Wednesday, 20 November 2013

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

France 3-0 Ukraine (3-2 agg)

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 02:18 PM PST

France came back from the brink to overpower Ukraine 3-0 in a thrilling play-off to qualify for the 2014 World Cup with a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Oleg Gusev put through his own net in the 72nd minute after Mamadou Sakho had put France head with his first international goal in the 22nd minute and Karim Benzema was on target 12 minutes later.

Ukraine, who won the first leg in Kiev 2-0 on Friday, were reduced to 10 men when Yevhen Khacheridi was sent off for a second bookable offence two minutes into the second half.

It was Ukraine's fourth failed attempt at qualifying for the finals via the play-offs after missing out in 1998, 2002 and 2010. "It's the magic of football. Four days ago we were bad, very bad," the France coach Didier Deschamps told TF1 TV. "It was a great game. It was important for French football to be in Brazil next year. When we've got all the ingredients we can do great things."

Deschamps rung the changes by bringing in the centre-backs Sakho and Raphael Varane, the holding midfielder Yohan Cabaye, the winger Mathieu Valbuena and the striker Benzema and his gamble paid off on a dramatic night.

The home team made an aggressive start, with Valbuena's low shot being deflected for a corner as Ukraine struggled to contain wave after wave of French attacks.

Benzema and Paul Pogba headed just over in the opening 10 minutes while tempers flared as the visitors committed countless fouls.

France were rewarded for their efforts when Andriy Pyatov made an excellent save to deny Franck Ribéry but the ball fell to Sakho, who blasted the rebound into the net from a narrow angle. Ukraine had not conceded a goal in their eight previous matches.

Benzema then chested Ribéry's cross into the net at the far post, only for the Real Madrid striker's effort to be unluckily ruled out for offside.

The in-form Pyatov also palmed Valbuena's rising shot over the bar as Ukraine looked set to crack.

Benzema may have been unlucky earlier but he was fortunate with the second goal, clearly standing in an offside position when he fired home from close range following a series of goalmouth ricochets.

Ukraine went down to 10 men when Khacheridi was dismissed for a lunging tackle on the flying Ribéry.

Benzema missed a good chance when he skied the ball over the bar in the 58th minute as the home side maintained complete control.

The second-half substitute Gusev then deflected a Ribéry shot into his own goal to seal Ukraine's fate.


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Joachim Löw drops Germany down a gear but power is still there | David Hytner

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 02:18 PM PST

Manager left out three key players from a team hit by injuries but this was an assured win for one of the World Cup favourites
England v Germany match report

Roy Hodgson had injury problems. He was confronted by Germany, a nation with whom, it is fair to say, England have a bit of history and the fixture was also the climax to the Football Association's 150th anniversary celebrations. There is no such thing as a friendly against these guys.

So what does the England manager do? Pick his strongest available team and seek a pre-World Cup morale-boost or tell Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole to rest up at their clubs? After all, his three most established players are sure to make his squad for the finals in Brazil next summer. There would be little to learn from pressing them into service, particularly as the club games come thick and fast.

The reaction to Hodgson choosing the latter option would not have been difficult to predict. And yet this is precisely what Joachim Löw, his Germany counterpart, did at a largely subdued Wembley.

Injuries had deprived him Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Ilkay Gündogan, Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski. But it was his decision to stand down Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm and Mesut Özil, who are almost certainly his most important players.

The move blurred the line between confidence and swaggering arrogance and, with Low having used the trio against Italy last Friday night (Neuer and Lahm from the start; Özil as a substitute), it was easy to imagine where he considered England to be in the international pecking order.

But the psychology worked on several levels and it served to frame the contest in Löw's favour. A disappointment, and he could point out that his stars were missing; anything more encouraging and it was a result that was achieved with one hand, metaphorically, tied behind his back. The Germans do not need everybody against their old rivals.

Low would not have wanted to lose with his strongest side to England who, despite their well-documented travails, are capable of taking prized scalps in friendlies. They beat Italy and Brazil last season, for example. But when the teams were confirmed (the Tannoy announcer used hushed tones for the Germans), Löw had effectively stripped away the primacy of the result.

The focus, from his point of view, could be trained upon the second-stringers, even if it jars to refer to the likes of Toni Kroos and Mario Götze in such terms. Löw wanted them to strut their stuff, to ratchet up the pressure still further on those who currently form his strongest XI. His wish for the evening was to fine-tune, to learn.

Of his starting team, only four, perhaps, could be regarded as first picks – the defenders Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng and, possibly, Marcel Schmelzer, together with the left- winger, Marco Reus.

Löw made his changes because he could. The pool of talent available to him is remarkable, particularly in midfield, where it is questionable whether any nation runs as deep. If matches are won and lost in the area, then here is why Germany will travel to Brazil with such high hopes. No European nation has ever won a World Cup on South American soil. The expectation in Germany is that their team will buck the trend.

Löw's squad, by common consent, are capable of playing the finest football in German history, although they laboured here for spells in the first half. England did for rather longer. Germany had struggled for their touch and rhythm at the outset and Kroos seemed to capture the mood with a pass midway through the first half that went straight to a white shirt. Max Kruse, the third-choice striker, looked too eager to impress while around him, there was looseness. The visitors were there for the taking.

But Germany found something to surge ahead. And it was Kroos who seemed to flick a switch to make it happen. After his corner was cleared back to him, he made a difficult skill look straightforward with the weighted first-time cross that implored Mertesacker to attack the ball.

