THE MONDAY MISCELLANY

Footballing World
Monday, October 5, 2009, 23:15

Thank heavens for Montenegrins, for without them the UEFA Champions
League group stage would be utter tedium.

Last season, Chelsea needed a result in their final group fixture
against CFR Cluj thanks, largely, to a defeat away to Roma after
Mirko Vucinic’s second half brace at the Stadio Olimpico. Now, the
relentless succession of English victories has been broken thanks to
the precocious talent of Stevan Jovetic, the Fiorentina forward who
scored both goals in their 2-0 win over Liverpool on Tuesday.

Judging by the response in England, you’d think the world had stopped
spinning just because a Premier League side had lost away from home
against a Serie A side but Fiorentina fully deserved their victory. The
pace of Marco Marchionni and Juan Manuel Vargas on the flanks and the
guile of Mutu in the hole were enough to see a pedestrian Liverpool
beaten.

Other interest in the group stage can be found in Milan. AC Milan,
after their dire 1-0 home defeat to Zurich, have it all to do to
reach the knock-out phase, given that they must now play Real Madrid
twice. Judging by their recent performances, it could be argued that
the most surprising result so far was their 2-1 win in Marseille,
courtesy of two classic goals from Filippo Inzaghi.

Meanwhile Inter drew again away to Rubin Kazan in Tatarstan, though
they played much of the second half with ten men. They must still
travel to Barcelona and Kiev and qualification cannot yet be relied
upon.

***

It’s official, the future of football broadcasting is here: 10 inch
screens showing fuzzy pictures to those people rich enough to afford
the equipment to show it. In other words, it’s 1966 again.

How ludicrous that anybody thinks charging £11.99 to see a match
after England have sealed qualification, with other more important
matches on television at the same time. How feeble that the BBC do
not have the wherewithal to screen a solitary international match. How
pathetic that the government the free-to-air TV list. How hypocritical
that FIFA blather on about football being the people’s game but do
not make it a condition of World Cup entry that TV rights to games
are sold to terrestrial channels in both countries playing.

Except, though, you do not have to pay. Bet365.com have the rights
for their live streaming thingy, so simply open an account with ten
pounds, watch the England match then bet it all on Spain to triumph
in Armenia. An England match, and a free 20p! If this is the future,
bring it on.

Anyway, Saturday is not about England. It is about Denmark v Sweden,
about Argentina v Peru, about Russia v Germany, about Serbia v Romania,
about Slovakia v Slovenia, about Ireland v Italy, about Cameroon v
Togo, about Estonia v Bosnia-Herzegovina. Those matches are where
the drama will be.

***

Despite all of which, Fabio Capello is quite right in not farting
around with an ‘experimental’ team in Dnipropetrovsk. Qualification is
achieved but England have their hearts set on a 100% record; what an
emphatic symbol of English recover that would represent to the rest
of the world.

Besides, if England are to be seeded in the World Cup draw on 4
December, they need to be in the top seven qualified sides in the
FIFA World Rankings and beating Ukraine and Belarus should virtually
secure such a privilege.

***

We continue our omnipresent analysis of who Diego Maradona picks
for Argentina with a note of optimism, at least for those of us who
really wouldn’t rather the World Cup passed without the involvement
of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Javier Mascherano.

Gonzalo Higuaín, hallelujah, has finally been included in the squad,
though Martin Palermo remains with Diego Milito injured. Palermo
scored both goals on Wednesday in Argentina’s friendly against Ghana;
the match only included home-based players as it fell outside the FIFA
international calendar. Higuaín has extraordinarily never played for
Argentina at senior level – though he was in their Olympic warm-up
squad last year – and lace at the World Cup.

Back, too, is Pablo Aimar, still only 29 and now playing in Portugal
for Benfica. Is he the replacement for Juan Román Riquelme that the
albicelestes have so desperately lacked over the last year?

Mercifully, Martin Demichelis is fit again. How they missed his
presence against Brazil and Paraguay in September, when the Vélez
Sarsfield central defender Sebastián Domínguez, hardly a player of
international ability, was disastrously employed. In Emiliano Insúa
and Fabián Monzón, they at last have some proper left backs which
should relieve Gabriel Heinze of having to struggle there again.

Right back has also been a problem of late, with Javier Zanetti no
longer occupying that position at Inter. Pablo Zabaleta returns from
injury and should play against Peru.