What's with the Central African Republic? Two months ago they were on 0 points in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings. A draw with Morocco shot them up 30 places to 172nd in the world, and now they look to be shooting higher when the new ranks come out on Wednesday. Just as the Euro 2012 qualifiers were taking place, so were the Africa Cup of Nations 2012 qualifiers. Algeria, who qualified for South Africa 2010, were playing CAR and lost!
In total, CAR (or, to use FIFA's lettering, CTA) got 1051.35 points from that match. Don't forget that FIFA take an average over the matches for the whole year to calculate points, so that's not how many points they will go up in the table, but since they've only played two games over the last year, the total of this plus their draw against Morocco will be divided by five. In other words, that's 260.78 points for 2010.
This win puts CAR at the top of their group for the Africa Cup of Nations 2012 qualifiers.
And that ends the interesting non-F1, non-Euro 2012 world news.
Showing posts with label algeria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label algeria. Show all posts
16/10/2010
23/06/2010
Day Thirteen part two: 23/6/2010
Predictions fail
Here are the goal time statistics:
Earliest Goal – 4 minutes, Stephen Gerrard for England against USA
Latest Goal – 95 minutes, Pereira for Uruguay against South Africa
Latest first goal – 92 minutes, Donovan for USA against Algeria
Mean – 51.7 minutes, Median – 52 (UQ - 73, LQ – 29)
So most goals seem to be scored in the middle of the game, around the start of the second half.
A fantastic pair of games to start the day off, with England playing Slovenia and the USA taking on Algeria. Somehow, England beat Slovenia 1-0, holding them off for a long time and unfortunately not scoring again, but preventing Slovenia from getting themselves a goal back. That guaranteed England's entry into the final 16, but Slovenia's future was uncertain. At the end of the match, the USA were still in a 0-0 tie with Algeria, but a fantastic goal in the 92nd minute from Donovan got the USA through, and left the Slovenians out of their first World Cup. This confirmed my first two predictions from yesterday's post.
England qualified after scoring only two goals in the competition – one against the US, and one against Slovenia, and this makes them so far the lowest-scoring team to qualify. Incidentally, this is the first time in over 40 years that England have ended the first half 1-0 against a European side and gone on to win (previously they had draws with Sweden in 2006 and 2002, and Ireland in 1990, and a loss against West Germany in 1970).
Next, Germany took on Ghana while Serbia played Australia. I predicted that Germany and Serbia would go through. For the first time in a World Cup, two brothers played against each other – German Jermome BOATENG took on his brother Kevin-Prince Boateng – their father is Ghanese, mother German. Kevin-Prince even played for Germany in the youth teams before choosing to play for his father's country. There's even a second Boateng on the Ghanan side – Derek - but he doesn't seem to be a relation.
In the end, Germany came first to nobody's surprise. Second was Ghana, thanks to their goal difference. So my prediction was not entirely correct. Germany will go through to face England – a great rivalry fuelled originally by the World Wars, and latterly by England's World Cup victory in 1966. In the history of England-Germany matches, they have played 27 times, with England winning 12 matches, Germany winning 10 and taking the two penalty shoot-outs that resulted in competition. There have been three friendly draws. England will hope to win outright, as Germany are unbeaten at penalties. Ghana face the mighty USA, and are probably going to be the only African team to qualify. Even if Ivory Coast beat North Korea and Portugal lose to Brazil (very likely), they will have to get an incredible score (and Portugal will have to lose by a lot of goals).
Goals per game: Mean – 2.08, Median – 2, Mode – 2, Range – 7
Cards per game: Mean – 3.93, Median – 4, Mode – 2,5, Range - 9
Predictions for tomorrow: Netherlands (playing failed Cameroon) and Japan from group E, Paraguay and (hopefully) Italy from group F. Paraguay is the only team to have won a game in this group, and as the Cup holders, Italy have a great incentive to continue.