Moments earlier, the Arsenal centre-half had drawn Joe Hart into a reflex save that set the narrative of the goalkeeper's return rattling into action. Mertesacker, though, gave him no chance on the second occasion, his header the perfect fusion of power and precision. No sooner had the captain finished his celebratory knee slide, then the enclave of German supporters piped up. 'Football's Coming Home,' they chortled. Yeah, yeah.

The second half was more watchable and there were pleasing combinations for Löw on the counter; moments when there was real slickness about his team's play. Götze, who was moved up front after Kruse's withdrawal, showed his quicksilver quality while Reus and the substitute Sidney Sam ought to have increased the lead.

Löw made changes; he finessed things tactically. Kroos, who grew into the game, dropped deeper into midfield while Lars Bender went to right-back. Germany were street-wise and assured. They barely permitted England a flicker in front of goal. Löw's experiment paid off.

David Hytner

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Sweden 2-3 Portugal (2-4 agg)

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 02:02 PM PST

If Portugal decide to record a song to accompany their passage to Brazil, maybe they will consider borrowing something from the Millwall pantheon in honour of their captain. No one likes him, but he doesn't care, for Cristiano Ronaldo is going to the World Cup, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not.

On the day that the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias reported that Ronaldo is set to open a museum in homage to himself next year on his home island of Madeira – with the help of his mother Dolores - the seleção's totem once again proved that there is brilliance beneath the bluster, delivering Portugal to a major tournament via the play-offs for the third time in a row with a clinical hat-trick.

The Friends Arena appeared keen to undermine Sweden's image as the laidback, compliant hosts from the off, loudly jeering the visitors' anthem. Ronaldo and Mikael Lustig quickly resumed hostilities after their clash in Lisbon on Friday, with the Celtic defender snatching the ball impatiently from the Portugal captain's hands after the award of a free-kick in the opening seconds.

While Sweden did their best to dictate the play at the outset, a glut of misplaced passes suggested that Portugal's main test on a chilly evening would be one of mental, rather than technical fortitude.

Though one of Paulo Bento's major concerns would have been Sweden's threat from set pieces, it was Portugal who created the game's first moment of real danger from a dead ball situation on the quarter-hour, with Andreas Isaksson plunging low to his right to push away Bruno Alves' meaty header from a João Moutinho delivery. Moutinho's next pass was considerably looser, allowing Martin Olsson to burst forward after intercepting, but the Norwich left-back dragged his shot wide of Rui Patrício's near post from just outside the area.

The main event, between Messrs Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo, was once again proving to be a slow burner. As is often the case for both, they seemed burdened with over-responsibility, trying to wrest the match to their individual wills single-handed. Sweden's talisman got sucked deeper and deeper to try and fill the creative void in midfield – just where Portugal wanted him.

Ronaldo's tendency to go it alone, meanwhile, surfaced when he thrashed a cross-shot over from a tough angle with others better placed for a pass. He vigorously berated his team-mates for not taking up better positions, drawing catcalls from the stands and the evening's first chants of "Messi, Messi".

He at least appeared to be getting closer to his aim, turning a volley from the penalty spot narrowly over from a João Pereira cross. The Real Madrid forward then almost created the opener for Hugo Almeida but his recalled strike partner prevented a major incident by heading profligately into the side netting with the hosts whistling for play to be stopped as Johan Elmander lay injured. Ibrahimovic had his first effort as the interval approached, firing well over after a half-cleared corner.

Sweden's coach Erik Hamren shook things up for the second half by introducing the veteran Anders Svensson for the quiet Rasmus Elm to some local acclaim. Portugal were quickly almost made to pay for their first-half misses, with Ibrahimovic barging past Fábio Coentrão and Miguel Veloso before cutting back to Sebastian Larsson, but Patrício blocked bravely at point-blank range as Solna prepared to celebrate.

It proved decisive. Ronaldo took his chance seconds after, speeding onto Moutinho's visionary through pass to move clear and strike left-footed past Isaksson. As the skipper soaked up the boos from the stands, the Portuguese bench celebrated wildly, jumping and cavorting on the pitch.

The stuffing seemed knocked out of a hitherto willing team and its supporters, even as Sweden battled back gamely to little avail. If Portugal's defensive resolve here had been part of their main qualifying campaign, they may well have saved themselves this nail-biter.

Then, the visitors reverted to type and Ibrahimovic belatedly made his mark, heading in Kim Kallstrom's corner from close in after beating a curiously passive Alves. Scenting blood, Ibrahimovic then got his superhero cape firmly on his shoulders, smashing in a pitiless free-kick from the edge of the area after he had been fouled by Veloso.

Portugal were panicking, but their hero came up with the goods again, running onto Almeida's over-the-shoulder through ball and smashing home, again left-footed, from an unforgiving angle. He greedily snaffled his treble soon after, gathering another superb Moutinho pass and rounding Isaksson before driving the ball high into the net to inspire a tracksuited Portuguese pitch invasion.


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England 0-1 Germany

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 02:01 PM PST

Again, England suffered the ignominy of being booed inside their national stadium. They had lost for the second time in five days, the first occasion since 1977 they have beaten on their own ground in successive matches, and the truth is there was not a great deal to discourage the sense that Roy Hodgson's team are still having trouble shaking off some old failings.

The last two games, ultimately, have shown a lot more bad than good bearing in mind England have not mustered a single goal. Andros Townsend offered a few flashes of encouragement and Joe Hart, barring one moment of near-embarrassment, had a restorative night but it is difficult to be too positive when there has not been a single shot on target and the opposition goalkeeper leaves with barely a scuff of dirt on his kit.

