Spanning the Globe: International Round-up

By: Bob | March 26th, 2007

It was a weekend for international football matches with friendlies and Euro 2008 qualifiers galore. Some teams shined, others fizzled and as is usually the case there was as much crazy news away from the pitch as there was on it. Here is a random look at the international football weekend that was.

The England national team is as predictable as a cheap romance novel. Heading into their tilt against Israel the sharks were circling around the blood spewing from manager Steve McClaren waiting to pounce. They did not go hungry. England tied Israel 0-0 in yet another stinker of a Euro 2008 performance. Adding to the feeding feast are the reports that there was a post-match bust up between Wayne Rooney and McClaren. I think we all know the next chapter in this drama.

Germany are the darling of Europe at the moment playing some of the best football of any team on the continent. They went to the Czech Republic and came away with a 2-1 win. The Czech players still found reason to have a good time. After the match some of them stayed up late celebrating a teammate’s birthday with the traditional assortment of booze and prostitutes. The party will come at a cost, however. The country’s FA has fined the team $47,500.

There was supposed to be a massacre in the match between Portugal and Belgium contest and there was. It was Belgium that was on the losing end of the ass-whipping as Cristiano Ronaldo and gang won 4-0. After the match Ronaldo and Belgium keeper Stijn Stijnen came together for a hug and they are now best friends forever. No word if C-Ron will provide Stijnen with fashion advice in the future.

They were dancing in the streets of Almaty and in my home after my much beloved Kazakhstan defeated Serbia 2-1 for their first win since joining UEFA and for the only the second time against a UEFA country. Kairat Ashirbekov and Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev were the heroes for the Snow Leopards and will be the names of my future children.

Togo continue to be a mess. They beat Sierra Leone 3-1 in the African Nations Cup on Saturday but they also continue to refuse to pay their players World Cup bonuses as promised. The most famous of the Togolese players, Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, received death threats before the match and has been shown the door from the team.

It was an unconvincing 1-0 win for France against Lithuania. The loss could hurt more than Lithuania’s Euro 2008 chances. The country’s FA expects to be hit with a fine thanks to a racist banner displayed by some of its fans.

Your new unofficial champions of the world….drum roll……Scotland.

Finally, there was trouble at the match in Oslo where Norway hosted Bosnia. A few of the Bosnian fans decided that the best way to show their displeasure with their country’s FA would be to throw flares at the players on the pitch. The match was halted for 30 minutes and Bosnia went on to win 2-1. Video of the incident is below.

For more international football, check out our sister site – World Cup Blog.