It’s a big weekend of international matches coming up with World Cup qualifiers happening in the Americas, Asia and Africa, while there’s 2012 European Championship playoffs plus some enticing friendlies too.
Sports Pundit’s Game of the Weekend
2012 European Championship playoff second leg, Tuesday 10pm (CET)
Portugal and Bosnia go head-to-head in a playoff for a major tournament once again, with the two matches to be played on Friday and Tuesday. Bosnia were famously beaten 2-0 on aggregate for a place at the 2010 World Cup. Two years on, Paulo Bento’s side once again find themselves in the playoffs despite enjoying the services of superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. Bosnia, though, have plenty of talent too, including Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko. This tie will be decided in Lisbon on Tuesday and it’ll be a must-see event as its the pick of the playoffs.
2014 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier, Friday 11pm (CET)
Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup has already begun with the first few matches played, but Friday’s clash between Copa America winners Uruguay against Chile. The Chileans, of course, were quite the entertainers at the 2010 World Cup and are a team to be reckoned with these days as they possess talent like Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez. However, Uruguay is a quality side, as seen by their Copa America success, and Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan are sure to offer plenty.
Friendly, Saturday 6.15pm (CET)
It may only be a friendly but England’s clash with world and European champions Spain on Saturday evening will be quite the occasion at Wembley Stadium. However, England are likely to field a young and experimental side which would be a shame with stars like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and John Terry to miss. The match has slightly been overshadowed by the race row over Terry along with England’s appeal over Fifa’s ban on them wearing a poppy on the day after Remembrance Day. When the game comes, it’ll be all good though.
North Korea v Japan
AFC 2014 World Cup qualifier, Tuesday 8am (CET)
East Asian rivals North Korea and Japan do battle in Pyongyang on Tuesday, with the hosts likely to be fighting to avoid already being eliminated from the reckoning for 2014 World Cup qualifying. This is mostly the same North Korea side which qualified for the 2010 event in South Africa, with Jong Tae-Se up front, but their defensive approach hasn’t been paying off this campaign and Japan could capitalise. The Samurai Blue feature quality players like Shinji Kagawa and Makoto Hasebe, however Keisuke Honda is out injured. There’s sure to be plenty of political tension too, with less than a hundred Japan away fans allowed to attend the game.
CONMEBOL 2014 World Cup qualifier, Tuesday 10pm (CET)
The stuttering Argentine national team are in action again on Tuesday when they go to Bogota to face Colombia. Lionel Messi will hope to get this team going after their indifferent start to qualifying, where they thrashed Chile 4-1 at home, before going down 1-0 in Venezuela. Of course, Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez could finally see game time too. Colombia, of course, shouldn’t be forgotten about and there’s plenty to be entertained by with Radamel Falcao up front. Should be entertaining.