Roman Weidenfeller was seldom needed because Germany defended with great expertise and England were largely impotent. Hodgson now has only one more game, when Denmark visit Wembley in March, before he names his squad for next summer's tournament and, on the evidence of the last five days, nobody should have unrealistic expectations about this side's level. The fact is Germany won this game, through Per Mertesacker's headed goal, while always projecting the sense they were playing a good two or three notches below their optimum.

At times, especially in the first half, it was strange to see an England-Germany fixture lacking any form of real urgency. Germany were certainly guilty of some unusual carelessness before they finally decided it was time to take the game a little more seriously. Joachim Löw's team selection, specifically the number of mandatory first-team players who were not involved, told its own story. Germany, for long spells, loped around with the air of a team that was not entirely convinced it wanted to give everything to the occasion.

A better side than England would have taken control during that period when Germany's attacking players worked lots of little triangular passing patterns around midfield without offering any real clues about their real quality. At one point Heiko Westermann took a short throw-in to Marco Reus and one of the more refined players on the pitch knocked the return straight out of play again. Shortly afterwards, Toni Kroos played a simple pass to an opponent and it started to feel like Germany might actually be vulnerable if Hodgson's men could start to pass the ball with more authority.

Instead, England were susceptible to a cross into the penalty area, just as they had been for Alexis Sánchez's first goal for Chile on Friday, and Mertesacker took advantage despite the close proximity of the three Manchester United players in Hodgson's team. Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley all went for Kroos's cross but Mertesacker was the only one who attacked it with any real intent.

The paradox is that when Hodgson scrutinises the goal he can be greatly encouraged by what came before it. A few moments earlier, Joe Hart had kept out another Mertesacker header with a reaction save that brought a shudder of appreciation inside the stadium. Smalling had lost his man too easily and the problem for England came from their inability to clear the danger properly. The ball came back out to Germany's right and Kroos's delivery picked out Mertesacker to score with a glancing header.

Germany's only noteworthy chance before that point had also originated from a ball into the penalty area, with Westermann's header missing the target. Steven Gerrard put a long-range effort just over the crossbar for England and there was some indefatigable running from Rooney. Yet Rooney's partnership with Daniel Sturridge only smouldered rather than truly igniting. Andros Townsend showed plenty of enthusiasm on the right but there was little end product, and Adam Lallana was often peripheral.

As for Hart, there were other moments when he showed his strength of personality. Early in the second half he was quickly off his goal-line to smother Reus's effort. There was also a splendid one-handed save from Götze's right-foot drive. In between, however, there was another of those dashes outside his penalty area that have undermined his performance. He and Smalling collided and the pair were fortunate Germany could not take advantage of the mix-up.

At least by that point there had been the first moment of genuine quality from the home team. Townsend cut infield, working an angle to take aim from 25 yards, and his left-foot shot was struck with great power, striking the base of Weidenfeller's right-hand post. Sturridge, however, looked laboured, perhaps still struggling with the thigh injury that has troubled him for the last couple of weeks. Jordan Henderson, among the steady flow of second-half substitutes, threaded a lovely pass into his path midway through the second half but Sturridge's first touch lacked assurance and the chance was gone. The various substitutions tempered the flow of the game and the crowd's reaction at the final whistle revealed their frustrations.

Daniel Taylor

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France 3-0 Ukraine (3-2 agg)

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:57 PM PST

World Cup play-off: France completed a remarkable comeback in Paris to book their place at the finals in Brazil

John Ashdown

Are England really any better than they were against Germany in 2010? | Owen Gibson

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:53 PM PST

The austerity of the Fabio Capello reign may be over but Roy Hodgson still has plenty more thinking to do

1 Goalkeeper

On the eve of this friendly, the England captain Steven Gerrard said his side were "a lot stronger" than the one destroyed 4-1 in Bloemfontein in June 2010. Twelve months ago, the goalkeeper's position might have been one in which that was unequivocally true. Joe Hart was supposed to be England's No1 for years to come but his place has come under intense pressure as his form has dipped. So a sharp first-half save from a Per Mertesacker header, then a follow-up shot from Max Kruse, provided a much needed fillip. Another good save from Marco Reus just after half-time proved his confidence remains undimmed, despite the criticism.

2 Defence

This England side do not feel like they have evolved hugely, yet Ashley Cole was one of only three players starting here to remain from Bloemfontein. Just over six months from the World Cup, none of this back four is assured of a starting berth and just six clean sheets in 18 since Euro 2012 is evidence of a worrying porousness. Chris Smalling, given the opportunity to usurp Gary Cahill, failed to impress and was found wanting for the goal. Kyle Walker, on the right, did better. So leaden-footed were John Terry and Matthew Upson as part of a static back line in 2010 that it was not hard to offer an improvement. Memories of that match alone should do much to temper any creeping momentum behind a recall for the Chelsea man.

3 Midfield

Andros Townsend was again bright on the pitch where he shot to prominence in those back-to-back qualifiers, with the noise level rising appreciably whenever he got the ball. A shot that slammed against the post deserved a goal. Outpassed on Friday by Chile, it was England who were initially the better at keeping the ball. Tom Cleverley and Gerrard initially provided an effective platform to allow Townsend to run directly at the German defence, despite offering little attacking threat of their own. But as the game got stretched, holes started to appear.

4 Attack

For Wayne Rooney, every major tournament since he burst on to the scene in Portugal has been an exercise in disappointment. Paired with Jermain Defoe in Bloemfontein he barely got a kick. He has looked less bereft of late but his partnership with Daniel Sturridge has largely failed to fire. Townsend and Adam Lallana did their best to offer zest and support but if they are to be England's front two for Brazil then further work is required.

