Segun Oluwaniyi

Some Black (half-caste anyway) man named Shawn Parker just scored for Mainz in Bundesliga against Dortmund. American should probably contact him.

This was a very entertaining and high quality match throughout. I enjoyed it. Liverpool were rather poor for large periods. Initially I thought this was to do with international hangover, but they definitely improved when Rodgers brought on Alberto and changed the formation a bit. Moses (who once again was ineffectual centrally) came to life and became a threat, while the front two began to combine at a much higher rate and hurt us with their fantastic movement. Henderson continued doing nothing. We also tired notably at the 70 minutes plus mark, which should be expected with ten players in a competitive match such as this. The back four and Krul all played very, very well today, imo, which is odd to say in a match where you concede twice. Williamson is literally useless on the ball, but he does his job well when called on to defend. Yanga-Mbiwa was very comfortable and assured until the one moment that changed the game. Football's a fickle game. I thought he was he was our best player until those five seconds. All three fullbacks were class as well. Debuchy was brave and Santon gave a very clean and polished performance. I thought Dummett made and error or two, but he battled throughout in a competitve atmosphere and even went and finished very well at the other end. What else would you ask of an academy lad on his home debut? Cabaye was fantastic in the first half. Nothing more needs to be said. On a pitch with several stars of this league, he was the best player by a distance. Tiote did exactly what we need of him. He had a few questionable moments, but if he continually plays at this level, he will gain his reputation back quickly. It is a shame Sissoko had to go off because I thought he was just finding himself in the match and would have been large in the second half. We didn't see so much of the ball, so it was a long day for the attackers, but Remy provided a great outlet to the break and Gouffran ran and fought constantly. Ben Arfa never really could get started and wasn't going to get enough chances to rectify it. Samuel (seyi) came on and once again proved to be the slowest quick person in the world. We have a good team and Pardew deployed them well today. Things are looking upwards. I hope Taylor is back for Sunderland, we should eliminate them if so.

Manchester United are clearly inferior to at least three teams in this league, imo. It could be a long season for Moyes if he makes it that long as manager.

He's a great defender on his day, too many lapses mentally though although I still think Cech was the one at fault there. If Cech called for the ball, sure, but on the replay, Luiz didn't even look to see where his keeper was. His head is up the field the entire time, and he is strolling away from the ball while the opposition score.

I think the challenge is honestly the sort that looks more blatant and obvious in slow motion replay with the aid of a dive. He tried to use his strength to ride Suarez off the ball but just misjudged it and mistimed it badly because he was off his balance.

No one can convince me that David Luiz is a good defender. He is a massively talented footballer undoubtedly, but he is 26 and still too foolish to have a position.

The best and worst of him was on display today. He put in some great tackles, was very firm and strong on and off the ball, drove the team forward at times, but he had two or three horrendous passes in dangerous zones of the pitch (this cannot happen), was caught on the ball, and rash in forward positions. It is fine that the boy can't shoot, this isn't his job, but he needs to be moving the ball to more capable players unless his shot is the only option.

The red card/penalty combination is always so unnecessarily harsh. It was a really foolish thing to do, he had their attackers bottled up before hand and now all of that good work is undone.

This isn't going to aid games in the tropics where it'll be ridiculous temps/humidity either. Going to be slow games. Have to think that benefits the defensive-minded squads. And unfavourable to sides whose game isn't based on possession football. [/ = England will be slowly simmered into submission] You'd imagine so, be a lot of get the first goal and pack up shop types. Who knows, it'll all be class though because it's World f***ing Cup. --- Be good if some of the ridiculous teams draw each other: Holland, Chile, Bosnia, Ghana and the likes. All out attack regardless of who/what the prize is. Will it really be that warm? I've never been to South America and don't know much of their climate, but it was funny in 2010 to hear commentators talking about how much effect the heat would have when June/July are the coolest time are year for most of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa is cold to begin with. Brazil is in the southern hemisphere as well.

I have the same question. It makes sense to work hard and ensure of the tie and earn your place, but when it gets to minute 92 and everyone involved qualifies if you just pass the ball among the back four, scoring just seems unnecessary. It is also nonsensical how easy Mexico's path is. They win 2 of 10 and live. Egypt wins 7 out of 8 and dies

I think what you mean to say is that he has put in a few extremely terrible and mentally weak performances that may cloud the opinion of him when he simply has average or solid matches. I would agree with this, but he has still been a poor signing thus far and played well below the standard you would expect.

I thought England were decent in the group stage of the last Euro. Roy hasn't built much of anything new with England, imo, but he has done well to get results with what he was given and provided stability to a side that is usually in a constant state of controversy and flux. There is some good foundation for the post-2014 team when several of the bigger players will finally fade away for good.

