Crossroads of the seven roads

By and large, the rivals failed the fall session. Both teams lost to the Poles, and the Belgians also to the Serbs, and handed the tournament initiative to competitors who took full advantage of it. As a result, both Portuguese and Belgians are now denied the right to misfire. She will be equal to the sentence of early separation with hopes of a finale.

Favorites of the meeting at the Lisbon “Jose Alvalade” - the hosts. However, they have never defeated the Belgian national team in official matches.

The steering of the Portuguese, Luis Felipe Scolari unexpected surprises added recently operated finger on his hand Deco. Such a loss is akin to an emergency motor replacement. Rene Vandereiken, by the way, has a similar problem: the captain - midfielder Timmy Simons is disqualified.

Other matches. Poland - Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan - Serbia.

In the most formidable group, the day turned out to be a rare menu. World champions Italians miss the tour. And of all the favorites involved in it, the most difficult test awaits the French team. And not only because playing with the Lithuanians will have to visit.

The main interest is that Raymond Domenech, always prudent in personnel decisions, is forced to bring a radically redrawn squad to Kaunas. There will be no injured Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Frank Ribery, Louis Saa, Michael Sylvester, and at the same time, the disgraced David Trezeguet.

Jobs were filled by young people: 19-year-old Samir Nasri from Marseille and Karim Benzema from Lyon, 22-year-old Lassan Diarra from Chelsea, 20-year-old Abu Diabi from Arsenal. And the head coach’s attention to the 28-year-old striker “Monaco” Frederic Piccion really looks mysterious.

Lithuanians are thoroughly and without a pump preparing a "three-color" battle. After the September away draw with world champions, the team of Algimantas Lubinskas is not afraid of anyone.

Other matches. Scotland - Georgia. Faroe Islands - Ukraine.

Passions, exceeding the heat of Athens, this evening will not be for sure. Not only do the fights of neighbors always take place against the backdrop of tribune hysteria, but this one fell on the eve of Greece's celebration of the next anniversary ... liberation from the Turkish occupation.

Add the brilliant start of the teams in the qualifying campaign: with three wins, both share the top in the group table. Moreover, neither the Greeks nor the Turks have conceded goals. It is curious that both of their meetings in the selection for the 2006 World Cup ended in zero draws. Such "dryness" evokes memories of the feat of the sons of Hellas involved in Rehagel pedantry in Euro 2004. After all, to this day he leaves them in the status of the nominally strongest European team. Which certainly do not care about the Janissaries of Fatih Terima.

Other matches. Moldova - Malta. Norway - Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Prague Letna will host Saturday's highest-rated battle. For the Germans, this is not just a dispute over leadership in the group, but also the opportunity to completely hush up the unpleasant story of the defeat from the Czechs in the final stage of Euro 2004, who sent the German national team ahead of time. And the last fall draw in Cyprus would be nice to replace the lower line of the register with numbers more attractive.

Teutonic determination is not cooled even by a series of significant losses. Joachim Leo misses out on injured Bastian Schweinsteiger, Torsten Frings and Christoph Metzelder. But Lukasz Podolski will have to defend the position of leader of the scorer dispute of the entire qualifying campaign (7 goals) without the usual support of Miroslav Klose - he will be disqualified.

The Czech guru Karel Bruckner has a full deck on his hands. The old man did not have to mess with the choice of trump cards.

Other matches. Ireland - Wales. Cyprus - Slovakia.

The slurred fall segment of the British, crowned by an away defeat from the Croats, plus the sparring lost with the Spaniards in February, make the match in Tel Aviv an object of increased attention of the entire continent. A visit by the British to standing on the table and the unyielding Israelis (in the two previous qualifying rounds they did not lose to anyone at all!) Is not the best option for correcting the tournament situation. But there’s nowhere to worsen it further!

The confusion of Steve McLaren in the tactical innovations launched in the fall is aggravated by a series of losses in the defense line: Gary Neville, Jonathan Woodgate, Ashley Cole. However, their compensating factor can be considered the absence of the best forwards Yaniva Katana and Roberto Colautti, and at the same time a strong midfielder Idan Tal, among the rivals.

Other matches. Estonia - Russia. Croatia - Macedonia.

It is necessary to know how to dig into the table of not the strongest group as deep as the Spaniards did. In the autumn session, the eminent team lost on the way to the Northern Irish and the Swedes. And now, even having beaten the Danes at Santiago Bernabeu, the hosts will not be able to get them by the points they have earned, not to mention the Tre Krunur who flew into the gap.

The credit of trust in aksakal Luis Agagones was inexplicably large. But there is no doubt that in the event of Saturday’s misfire, he will run out, as well as Spain’s chances to see his stars at Euro 2008. Disqualification of defenders Sergio Ramos and Carles Puyol is not the best farewell to a much decisive match. But this is not worth focusing on, based on the fact that the main aspiration of the hosts will be to score, not defend.

Another match. Liechtenstein - Northern Ireland.

For the Dutch, this is a great chance to take a test for the role of the band’s unrivaled favorite, without hypothetically unhooking the main competitor hypothetically. Romanians have traditionally poorly opposed the “orange” in previous meetings. There were eight of them, and only twice the Romanian team clung to draws, and in other cases lost, scoring only one goal. By the way, while her only defeat in official matches under the leadership of Victor Pitsurke was also from the Dutch - in the previous qualifying round. The unhappy mood of the guests is exacerbated by alarming medical reports. There are many names in them, the most sonorous of which is defender Christian Kivu.

Marco van Basten injured candidates never plunged into sad thoughts. If desired, the Dutch national team can convene three teams, each of which is able to triumphantly pass the selection in such a group. This time, the 20-year-old midfielder Ibrahim Afellay from PSV and the 28-year-old forward of “AZ Alkmar” Danny Kuvermans were called for the first time under the wing of a watch-loving coach.

Other matches. Luxembourg - Belarus. Albania - Slovenia.

Sergey NOVIKOV