5 Manager

Before a lumbering England were left shellshocked in Bloemfontein, Joachim Löw had called the World Cup knockout tie a clash of Germany's "youthful lightness" against England's "international class". He was being charitable to England's ageing, outclassed side. On that score, at least, there is more equilibrium. Hodgson has alighted on a better blend of youthful innocence and experience. The austerity of the Fabio Capello reign has been replaced by a new realism and a feeling that this squad actually enjoy being together. Whether Hodgson is any closer to melding a winning mentality, and evolving an identifiable style that bridges the gap with Germany so mercilessly exposed three years ago, is very much open to question. He has plenty more thinking to do.

Owen Gibson

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England 0-1 Germany

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:53 PM PST

Friendly: Per Mertesacker scored a header to hand England their second defeat in five days

Jacob Steinberg

Austria 1-0 USA

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:52 PM PST

Friendly: Jürgen Klinsmann's USA lost their final match of the year thanks to a Marc Janko goal

Graham Parker

Sweden 2-3 Portugal (2-4 agg)

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:41 PM PST

World Cup play-off: A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick trumped Zlatan Ibrahimovic's brace as Portugal reached the finals

Scott Murray

Croatia 2-0 Iceland (agg 2-0)

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:32 PM PST

Croatia reached the World Cup finals after goals from the striker Mario Mandzukic and their captain Darijo Srna secured a 2-0 aggregate win over Iceland following an action-packed return leg of their play-off.

Mandzukic opened the scoring with a clinical goal in the 27th minute but was sent off for a vicious foul on Johann Gudmundsson shortly before half-time, raising concerns that Croatia might fail to qualify for Brazil next summer after missing out on the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

But Srna added the second goal straight after the interval, rifling in a stinging low shot from 15 yards as he cut in on the right flank after a darting run and pinpoint delivery by the midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

Kovacic missed a clear-cut chance when Iceland's goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson turned his low shot round the post and Ivica Olic crashed a spectacular overhead kick against the crossbar as Croatia hit top gear to end Iceland's hopes of qualifying for their first major tournament.


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Romania 1-1 Greece (Greece win 4-2 on agg) | World Cup play-off report

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST

Greece qualified for a second successive World Cup after another Kostas Mitroglou goal secured a 1-1 draw with Romania in the second leg of their play-off and a 4-2 victory on aggregate.

Mitroglou, who scored twice in Greece's 3-1 first-leg win, beat the offside trap midway through the first half and gave the goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu no chance with his 22nd goal in all competitions this season.

Romania equalised 10 minutes after the interval when Vasilis Torosidis struck the ball past his own goalkeeper, Orestis Karnezis, from the edge of the area for an astonishing own goal.

Greece, the 2004 European champions, competed in the World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010, as well as the 1994 tournament in the United States, but they have failed to get past the first round, losing five of their six matches.


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Croatia 2-0 Iceland (agg 2-0)

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:06 PM PST

World Cup play-off: Iceland's Brazil dream ended in Zagreb despite facing 10 men for over half the game

England U21 9-0 San Marino U21| Euro 2015 qualifying match report

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 01:03 PM PST

• England U21 9-0 San Marino U21

The England Under-21 side clocked up a record 9-0 win against San Marino in a European Championship qualifier at Shrewsbury.

Fans flocked to a sold-out New Meadow hoping for goals and they were not disappointed as Gareth Southgate's team racked up a win that surpassed a previous under-21 best of a seven-goal margin set in 1976 and 2009.

It was the perfect end to a tumultuous year and just what the manager Southgate had called for in the buildup to the qualifier. While keen for the team to play with freedom, the former England defender was frustrated by some of his players' preference for the over-elaborate in the 3-0 win against Finland.

Michael Keane headed home after 13 minutes, with Raheem Sterling and Danny Ings extending the lead.

James Ward-Prowse curled home a free-kick in the 24th minute as England's dominance continued, with Tom Ince making it five as half-time approached.

Ings just beat Carl Jenkinson to prod home the sixth after the restart, although the Arsenal man managed a goal after Sterling had lifted the ball over the keeper for his second. Will Hughes made it 9-0, wrapping up an impressive win that kept England in control of Group One.

Southgate was impressed by the attitude and aptitude shown by his players. Anything but a Young Lions victory would have been a huge shock, but the manner of the victory cannot be overlooked.

"I was particularly pleased with the attitude and the hunger to the end to do the right thing and to keep wanting to go forward," the manager said. "It would have been easy for us to get sloppy and start the game in a sloppy way. I picked a team which I thought would move the ball in the way they did. The response tonight was excellent.

"It has been a really encouraging three months to see the quality we've got in depth and to see that it can be enjoyable to play in an England shirt.

"They played with freedom, they are playing with a smile on their faces.

"Of course, we have much tougher tests ahead and we are very conscious of that.

"There are challenges which will be a much bigger struggle for us, but it has been a lovely way to bed in and the principles of how we want to train and expect to work together. I couldn't be happier.

"I said the other night the result was good and the performance was poor. Tonight everyone will say the opposition is poor but no-one has scored that many goals past them. It was a ruthless performance."

"It would have been easy at half-time to stop doing the simple things well, but I thought the unselfishness of the attacking play in terms of setting other people up when players could have taken shots right throughout the game was really pleasing to see.

"The lads enjoy working together, have respect for each other and it is a tough team to get into at the moment, a tough squad to get into, because the standards they are setting are very high and we have to continue to do that."

