We are through, we are through! We are going to Germany at last!
Yes, Holland has qualified for Germany 2006 with an away 2-0 win over Czech. Finally, we are through. We weren't the first European team outside Germany to qualify; Ukraine had the honours. But if you look at the record, we are definitely the best team in the qualifiers so far.
Discounting the two games against the bottom-placed teams so as to achieve parity between groups of different sizes, we have 25 points from 9 games, 8 wins and a draw. The only team that came close to us was Poland, with 24 points. Even Ukraine didn't come close. You might ask, why then did we take so long? It's because of the Czech Republic. They matched our results till their defeat against Romania.
Having said that, i must really salute the Czechs; they have been the worthiest of opponents in this qualifying campaign. Now, they face the possibility of elimination, should they fail to win on Wednesday. The Czech Republic isn't my favourite team, but i would say they deserve to go through. Even though we had minnows like Andorra, Macedonia and Armenia in our group, it was still the toughest, considering that at the end of the day, qualifying from this group will not count on the results against these teams, but results between the top 3, Romania, Holland and Czech, and to a certain extent, Finland. Just look at Holland: so many points more than Ukraine, but Ukraine qualified first, because its group cannot put up a real fight to catch it. If you look at France's group, they do have one of the easiest groups on paper: Israel, Switzerland, Ireland, Cyprus and Faroe Islands. But the group is still undecided, mainly because these teams somehow are deadlocked in terms of results, just as the situation was, in Holland's Group. So you see, your group is not easy because of the minnows in it; it depends on who are your competitors for the top spot. That leads to the next implication: you don't need a lot of points; you just need your closest rivals to have fewer than you such that they can't catch you.
My point is, Holland rocks, and though many people will say that's because the group is so called easy, it isn't. the Czechs are tougher opponents than Poland, England and Belarus( i can't help it but take a jibe at those who were gushing at Italy's 4-1 win over Belarus and saying they can win the World Cup.)
So, Germany, Ukraine, Holland, Portugal, Italy, England and Poland are through. I checked, either Poland or England WILL end up as one of the two best-placed runners-up to qualify automatically, regardless of their last match against each other.
The other qualifiers are: Tunisia, Togo, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Angola from Africa. Nigeria, 5-1 winners over Zimbabwe, did not qualify because Angola won. Imagine that heartbreak. From South America, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador are through. Japan, Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are representing Asia. 12 places are left.
btw, van der vaart scored again for Holland. i was watching the news just now and saw his goal. perfectly swept into the bottom right corner from inside the left edge of the box. deserving of the number 10 jersey.
Discounting the two games against the bottom-placed teams so as to achieve parity between groups of different sizes, we have 25 points from 9 games, 8 wins and a draw. The only team that came close to us was Poland, with 24 points. Even Ukraine didn't come close. You might ask, why then did we take so long? It's because of the Czech Republic. They matched our results till their defeat against Romania.
Having said that, i must really salute the Czechs; they have been the worthiest of opponents in this qualifying campaign. Now, they face the possibility of elimination, should they fail to win on Wednesday. The Czech Republic isn't my favourite team, but i would say they deserve to go through. Even though we had minnows like Andorra, Macedonia and Armenia in our group, it was still the toughest, considering that at the end of the day, qualifying from this group will not count on the results against these teams, but results between the top 3, Romania, Holland and Czech, and to a certain extent, Finland. Just look at Holland: so many points more than Ukraine, but Ukraine qualified first, because its group cannot put up a real fight to catch it. If you look at France's group, they do have one of the easiest groups on paper: Israel, Switzerland, Ireland, Cyprus and Faroe Islands. But the group is still undecided, mainly because these teams somehow are deadlocked in terms of results, just as the situation was, in Holland's Group. So you see, your group is not easy because of the minnows in it; it depends on who are your competitors for the top spot. That leads to the next implication: you don't need a lot of points; you just need your closest rivals to have fewer than you such that they can't catch you.
My point is, Holland rocks, and though many people will say that's because the group is so called easy, it isn't. the Czechs are tougher opponents than Poland, England and Belarus( i can't help it but take a jibe at those who were gushing at Italy's 4-1 win over Belarus and saying they can win the World Cup.)
So, Germany, Ukraine, Holland, Portugal, Italy, England and Poland are through. I checked, either Poland or England WILL end up as one of the two best-placed runners-up to qualify automatically, regardless of their last match against each other.
The other qualifiers are: Tunisia, Togo, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Angola from Africa. Nigeria, 5-1 winners over Zimbabwe, did not qualify because Angola won. Imagine that heartbreak. From South America, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador are through. Japan, Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are representing Asia. 12 places are left.
btw, van der vaart scored again for Holland. i was watching the news just now and saw his goal. perfectly swept into the bottom right corner from inside the left edge of the box. deserving of the number 10 jersey.
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