Here are the goal time statistics:
Earliest Goal – 4 minutes, Stephen Gerrard for England against USA
Latest Goal – 95 minutes, Pereira for Uruguay against South Africa
Latest first goal – 92 minutes, Donovan for USA against Algeria
Mean – 51.7 minutes, Median – 52 (UQ - 73, LQ – 29)
So most goals seem to be scored in the middle of the game, around the start of the second half.
A fantastic pair of games to start the day off, with England playing Slovenia and the USA taking on Algeria. Somehow, England beat Slovenia 1-0, holding them off for a long time and unfortunately not scoring again, but preventing Slovenia from getting themselves a goal back. That guaranteed England's entry into the final 16, but Slovenia's future was uncertain. At the end of the match, the USA were still in a 0-0 tie with Algeria, but a fantastic goal in the 92nd minute from Donovan got the USA through, and left the Slovenians out of their first World Cup. This confirmed my first two predictions from yesterday's post.
England qualified after scoring only two goals in the competition – one against the US, and one against Slovenia, and this makes them so far the lowest-scoring team to qualify. Incidentally, this is the first time in over 40 years that England have ended the first half 1-0 against a European side and gone on to win (previously they had draws with Sweden in 2006 and 2002, and Ireland in 1990, and a loss against West Germany in 1970).
Next, Germany took on Ghana while Serbia played Australia. I predicted that Germany and Serbia would go through. For the first time in a World Cup, two brothers played against each other – German Jermome BOATENG took on his brother Kevin-Prince Boateng – their father is Ghanese, mother German. Kevin-Prince even played for Germany in the youth teams before choosing to play for his father's country. There's even a second Boateng on the Ghanan side – Derek - but he doesn't seem to be a relation.
In the end, Germany came first to nobody's surprise. Second was Ghana, thanks to their goal difference. So my prediction was not entirely correct. Germany will go through to face England – a great rivalry fuelled originally by the World Wars, and latterly by England's World Cup victory in 1966. In the history of England-Germany matches, they have played 27 times, with England winning 12 matches, Germany winning 10 and taking the two penalty shoot-outs that resulted in competition. There have been three friendly draws. England will hope to win outright, as Germany are unbeaten at penalties. Ghana face the mighty USA, and are probably going to be the only African team to qualify. Even if Ivory Coast beat North Korea and Portugal lose to Brazil (very likely), they will have to get an incredible score (and Portugal will have to lose by a lot of goals).
Goals per game: Mean – 2.08, Median – 2, Mode – 2, Range – 7
Cards per game: Mean – 3.93, Median – 4, Mode – 2,5, Range - 9
Predictions for tomorrow: Netherlands (playing failed Cameroon) and Japan from group E, Paraguay and (hopefully) Italy from group F. Paraguay is the only team to have won a game in this group, and as the Cup holders, Italy have a great incentive to continue.
18/06/2010
Day Eight: 18/6/2010
Disappointment all around, except in America
Well, there's been some pathetic football played today. Like France yesterday, Germany and England were not in form. The USA also started off slowly before fighting back to a fantastic 2-2 draw. In the words of @billybragg: "USA continue their winning streak with a brilliant 2-2 victory over Slovenia".
Let's start with the promised goal stats. So far in the tournament, 43 goals have been scored.
3 were from penalties, 2 were own goals, 10 were from set pieces (although Fifa hasn't classified one of Greece's, which was from a corner, so that means 11).
The Germany-Serbia match was definitely the roughest game so far, with nine yellow cards - two of which went to Miroslav KLOSE, who had scored against Australia. Serbia managed to score, and despite giving away a penalty, Lukas PODOLSKI was unable to score. Usually a fantastic team, this is the first match Germany have lost in the group stages since 1986, in a match against Denmark. For Serbia, it's their first win in a World Cup since beating the USA in 1998.
So let's look at our card-happy referee, Spaniard Alberto UNDIANO. Nine cards isn't particularly large for him; he also gave 10 yellow cards in the semi-final of the UEFA U21 Championship in 2006. Just look at his record. He has an average of 7 cards per game, and his Wikipedia page was updated within seconds of the match ending.
