Segun Oluwaniyi

It looks like the new policy of Ligue 1 officials will be to caution anyone who contacts Neymar. Sakai did nothing wrong. Casual handball by Amavi.

17. Palace 18. Brighton 19. Huddersfield 20. Bournemouth

The fact that you called goals points entitles you to less sympathy. People are flustered. Give these people time. The teenage version of me swore at a random Zambian woman when we missed 2006.

This is genuinely shameful It is Trinidad and this is not a roti or Soca contest.

It is really hard to imagine that the most powerful nation on Earth is fighting to the death on a mud patch in front of any empty stadium in the Carbbean just to make the tournament. (the photos on Twitter make it look as though no one is there) It seemed like they had progressed to a point that this would be routine.

New Zealand are a winner tonight. If they had to pick one team to play, I'm sure it would have been Peru, who have little experience at the World level and are young.

too many countries in europe Africa has 56 teams and it is nowhere near as boring. Eliminate the rubbish.

If Panama score, the United States will be home while the world is in Russia.

People who call international breaks boring are clearly only watching Europe. This is complete madness.

Alexis Sanchez and co. are now dependent on Venezuela holding out away to Paraguay if they want to see Russia.

Costa Rica scores to help them out. Mexico as well. Mexico returning the favour from four years ago, when America saved them. Goals for Brazil, which puts nearly everyone other than Uruguay on the precipice of elimination. A goal anywhere changes everything.

2-0 Trinidad :lol: I actually want the Americans to qualify, but they are really working hard to avoid it.

I respect Messi as much as any athlete, but I won't cry for any nation that doesn't qualify. No one cried for us in 2006, no one is crying for the Netherlands now. Egypt is a wonderful football nation and hadn't qualified in 28 years. You have to earn your way to this tournament. If Argentina don't make it they won't have earned it. Why would this possibly concern me?

You are incorrect. A win assures a playoff place.

Usually the more it progresses, but as Gabriel Jesus said in Bolivia they're tired during the warm up already. There's basically a complete lack of oxygen in Bolivia at 4000m . As for Quito it's not the same as it's on a more human altitude (2900m), but they'll get tired the more the game progresses. I still do not understand why FIFA allows this idiocy to continue. Without exaggeration, they are putting the life and health of players at stake in Bolivia and to a lesser degree in Quito. Messi may need to get a third here, btw. Ecuador seem pretty up for the match.

Argentina are in extremely serious danger now. Quito should not even be a legal venue to hold a top level international football match. It is genuinely a danger to the players. Winning there will be extremely difficult, Messi or no Messi. CONMEBOL is held up as the most difficult qualification region, but the truth is that is the most just format of all. There are no demons waiting in a random draw, if they don't qualify, it will be the result they truly deserve. What a bizarre stance, to enjoy a sport and not follow the single most popular event in that sport.

The qualifying schedule is already fairly tight as it is. The World Cup draw is in sixty days, and there currently twenty-four more spots to fill, with only eight countries qualified and there are only two more international breaks to decide everything. It seems sensible to have a few more breaks than normal for a World cup year. There is an issue with the unnecessary friendly breaks that happen even when we are far from tournaments.

City have looked very good today and all season, but they generally do start the season at a ridiculous pace. They won the first five matches two years ago and the first six last year and finished nowhere close to the title. They've wilted very badly in both cases. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain it, because they must be the favourites along with their city neighbors. Luiz is suspended still isn't he? I still don't see why he couldn't play Azpilicueta in his normal position and more than two attacking players at a time as they have done most of the season.

This has been bizarrely defensive from Conte. He has the defending champions and a team that just recently went to Madrid and soundly outplayed Atletico at his disposal,and he has spent large portions of this match with only two attacking players on the pitch, none of whom are strikers. He has even benched his two most aggressively attacking defenders in Moses and Luiz for more conservative options, all of this at home. I really don't understand it.

Three or four opportunities to put the ball in the box for one last chance, all declined.

Recent results have been good and the side looks solid. However, this team still has a distinct lack of pace, physicality, and dynamism in what in what it does going forward. Atsu is the only player that you would favour to beat anyone 1 v. 1.

Chancel is a highly rated young player, who had been a consistent starter in the Premier League and an important player for his country before Rafa arrived. You would think that most players in this position last season, disregarded by the manager in a division probably beneath their level, would be causing a fuss and publicly complaining, yet he's stayed the course and is now back in the first team. It speaks to his mentality as well as his talent. For the first time in a while, NUFC has serious defensive depth and it is brilliant to see.

Football's disciplinary system is completely useless and illogical. Mitrovic commits an unnecessary foul late after the ball has left. This is indisputable, but he hasn't attempted to injure Lanzini, used excessive force, or performed an action unrelated to football (the criteria I consider for red cards). Still, the foul needs to be punished. Why are the only options for this a yellow card during the match, no punishment at all, or a full three match ban after the fact? There is so little room for discretion and common sense. Why are a post match yellow card added to his tally or a lesser suspension not options available as punishment. Why are players absolved from any guilt if the referee "sees the incident"? They should be punished more if the referee is daft enough to miss blatant fouls a metre from the ball?

Has there been any solid information about this? Has he even arrived back in England for a diagnosis? I doubt NUFC have doctors in Kinshasa or that the club will be taking their information from national team officials.