As well as the players, Southgate was keen to praise the sell-out crowd for geeing his side on. "It is a fantastic venue and it is great to see such enthusiasm towards hosting us," he said.

"To get so many people was fantastic and hopefully we have repaid them with the manner of the performance.

"For any player when you go to a ground and it is close to full, you get a lift. You get a higher level of performance."

England: Butland (Bond 46),Jenkinson,Stones (Dier 61),Keane, Robinson, Hughes, Lingard, Ward-Prowse, Ince (Bamford 65), Ings, Sterling.

Subs Not Used: Shaw, Chalobah, Zaha, Morrison.

San Marino: Andrea Manzaroli (Michele Berardi 83),Proli, Ciambotta (Cesarini 69), Biordi, Maiani, Liverani (Faetanini 69), Brolli, Colombini, Battistini, Golinucci, Marco Berardi.

Subs Not Used: Angelini,Baizan,Andrea Zavoli,Zonzini. Att: 9,264

Referee: Gunnar Jarl Jonsson (Ice).


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Algeria 1-0 Burkina Faso | World Cup play-off second leg match report

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 12:52 PM PST

• Algeria 1-0 Burkina Faso
• Algeria qualify on away goals after 3-2 first-leg defeat

Algeria beat Burkina Faso with Madjid Bougherra's scrambled goal just after half-time. That goal levelled the tie 3-3 on aggregate and Algeria reached the World Cup finals because of their away goals in the 3-2 first-leg defeat in Burkina Faso.

Algeria's qualification prevents a clean sweep by west African teams in the qualifying competition. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana have already qualified.

Algeria's progression means the same five countries who represented Africa at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will go to Brazil.

Burkina Faso hit a post in injury time to fall agonisingly short of a first World Cup after surprisingly reaching the Africa Cup of Nations final this year.

The Mustapha Tchaker stadium was full six hours before kick-off and the sense of expectation among the fans translated to the players as the home side made a cautious start.

Algeria had only one clear sight of goal in the first half, Islam Slimani heading wide from a Faouzi Ghoulam cross out on the left.

Fortune smiled on the hosts three minutes into the second period when Ghoulam's free-kick was not cleared by the Burkinabe defence and the ball fell kindly for Bougherra.

His initial effort was saved by Daouda Diakité and as Bakary Koné tried to hook the ball away he succeeded only in blasting it against the forehead of Bougherra and it rebounded into the net.

Slimani then flashed a shot on the turn just wide as Algeria, buoyed by the jubilation in the stands, pushed forward in the search of a second goal.

The remainder of the game was largely played in the Burkina Faso half but there was late drama when a corner from the visitors was deflected on to the Algeria post and bounced away to safety.


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Norway 0-1 Scotland

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 12:38 PM PST

Scott Brown handed Scotland a 1-0 win in their friendly against Norway in Molde. The home side dominated the first hour but the Scotland captain fired home a right-foot shot after 61 minutes to stretch the team's unbeaten run to four games. The midfielder was lucky to be on the pitch after he kicked out at Vegard Forren midway through the first half and the goal was barely deserved, but the 200-strong Tartan Army were glad to find something to take their minds off the temperature, which had slipped into minus figures. Norway's Marcus Pedersen was on target after 77 minutes but his shot was saved, Brown blocked from Mohammed Abdellaoue and Anders Konradsen should have equalised in the last minute but shot wide from eight yards. "We were a bit lucky at times," said Scotland's manager Gordon Strachan.

Brown told BBC Scotland: "The lads fought and battled all the way. We didn't play at our best – we know that – but we got the result and that's what we came for. I think the pitch played a big part. It was soft and soggy and we couldn't pass the ball as well. Fair play, they tried to pass the ball about as well and we gave as good as we got."

Brown's deflected strike saw him claim his third international goal. "It was one of those ones I just hit it and hoped," he said. "It was a deflection but it went into the back of the net and that's all that matters."

Strachan added: "We were fortunate we had some great defending and a terrific goalkeeper. We feel that we could have done a lot better. We never really got going in the first half.

"We played so far away from each other that it was difficult to put a combination of passes together, particularly on a rough surface. We were better in the second half, but they played well and played an interesting system. Their players, on the night as individuals, probably did better than ours. I wouldn't really want to see them when the draw comes out. They're not bad."

Strachan did feel there were some positives to take from the match. "It was another away victory, which was good," he said. "The attitude is decent and we have got a lot of other players to call on. There are things we can take from it. It's no goals against us in three games against very good opposition."

When asked to assess his 10 months in charge, Strachan replied: "I'm still in a job."


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England take on Germany at Wembley - in pictures

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 11:47 AM PST

Our man brings you all the best images from Wembley Stadium as England try to put their defeat to Chile behind them as they take on the second best team in the world

Tom Jenkins
Steven Bloor

BT ready for more 'eye-watering' TV rights bids after Champions League

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 10:45 AM PST

• 'Too early to say' if BT will bid for Premier League rights
• Market is definitely big enough for BT and Sky, says CEO

BT Sport is ready to invest more "eye-watering sums" and has its eye on the next round of Premier League TV rights, Marc Watson, BT TV's chief executive, has warned.

Watson said the £897m splashed out by the telecommunications company on 2015-18 Champions League rights was "worth every penny", despite Sky's claim BT had paid over the odds.

He insisted there is room for BT and Sky in the marketplace and said his company is willing to spend even more on sports rights to cement its position.

Watson even suggested Fifa is welcome in his office if it wants to explore an alternative to the BBC and ITV for the World Cup on free-to-air television.