Next up was a much better game. America played Slovenia to a 2-2 draw. Serbia were two goals ahead in the first half, but fantastic play from the USA brought them level again in the second. The USA now have eighteen World Cup group matches in a row without a clean sheet, which is not a good record for number one goalkeeper Tim Howard. It's not just Tim Howard, though. The last time they did so was back in 1950, 60 years ago, when they had a 1-0 victory over England.
Interestingly, if Slovenia had won, they would have been the first team to guarantee qualification to the group stages. Now, that honour will go somewhere else. Slovenia are ranked 25 in the FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings, while the USA are 14. The lowest-ranked team in the Cup are automatic-qualifiers South Africa at 85, while New Zealand just above them are the 78th best team in the world.
Ranked 8th in the world, England should have done better tonight against Algeria. They stumbled all over the pitch, and Fabio CAPELLO was having a very bad birthday. To be fair, so was Algerian BELHADJ, but as a top seeded team, England should have done better. But it seems Argentina are the only top team doing well so far.
Goals per game: Mean - 1.87, Median - 2, Mode – 1,2, Range - 5
Cards per game: Mean – 3.97, Median – 4, Mode – 3, Range - 8
Birthday: Tomorrow, 19th June, is the birthday of Brazilian KLEBERSON. Being a footballer for Brazil means he has enough to celebrate about, and his team aren't playing. Happy 31st birthday!
Well, there's been some pathetic football played today. Like France yesterday, Germany and England were not in form. The USA also started off slowly before fighting back to a fantastic 2-2 draw. In the words of @billybragg: "USA continue their winning streak with a brilliant 2-2 victory over Slovenia".
Let's start with the promised goal stats. So far in the tournament, 43 goals have been scored.
3 were from penalties, 2 were own goals, 10 were from set pieces (although Fifa hasn't classified one of Greece's, which was from a corner, so that means 11).
The Germany-Serbia match was definitely the roughest game so far, with nine yellow cards - two of which went to Miroslav KLOSE, who had scored against Australia. Serbia managed to score, and despite giving away a penalty, Lukas PODOLSKI was unable to score. Usually a fantastic team, this is the first match Germany have lost in the group stages since 1986, in a match against Denmark. For Serbia, it's their first win in a World Cup since beating the USA in 1998.
So let's look at our card-happy referee, Spaniard Alberto UNDIANO. Nine cards isn't particularly large for him; he also gave 10 yellow cards in the semi-final of the UEFA U21 Championship in 2006. Just look at his record. He has an average of 7 cards per game, and his Wikipedia page was updated within seconds of the match ending.
Next up was a much better game. America played Slovenia to a 2-2 draw. Serbia were two goals ahead in the first half, but fantastic play from the USA brought them level again in the second. The USA now have eighteen World Cup group matches in a row without a clean sheet, which is not a good record for number one goalkeeper Tim Howard. It's not just Tim Howard, though. The last time they did so was back in 1950, 60 years ago, when they had a 1-0 victory over England.
Interestingly, if Slovenia had won, they would have been the first team to guarantee qualification to the group stages. Now, that honour will go somewhere else. Slovenia are ranked 25 in the FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings, while the USA are 14. The lowest-ranked team in the Cup are automatic-qualifiers South Africa at 85, while New Zealand just above them are the 78th best team in the world.
Ranked 8th in the world, England should have done better tonight against Algeria. They stumbled all over the pitch, and Fabio CAPELLO was having a very bad birthday. To be fair, so was Algerian BELHADJ, but as a top seeded team, England should have done better. But it seems Argentina are the only top team doing well so far.
Goals per game: Mean - 1.87, Median - 2, Mode – 1,2, Range - 5
Cards per game: Mean – 3.97, Median – 4, Mode – 3, Range - 8
Birthday: Tomorrow, 19th June, is the birthday of Brazilian KLEBERSON. Being a footballer for Brazil means he has enough to celebrate about, and his team aren't playing. Happy 31st birthday!
