World Cup: Portugal still in running thanks to Almeida goal

Hugo Almeida gave Portugal the important 1-0 lead in their World Cup qualifier in Albania. The Portuguese still have chances to qualify for 2010 South Africa from the tough Group 1.
First Team
Monday, 08.06.2009 / 10:20

The Portuguese national team still have hopes of reaching the 2010 World Cup thanks to a 2-1 road victory over Albania in their Group 1 qualifier. Werder striker Hugo Almeida started...

The Portuguese national team still have hopes of reaching the 2010 World Cup thanks to a 2-1 road victory over Albania in their Group 1 qualifier. Werder striker Hugo Almeida started the game on Saturday 6 June 2009 and rewarded head coach Carlos Queiroz’s faith in him with a fine header for the 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Group 1 leaders Denmark beat Sweden 1-0 on the road on Saturday. Daniel Jensen (Achilles tendon inflammation) was missing for Denmark while Markus Rosenberg (knee) did not play for the Swedes. While Jensen can likely look forward to playing for Denmark next summer in South Africa, things are less bright for Rosenberg. Sweden have played one game fewer but have just six points in Group 1 and are in fourth place. And a setback on Wednesday 10 June 2009 against Malta would more or less eliminate any World Cup hopes for Rosenberg and company.

 

Werder defender Petri Pasanen was substituted out at half-time as Finland struggled to just a 2-1 victory over Liechtenstein in qualification Group 4. The Finns still have good chances of reaching South Africa, being just two points behind second-placed Russia. Those two teams face off on Wednesday and Finland will jump into second place behind Germany with a victory. The Germans, who are not playing qualifiers this week, lead with 16 points.

 

Sebastian Prödl was hoping to help the Austrian national team bag some points in their qualifier in Serbia. But the Bremen defender was forced to leave Belgrade early with a stomach virus. And Austria lost 1-0 in the Serbian capital. While the Serbs have a six-point lead on the third placed team and are close to securing their World Cup ticket, the Austrians have just seven points from six games for fourth place in front of Romania (seven points) but behind Lithuania (seven games, nine points), France (five games, 10 points) and Serbia (six games, 15 points).

 

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