Watson, speaking at the UnitedCity sports summit in Manchester, said: "We have been able to afford some pretty eye-watering sums because it drives a position in a big and lucrative market, and we are in a position to invest more.

"I know that some have questioned how much we have paid for football rights, especially in the last couple of weeks, but the truth is that money makes a difference in a highly competitive market and we only pay what we think the rights are genuinely worth to us, and we hope that's enough to win it.

"The losers always say the winners have overpaid but we know we wouldn't have won it for less, and what we have got with the Champions League are some of the best matches on the planet and they are worth every penny.

"It is too early to say what we will do in terms of the next Premier League rights. We are a big business and we generate a lot of free cashflow, and if we think this is working for us and we see something that drives the business forward, then we are in a position to invest."

Watson said BT has experienced a surge in the number of broadband subscribers and regards the expansion of super-fast, fibre-optic broadband as the key to people changing TV viewing habits.

He tried to downplay the rivalry with Sky, however, insisting there was room for two – but perhaps not three – major live sports broadcasters in a market where "football is king".

David Kerr, the managing director of British Eurosport, had referred to the next Premier League rights battle as "a seismic clash, almost a do-or-die situation".

However, Watson said: "We don't have to steal Sky's share in the market to thrive. The market is definitely big enough for two. "At the moment we put ourselves as being a strong second in the market and we are comfortable with that. I believe there is room for two strong sports broadcasters in the UK market."

In terms of the World Cup, under British law the finals have to be available on free-to-air television. That would be possible on BT's platforms though Watson admitted it is difficult to see beyond the BBC and ITV.

He added: "They [Fifa] are welcome in my office any time. We will look at all opportunities but I think getting the World Cup off BBC and ITV would be a challenge."


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Egypt 2-1 Ghana (Ghana win 7-3 on agg) | World Cup play-off report

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 10:38 AM PST

• Egypt 2-1 Ghana (Ghana win 7-3 on aggregate)

Ghana secured a third successive World Cup finals appearance despite a 2-1 defeat by Egypt in the second leg of their playoff in Cairo. Ghana triumphed 7-3 on aggregate, having done the hard work in the first leg in Kumasi, and will now get the opportunity to improve on their quarter-final finish in South Africa in 2010.

Egypt, playing in strife-torn Cairo for the first time in two years, restored some pride with victory on Tuesday night after goals by the former Wigan Athletic forward Amr Zaki and Hull City's striker Gedo. Kevin-Prince Boateng, once of Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth, grabbed a late goal for Ghana.

For Egypt it is another heart-breaking qualification near-miss, having not appeared at the World Cup since Italia 90 despite winning an unmatched four Africa Nations Cup titles in the same period.

They went in front after 25 minutes when a free-kick from Mohamed Aboutrika was not collected by the goalkeeper Fatau Dauda and Zaki appeared to use an elbow to bundle the ball home.

Ghana showed little ambition to go forward in search of an equaliser while Egypt found it tough to break down a stubborn defence. They did go close when a shot from Gedo was cleared off the line by Jerry Akaminko, with Dauda again failing to deal with an aerial ball.

The game opened up in the final 10 minutes and Gedo was on target in the 86th minute when he collected a pass from Mohamed Salah and blasted the ball low past Dauda.

Ghana then exploited some gaps at the back, with Asamoah Gyan, the former Sunderland striker, finding space on the right and his low cross was turned in by Boateng.


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Norway v Scotland – match centre

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 09:32 AM PST

International friendly: How will Gordon Strachan's side fare in Oslo? Follow the key incidents here

Football quiz: England v Germany

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 08:38 AM PST

Today's questions are a big deal (in England)

Alex Ferguson's errors join a grand publishing tradition

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 08:19 AM PST

He hates making mistakes, but he's made an awful lot in his memoir. Luckily it's a venerable custom

Is there a special bad elf that creeps out in the pre-Christmas period to wreak havoc with would-be bestsellers? Novelist Helen Fielding and actor David Jason might be forgiven for thinking so, after 40 of pages of his memoir turned up in her novel.

Now it's Alex Ferguson's turn to face the wrath of fans, after his autobiography was found to contain 45 howling errors. The title of one of the season's competing memoirs says it all: John Bishop's How Did All This Happen?

In the case of the Bridget/Del Boy mash-up, a simple printer's error could be blamed. The Ferguson fiasco is less easily brushed away, given the publisher's insistence that the ghost-written book was read by a specialist football fact-checker as well as in-house staff. Perhaps it's down to the sheer volume of volumes that have been churned out with a view to that coveted top Christmas slot, or maybe it's to do with changing priorities in publishing as a whole.

Be that as it may, complaints about editing standards are nothing new.

But let's look on the bright side. Could these flawed books turn out to be investments for the future, as some other objects have become? A copy of the Beatles' single "Love Me Do", by that arty duo "Lennon-McArtney" sold for $19,000 last year – though its value was undoubtedly ratcheted up by fact that the error of capitalisation identified it as part of a very limited batch of promotional discs. The same rarity value can hardly be ascribed to national treasure Sir Alex, the first edition of whose book sold 115,547 copies in its first week.

It's rare these days that whole editions are pulped due to unactionable errors (pace Jonathan Franzen) – and Ferguson's mistakes mainly involve benign, if embarrassing, slips of memory about places and faces.

Pity the poor publisher of the "Wicked Bible" which, in in 1631 contained the most famous proofing error of all: "Thou shalt commit adultery."