13/06/2010
Day Three: 13/6/2010
Germany liven things up
Finally, a team that lives up to expectations! Germany totally thrashed their weak Australian opponents. We also had our second sending-off of the tournament, with Algerian substitute Abdelkader GHEZZAL receiving two yellow cards.
In the first match, Slovenia scraped a 1-0 win against Algeria to go top of Group C thanks to the England-USA draw yesterday. Their goalscorer Robert KOREN deservedly got man-of-the match (I voted for him - you can vote for the man of the match if you watch the commentary at fifa's website). He's the team captain at 29 years of age, and plays for West Bromwich Albion – a good, solid West Midlands team. This is his fifth international goal.
The sent-off Algerian Ghezzal is younger, at 25 years old, and plays in Italy. He's had 20 international caps so far. He was actually born in France, like several other Algeria squad members. In total there were five yellow cards given out in the game.
The second match was Serbia against Ghana. The African side just scraped a win, with goalscorer Asamoah GYAN scoring from a penalty received after one of the Serbian players handballed in the penalty area. Surprisingly the first forward to score in the tournament, he has 20 international goals to his 24 years, and plays in France.
Serbian send-off Aleksandar LUKOVIC hasn't scored any international goals, which isn't surprising as he's a defender, and he's 27 years old. There were six yellows in the game, four of which were received by Serbia.
Finally, there was Germany's brilliant match against Australia that brought some life to the tournament. We also had our first straight red card of the tournament, going to Australia. All four of the German goals were scored by different players, including single-named substitute CACAU, who replaced goalscorer Miroslav KLOSE. Unfortunately, Cacau was also one of two Germans to receive a yellow card, so it was a mixed game for him – all 22 minutes he was on the pitch! (Australia got three yellow cards to go with Tim CAHILL's red)
Goals per game: Mean – 1.625, Median – 2, Mode – 1,2, Range - 4
Cards per game: Mean – 4.625, Median – 5.5, Mode – 6, Range - 6
A rough tournament with few goals so far. Let's hope it improves tomorrow!
Finally, a team that lives up to expectations! Germany totally thrashed their weak Australian opponents. We also had our second sending-off of the tournament, with Algerian substitute Abdelkader GHEZZAL receiving two yellow cards.
In the first match, Slovenia scraped a 1-0 win against Algeria to go top of Group C thanks to the England-USA draw yesterday. Their goalscorer Robert KOREN deservedly got man-of-the match (I voted for him - you can vote for the man of the match if you watch the commentary at fifa's website). He's the team captain at 29 years of age, and plays for West Bromwich Albion – a good, solid West Midlands team. This is his fifth international goal.
The sent-off Algerian Ghezzal is younger, at 25 years old, and plays in Italy. He's had 20 international caps so far. He was actually born in France, like several other Algeria squad members. In total there were five yellow cards given out in the game.
The second match was Serbia against Ghana. The African side just scraped a win, with goalscorer Asamoah GYAN scoring from a penalty received after one of the Serbian players handballed in the penalty area. Surprisingly the first forward to score in the tournament, he has 20 international goals to his 24 years, and plays in France.
Serbian send-off Aleksandar LUKOVIC hasn't scored any international goals, which isn't surprising as he's a defender, and he's 27 years old. There were six yellows in the game, four of which were received by Serbia.
Finally, there was Germany's brilliant match against Australia that brought some life to the tournament. We also had our first straight red card of the tournament, going to Australia. All four of the German goals were scored by different players, including single-named substitute CACAU, who replaced goalscorer Miroslav KLOSE. Unfortunately, Cacau was also one of two Germans to receive a yellow card, so it was a mixed game for him – all 22 minutes he was on the pitch! (Australia got three yellow cards to go with Tim CAHILL's red)
Goals per game: Mean – 1.625, Median – 2, Mode – 1,2, Range - 4
Cards per game: Mean – 4.625, Median – 5.5, Mode – 6, Range - 6
A rough tournament with few goals so far. Let's hope it improves tomorrow!
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