FIFA/Coca-Cola Rankings Adjustment September 2010

So what about those FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings, then? Well, there have been some big changes in the European teams, with several huge shifts upwards or downwards. Most shockingly, Scotland – despite a draw and a win – have lost their position as the UK's second (and the British Isles' third) team. That place is now taken up by Northern Ireland, who managed a 14 place shift upwards to 45th, while Scotland drifted downwards to 47th.

The largest jump was from Montenegro, who are in group G with England, Wales, Bulgaria and Switzerland. Their shock victory over a very poor Bulgaria (perhaps shaken over their 4-0 defeat by England) gave them a 33 place rise to 40th in the world! Bulgaria, however, have dropped 11 places to 54th, and also lost their coach, who resigned after the bad weekend.

Another notable improvements is Cyprus, thanks to their draw with Portugal. The Cyprians go up from 63 to 43 – 20 places! Portugal hold their position in 8th. Also, the defeaters of France – Belarus – went up 23 places to 55th, while France (despite beating Bosnia-Herzegovina) drop six places to 27th.

Finally, and just for amusement, Andorra and San Marino both dropped a place (Andorra have 2 points, San Marino have 0), thanks to the Central African Republic drawing with Morocco 0-0. This gave them 30 points, and I would not be surprised if it was treated like a victory.

Mark Lawrenson Predictions: Episode 4

Prediction vs Reality
Predictions here

I am a horrendously late blogger this week. My excuse is that it's my first week of a new university term, so I've been busy.
Correct predictions are in bold.

Home Team	Away Team	Predicted winner	Predicted score	Actual winner	Actual score
Everton	Man Utd	Draw	1-1	Draw	3-3
Arsenal	Bolton	Arsenal	3-1	Arsenal	4-1
Fulham	Wolverhampton	Fulham	2-1	Fulham	2-1
Man City	Blackburn	Man City	2-0	Draw	1-1
Newcastle	Blackpool	Newcastle	2-1	Blackpool	0-2
West Brom	Tottenham	Draw	1-1	Draw	1-1
West Ham	Chelsea	Draw	1-1	Chelsea	2-0
Wigan	Sunderland	Sunderland	1-2	Draw	1-1
Birmingham	Liverpool	Liverpool	0-2	Draw	0-0
Stoke	Aston Villa	Stoke	2-0	Stoke	2-1

Mark's winner prediction success rate: 5/10
Mark's score prediction success rate: 2/10

Mark Lawrenson didn't do as well predicting winners today, but he's doing okay. As the year progresses, I'm expecting that he'll improve too. He has a 48% winner success rate overall, and a 15% score success rate.

Euro 2012 Qualification: Groups G, H, I September

Before I forget, here's the last three groups:

Group G
England won both their games (hooray!), and Wales, Bulgaria and Switzerland both lost their only games. Montenegro also won both their games.

So England's points were 1177.5 against Bulgaria, and 1372.5 against Switzerland.
Montenegro's were 870 against Wales, and 1177.5 against Bulgaria.
Obviously Wales, Bulgaria and Switzerland have 0 points.

England lead the group on goal difference, with Bulgaria second. Again by goal difference, Wales are third, with Switzerland fourth and Bulgaria last.


Group H
Group H was full of surprises for one member: Portugal. They only managed a draw and a loss. Norway, however, beat Iceland and Portugal. Iceland also lost to Denmark. Cyprus drew with Portugal.

Portugal got a low 342.5 points from their draw.
Cyprus got 480 in the same game.
Norway had 907.5 points from beating Iceland, and 1440 from beating Portugal.
Denmark also got 907.5 points from their victory over Iceland.

So Norway lead the group with Denmark second, Cyprus third on goal difference, Portugal fourth, and Iceland last.


Group I
Scotland scraped a win over Liechtenstein after previously drawing with Lithuania. Cup holders Spain also beat Liechtenstein, and Lithuania beat the Czech Republic.

So Scotland had 370 points from their draw, and a low 442.5 for beating Liechtenstein.
Spain had their 442.5 over Liechtenstein as well.
Lithuania had 397.5 points from drawing with Scotland, and 1267.5 from beating the Czech Republic.
Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic both got no points.

So Scotland lead their group and Lithuania are second on goal difference. Third are Spain, and last are Liechtenstein and the Czech Rep.

Euro 2012 Qualification: Groups E, F September

Group E
The Netherlands won both their games over the weekend, Moldova beat Finland, and Sweden beat Hungary and San Marino – who lost both theirs. Finland and Moldova both lost their second games.

So Netherlands got a low 375 points from beating San Marino, and 1117.5 for beating Finland.
Sweden also got 375 points for beating San Marino, and 1035 for beating Hungary.
Moldova's loss meant they only got 1117.5 points for beating Finland.
Similarly, Hungary got 832.5 points only, for beating Moldova.
San Marino and Finland both got 0 points.

Now, Sweden lead the group on goal difference, with Netherlands second. Moldova are then ahead of Hungary, followed by Finland and San Marino.


Group F
Georgia managed a surprising two draws against much better teams – Greece and Israel. Greece also managed a draw against Croatia, who beat Latvia, and Latvia beat Malta. Israel also beat Malta on the second of September.

Georgia got 470 and 405 points from their respective draws.
Croatia won 1132.5 points from their win, and 470 from their draw.
Israel had 375 points from their win, and 225 from their draw.
Greece's draws got them 225 and 465 points respectively.
Latvia's only points were 375 against Malta.
And Malta got 0 points.

So Croatia lead the group with Israel second, Latvia third, Greece and Georgia in fourth, and Malta last.

Formula 1 Race Fourteen: Race

Alonso, Massa and Button: They started and finished in the same way. At the first corner of the first lap, Button got ahead of Alonso, and maintained that position for over forty laps. However, at the pit stops, Alonso managed to scrape ahead of the MacLaren to get a victory for Ferrari at their home track, in his first season for the team. Awesome! He and Button are now in close contention for the championship.

Vettel and Webber: The Red Bulls started badly, especially Webber. Vettel got held up by Hulkenberg for most of the race, including in an incident where Vettel believed that Hulkenberg got an unfair advantage on the first chicane (although the stewards didn't). Webber's poor start put him behind his teammate, but he eventually caught up. They raced together for a while, but then Vettel had engine trouble, and while he sorted it out, Webber got ahead – until the pit stops. Webber pitted, but Vettel stayed on the track. He eventually overtook Hulkenberg, to his team's delight, and ended up fourth after a pit stop at the very last opportunity. [Webber was sixth, which put him top of the championship]

Kobayashi, Hamilton, Senna and Trulli: All failed to finish. Kobayashi barely started, after a last minute problem that had him leaving from the pits. Neither Kobayashi or Hamilton made it past the first lap – Hamilton clashed with Massa, breaking his steering rods. That's how Webber is top of the championship, although Hamilton is still close to him. Senna was next to go out, and Trulli was close to the end of the race when he finished.

Yamamoto: He caused havoc in the pit lane by accidentally injuring his radio mechanic when he pulled away from his pit stop. An ambulance was required, so the pit lane was temporarily blocked. Eventually it was cleared, allowing more pit stops to take place, and the mechanic was not seriously injured.