believe we have gotten lucky and got them at a great time

[geysir]

The Gazzetta dello Sport reported something like that it's not worth spending the time to watch the recording of the Georgia Ireland game.
I hope that was in reference to Georgia :)

[boovidge]

said it before a long time ago and I'll say it again... I really believe we will top this group. All of the teams are decent but no one is outstanding, and I think we will be well organised enough and we have enough quality players... and for anyone that says that its ridiculous to think we can beat Italy, like Ive been told on here before...think Austria 3 France 1... reputations count for nothing and Italy like France are on a low ebb at the moment and the will not magically improve instantly, it will take a little time and I believe we have gotten lucky and got them at a great time

I believe we can top the group but I don't believe we will.

[Razors left peg]

I believe we can top the group but I don't believe we will.

maybe its blind faith:)

[eirebhoy]

The Gazzetta dello Sport reported something like that it's not worth spending the time to watch the recording of the Georgia Ireland game.
I hope that was in reference to Georgia :)
Yeh they were saying Georgia will play a completely different system against Italy so they won't learn much from watch our game. They gave McGeady man of the match in their match report which was surprising.

[Noelys Guitar]

I am watching the italy and they should be 4-0 (but thankfully are not). Hammering the Georgians for the first 25 mins but now the Georgians are showing some signs of life.

[musicinmouth]

where online can you watch the italy game? thanks!

[Noelys Guitar]

where online can you watch the italy game? thanks!

http://www.justin.tv/psn_tr3s. Italy 1-0 but Georgia have had a couple ofhalf chances near the endof the half and the Italians are starting to look like they did during the euro's.

[musicinmouth]

Thanks! Though it just seems to play Mexico v Honduras for me... even when I click on Italy v Georgia... hmm

[Noelys Guitar]

italy are realing playing poorly now. Del Piero getting booed by the Udinese fans! Georgia are just one good chance from pulling off a shock here.

[tetsujin1979]

Italy 2-0 up. De Rossi

<edit>

full time 2-0

[Noelys Guitar]

2-0. Italy broke away to score the second. The Georgians camped in the Italian half for the last 15 mins but like Saturday lacked a bit of guile up front. The ref was a disgrace. Complete homer and kept giving the Italian's free kicks for falling over. It should be some game when we play them.

[tetsujin1979]

Just listeing to Roberto Gotta (Serie A correspondant) on Off The Ball, he was saying that Georgia sat back and tried to hit Italy on the break?

[Noelys Guitar]

Just listeing to Roberto Gotta (Serie A correspondant) on Off The Ball, he was saying that Georgia sat back and tried to hit Italy on the break?

It looked like Italy were going to score a hat load in the first 20 or so mins then Georgia gradually got back into the game. For the last 15 mins Georgia camped out in the Italian half and created about 3 excellent chances. Bufoon came off his line twice to make 2 last ditch tackles. Gotta must have been watching a different game.

[geysir]

Georgia are now able to play their home games in Tbilisi :)

Next up for them is a double at home
Cyprus Oct 11th
Bulgaria Oct 15th.

[Lenny82]

I'd prefer if they were playing Bulgaria 1st as I'd say they would have a great chance of winning it. By playing Cyprus 1st they may pick up injuries or suspensions for the game on Wednesday giving Bulgaria an easier game.

It won't be an easy game for Cyprus though and then they have to travel here to play us on the Wednesday. We should have a fully rested and fit squad for that game so that we can pay them back with a 3 or 4 nil drubbing for the last campaigns shambles!!!