When a copy came up for sale in 2010, the asking price was $89,500. On its first appearance, the errant publishers were fined £300 and had their printer's licence revoked. King Charles I was furious, and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, thundered:

"I knew the tyme when great care was had about printing, the Bibles especially, good compositors and the best correctors were gotten being grave and learned men, the paper and the letter rare, and faire every way of the beste, but now the paper is nought, the composers boyes, and the correctors unlearned."

How tymes change.

Claire Armitstead

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Crystal Palace open new talks with Pulis

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 08:05 AM PST

• Pulis may take role before Saturday if discussions successful
• Manager expected to be kept on even if Palace relegated

Tony Pulis has reopened talks with Crystal Palace with a view to becoming their manager and the Premier League's bottom-placed club hope to confirm his appointment before Saturday's game at Hull City.

The former Stoke manager, who departed the Britannia Stadium after seven successful years in the summer, was identified early as a prospective replacement for his close friend Ian Holloway, whose nine-month tenure at Selhurst Park ended almost four weeks ago.

Pulis was interviewed and indicated a desire to take up the reins, only for Palace, aware of the 55-year-old's wage demands, to extend their search elsewhere.

A number of candidates – from Martin O'Neill to Aitor Karanka, Chris Coleman to Iain Dowie – were sounded out in the interim before the Palace hierarchy, led by the co-chairman Steve Parish, settled upon a three-man shortlist last Friday.

Pulis and Dowie, who had been particularly impressive at interview, featured on that list along with Dan Petrescu, the Dynamo Moscow manager whose lucrative contract in Russia, and own wage demands, ultimately took him out of the running.

While Dowie represents the cheaper option, the club – who are six points adrift of safety having only four points from 11 games – recognise Pulis offers them the greatest chance of survival.

The Welshman has never endured relegation over a 21-year coaching career that has taken in six clubs but, even if he broke that duck at Palace, the club would hope he offered them the best chance of returning to the top flight at the first attempt.

Discussions over his contract resumed on Tuesday after Pulis returned from a break in Portugal and, while the basic salary would fall short of the wage he picked up at Stoke, the deal on offer is likely to include a significant bonus should he keep Palace in the Premier League.

His salary for the second year would reflect whether Palace are in the top flight or the Championship. Holloway, who secured the team's promotion via the play-offs in May, had recommended Pulis on leaving Selhurst Park last month following a difficult start to the campaign.

The new man will inherit a side bloated by a flurry of signings who had arrived just before the closure of the summer transfer window, but would want to tweak the squad in January. He will work in conjunction with the sporting director Iain Moody in the winter transfer window.

Dominic Fifield

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The Fiver | Here's hoping England mind the gap | Barry Glendenning

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 07:53 AM PST

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving

DOWN THE TUBE

Despite not being particularly good at football, England's footballers tend to travel in style, often making their way from hotel to training ground and back again on a giant luxury coach with tinted windows, accompanied by burly, ear piece-wearing security goons to protect them from fans who might want to look at them getting off a bus, possibly get an autograph or photo and just stand in the general vicinity of an England international footballer as he walks into a hotel lobby wearing over-sized headphones or pretending to talk to somebody on his phone. Germany, by contrast, are comparatively brilliant at football, so one could be forgiven for assuming that, to a soundtrack of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, a fleet of helicopters would have transported them Apocalypse Now-style from their London city centre hotel to Wembley for training yesterday. In the absence of any helicopters, they went by Tube instead.

You can almost picture them, Mats Hummels, Sven Bender and the lads, buddying up two by two, holding hands and walking down the escalator at Embankment, topped and tailed by their stressed out manager Jogi Löw and his No2 Hansi Flick, the pair barely able to disguise their irritation as Per Mertesacker gives it the big 'un because he's been on a Tube before and Roman Weidenfeller starts crying because he forgot to go to the toilet and is about to have an accident.

Joking apart the Fiver doesn't know much, but it does know this: if the footballers of Germany were in any need of an incentive to beat England in tonight's friendly between the teams, the 52 minutes they spent on a filthy, suffocating, almost certainly over-crowded Bakerloo Line rattler from outside their hotel in Embankment, through Charing Cross, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Baker Street, Marylebone, Paddington, Warwick Avenue, Maida Vale, Kilburn Park, Queen's Park, Kensal Green, Willesden Juntion, Harlesden, and Stonebridge Park before alighting at Wembley Central is likely to have provided it. And if it didn't, the 52 minutes they spent on a filthy, suffocating, almost certainly over-crowded Bakerloo Line rattler from outside Wembley Stadium in Wembley Central through Stonebridge Park, Harlesden, Willesden Junction, Kensal Green, Queen's Park, Kilburn Park, Maqida Vale, Warwick Avenue, Paddington, Marylebone, Baker Street, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross to their destination at Embankment ought to do the trick.

The kind of squalid, unreliable and over-priced public transport you just don't get in where those boys come from, the Fiver can only presume it was some sort of practical joke perpetrated by FA hosts eager to unsettle them before tonight's game. As for the match? "I hope we win," said England manager Mr Roy, or words to that effect. "I hope we win," countered Löw, or words to that effect. Despite being a friendly in which Germany are fielding several second string players, it should provide some idea of the gulf in class between these famous old football nations. Here's hoping England mind the gap.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

Loads. Oh, you want details? From 7pm GMT: England 0-3 Germany with Jacob Steinberg, Him 1-1 Him (1-2 agg) with Scott Murray and France 2-0 Ukraine (2-2 agg, Ukraine win 4-3 on pens), with John Ashdown. Oh, and we'll also have live video streams for the France game, Croatia 1-0 Plucky Little Iceland (1-0 agg) and Romania 1-1 Greece (2-4 agg).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Who knows what will happen. I'm not going to say we will win the World Cup, that would be ridiculous, but we might just surprise a few people" – Allen Bula readies a Gibraltar team, that will give an international debut to Danny Higginbotham, 87, for their first-ever competitive fixture, against Slovakia.