Colombia? They didn't do particularly well in the last Copa America and haven't been overly dominant in qualifying or anything. The problem with comparing int'l football to tennis is that there isn't enough competitive football between WCs to make a correct judgement. Especially given that teams are VASTLY limited in who they may play. The last World Cup is the best reference you have to compare sides across federations. In South America you are allowed to play every single team in a region with higher ranked sides. This is incredibly conducive to high rankings for the qualifiers. America have a nearly 100 percent record on their continent since the last World Cup and it means nothing because they have been denied the chance to play top sides competitively. Ghana and Ivory Coast have stormed through qualifiers, and done well in the continental tournaments, with Ghana going far in the WC, but it means nothing because African sides are ranked lowly as a whole. Also, we have ~54 teams on our continent. You cannot place everyone in one group and Ghana/Nigeria/CIV/Egypt aren't generally going to be playing each other. There is the same issue in Europe. The rankings are extremely biased.

Egypt have been ripped apart.

My stream is being commentated by Fabrice Muamba.

In the three minutes there were two goals and the stadium found itself in a deep fog? Wow.

Match is in Kumasi, Egypt have every chance especially if they can get a goal here and if the return leg is allowed to be played in Egypt.

My little cousin is 5 foot 8 and about 100 kg at nine. Useless fat man unfortunately. Maybe humans are evolving, because he wouldn't standout in a rich country at that size. People are massive where nourishment is overly abundant. Don't want to turn this into a discussion on your cousins size, but he would definitely stand out in most "Rich" countries. Well, mostly America I meant. America is land of the beasts. So many people there are tall and/or massive from a young age.

Was he? The whole team was extremely poor throughout. I vividly remember that game and two goals came from ridiculous give aways, two others came from Taylor not being able to play offside and Mbiwa not challenging a long ball against Sturridge, the sixth after Debuchy decided to take early showers. In terms of culbability for the result, others were in line before him.

Suicide bombers die in failed plot at Ethiopia soccer match ------------------- (Reuters) - Two Somali suicide bombers who had planned to kill soccer fans during Ethiopia's World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria on Sunday blew themselves up accidentally before carrying out the attack, the Ethiopian government said on Monday. The explosion on Sunday happened in the upscale Bole district of the capital, about 5 km (3 miles) from Addis Ababa Stadium where thousands of fans were gathering for the match. "They were Somali nationals and plotted to carry out a suicide attack disguised as fans on either the stadium or areas where large crowds gathered to watch the game," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said. Explosives, arms, hand grenades and football shirts were found at the scene of the blast, at a residential address an hour before kick-off, Shimeles said. Three suspects were detained. The Bole district has a small Somali refugee community. "Heavy police presence must have caused their nervousness and state of agitation which led to the detonation that caused their own death," Shimeles said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist rebels have vowed to exact revenge on Ethiopia for sending troops to Somalia to fight the al Qaeda-linked militants, alongside African Union forces from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya. Ethiopia says it has thwarted attacks over the past two years which it has blamed on domestic rebel groups as well as the Somali insurgents. However, it has so far been spared the sorts of attacks carried out in nearby countries - such as the siege at the Nairobi mall last month and an attack on football fans in Uganda in 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/14/us-ethiopia-bomb-idUSBRE99D0O820131014 --------------- Also: Igiebor injured as Eagles bus stoned Nosa Igiebor suffered a cut on his right palm as the Nigeria team bus was attacked Posted: 14 October 2013 Time: 01:37 pm Print this article Midfielder Nosa Igiebor suffered a cut on his right palm as the Nigeria team bus was attacked by irate Ethiopia fans after Sunday's 2-1 win by Nigeria. The Nigeria bus was delayed from leaving the stadium, and when they eventually did, the waiting fans hurled missiles at the bus, shattering the rear window. The Betis midfielder was hit on the hand by a big stone, giving him a big slash with serious bleeding which needed immediate attention of team doctor Ibrahim Gyaran. NFF General Secretary Musa Amadu explained that the incident forced the players to miss the dinner organized in their honour by the Nigerian embassy in Ethiopia. "Their bus was stoned, and a player was injured," Amadu told the gathering. "As a result, the players do not feel safe enough to come out from their hotel." NFF Vice President, Chief Mike Umeh, said the matter has been reported to the FIFA Security team at the match venue and he hopes action will be taken. The matter was also reported to the Ethiopian Police by Eagles Chief security Officer, ACP Baba Abubakar. Article by: Colin Udoh

My little cousin is 5 foot 8 and about 100 kg at nine. Useless fat man unfortunately. Maybe humans are evolving, because he wouldn't standout in a rich country at that size. People are massive where nourishment is overly abundant.

Always complaints, never solutions. Outside of maybe Concacaf, the qualification is about as condensed as we can get and matches need to actually occur. Lukaku looks young and still does tbh. Benteke is identical to my cousin, btw, it's somewhat scary How does Kompany look younger now than in 2002?

We need to come out with intensity and energy from the first minute of this match. The two times this season we have come against sides that are "of a higher level" (Everton really shouldn't be, but are at the moment) the match has been over after half an hour and we have conceded multiple chances and inevitably a goal within the first five minutes. We suffer from premature capitulation. Especially at home, we need to set the pattern of the match in the first twenty minutes be more combative throughout the team.

Yes to finalise all of the teams for the World's biggest event. People act like these are some random friendlies instead of decisive playoffs across every federation.