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

"I've just had a chat with an Indonesian colleague about least-likely Indonesian names (Fivers passim). Apparently these kind of names are very common amongst the Karo people (where my colleague's family is from). In her family she's apparently got an uncle called Daynight Happy, a cousin named Diana Ross and (my personal favourite) a grandfather named Machine. If my next child is a boy, Machine is now top of my list of awesome names that'll inevitably get rejected by my wife" – Tom Hoskins.

"Yesterday's Quote of the Day missed what I think was the best bit from the Hodder and Stoughton spokesperson (who was apparently the CEO, Jamie Hodder-Williams, no less): 'We did in fact go through several stages of fact-checking with this book … although a very large number of corrections were made, we plainly did not pick up everything.' In other words, the 45 errors that the disgruntled customer found were the tip of a Titanic-sized iceberg" – Martyn Wilson.

"It has to be said that the quality of the letters (well, perhaps not this one) has risen dramatically now that there is a prize on offer. It's just a shame that it seems in indirect proportion to the inspiration that any news in international weeks provide. Oh well, tant pis as Didier Deschamps might say. I'll just have to wait until you have run out of prizes. Now my expectation levels are set to 'disappointed' perhaps it is time to dip my toe into the world of Guardian Soulmates" – John Stainton.

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our letter o'the day is: Tom Hoskins, who wins a copy of Football Manager 2014, courtesy of the very kind people at Football Manager Towers. We've got more copies to give away this week, so if you haven't been lucky thus far, keep trying.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

We keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Fiver to the naive folk who run Guardian Soulmates, but they still aren't having any of it. So here you go – sign up here to view profiles of the kind of erudite, sociable and friendly romantics who would never dream of going out with you.

BITS AND BOBS

Liverpool owner John Dubya has allowed Luis Suárez to use his private jet to build up loyalty points should any clubs come sniff … erm … to get him back from Uruguay's World Cup play-off quick-smart in time for Saturday's Merseyside derby.

"I felt good mobilisation, confidence, and reason to be optimistic. The France team will qualify on Tuesday." FFF president Noel Le Graet sticks two fingers up to the collective Gallic shrug enveloping his nation before the play-off second leg against Ukraine.

Clutching at straws dept: Sweden hope a cold pitch might stop Him being any good at football in tonight's World Cup play-off against Portugal.

Spurs centre-back Vlad Chiriches will return for Romania's World Cup play-off against Greece tonight wearing a scary mask to protect his nose-knack. "I feel OK, I trained very well and I'm not afraid," growled Chiriches.

And Eidur Gudjohnsen, 87, has been selected ahead of Bjork and That Warbly Bloke From Sigur Ros to fill in for knacked Plucky Iceland striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson in tonight's play-off against Croatia.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

How to disrupt Portugal? Stage an early-morning 'concert' outside their hotel, of course.

STILL WANT MORE?

Poland may stick a pin in that bubble of optimism that Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane's Republic O'Ireland have created, doom-mongs Andy Hunter.

Manuel Pellegrini as Sam The Eagle and a bottle of sparkling water? Yup, it's The Gallery.

From Barça to PSG and the World Cup: how Qatar became a football force. It's Proper Journalist David Conn.

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

Want your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? Click here to sign up.

BREAKING: FIVER LETTERS PRIZES UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

Barry Glendenning

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Tottenham's Christian Eriksen out for only four weeks with ankle knock

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 07:35 AM PST

• Midfielder sustained knock on international duty with Denmark
• Scans have allayed fears of ruptured ligaments

Tottenham Hotspur have received the welcome news that Christian Eriksen's ankle injury is not as bad as first feared and is likely to keep him out for only four weeks.

Eriksen hobbled off 40 minutes into Denmark's 2-1 win over Norway on Friday following a late tackle from Vegard Forren, prompting fears that the 21-year-old had ruptured ankle ligaments, but scans have since revealed he had suffered only a sprain.

A statement released by Tottenham on Tuesday read: "Following an MRI scan on Monday it has been determined that Christian Eriksen suffered a sprain of the lateral ankle ligaments playing for Denmark against Norway on Friday. The scan showed no sign of ruptured ligaments which will result in a shorter period of recovery for the attacking midfielder."

Spurs are reluctant to put an official time-frame on his recovery but, if all goes well with Eriksen's rehabilitation, it is understood that he could be available for his side's home fixture against Liverpool on 15 December.

Spurs signed Eriksen from Ajax for £11.5m in the summer and the creative midfielder excelled on his debut against Norwich City and scored in the following fixture against Tromso in the Europa League. He had recently seen his place in the side taken by Lewis Holtby following a dip in form but returned to the starting XI for Spurs' last fixture, a defeat to Newcastle United.

André Villas-Boas, the Tottenham manager, has plenty of players who can fill Eriksen's role while he is out, with Holtby, Erik Lamela, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Harry Kane all capable of playing in attacking midfield.


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Swedish singer tries to disrupt sleep of Portugal squad before World Cup play-off – video

Posted: 19 Nov 2013 07:34 AM PST

Swedish singer Markoolio plays a 'concert' on Tuesday at 7.15am outside the Portugal team's hotel

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