willemvanoranje
Curitibano

still, why would they do something like what they did...
Originally posted by Alone
England, Italy and Germany were everytime at final turnament. They are by far the best Foot.Nat.Team no matter what are opinion of some people on this site or alse (you may like 'em or not but that another question). So they are very quality and very "stable" in that quality (hope I choose the right word) so I don't see this three, in this case two, team not qualify for this tournament which mean in those group will be very hard to go further than in the others.
Originally posted by MCdread
Italy only failed to qualify in 58 and Germany qualified everytime they entered the tournament (in 30 they didn't play and in 50 they were still in a mess cause of WWII), but England? cough, WC 94, cough; cough, seventies, cough. Not to mention the Euro... Belgium has had a better record than England in last 25 years.
...
Originally posted by willemvanoranje
well, at least Israel isn't like Andorra
UEFA Congress: Kazakhstan joins UEFA
Thursday, 25 April 2002
Kazakhstan has been admitted as UEFA's 52nd member association. The former Soviet republic joined the European confederation at the XXVI Ordinary UEFA Congress in Stockholm.
Executive Committee's recommendation
Delegates from Europe's national football associations approved a recommendation by UEFA's Executive Committee to bring Kazakhstan into the European football family.
Status report
The Executive Committee announced its support for Kazakhstan's request for entry into the European football union last December, after studying a status report produced by UEFA officials who visited Kazakhstan. The Football Association of the Republic of Kazakhstan withdrew from the Asian Football Confederation in June last year
Central Asia
Kazakhstan is situated in central Asia and is the second largest of the former Soviet republics, covering 2,724,900sq km. It borders five countries - China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia - and has a population of 14 million.
Glad to be back
Association president Rakhat Aliyev told uefa.com: "I am very happy. Ten months ago, UEFA President Lennart Johansson said in the media that Kazakhstan would be welcome in UEFA. We were in UEFA previously as a part of the USSR, and are glad to be back."
Better future
"Practically speaking, it means more contacts with Europe and more investment projects," he added. "It will also lead to a better future for players and especially young people in the country. It will lead to a higher professional level."
Eliminated from World Cup
Kazakhstan were eliminated in the first round of the Asian confederation's qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. They missed out narrowly, on goal difference, having finished unbeaten and with an identical record to group winners Iraq, who went on to contest play-offs against the Republic of Ireland.
Change in domestic game
The domestic game in Kazakhstan is undergoing various changes, with the switch from one 17-team professional league to two divisions of 12 sides, called the Premier League and First League. Zhenis Astana, a team based in the Kazakh capital of Astana, were the country's 2001 champions.
Originally posted by willemvanoranje
are we heading towards a multi-federation football world, where the UEFA becomes a counter-part of the FIFA and hosts its own world cups?
Originally posted by Tsargrad
Damn, we have to play 5th best S.American side.. More bull crap!! After already robbing us of a spot.
I'd like to see Oceania combined in Asia, if they aren't going to treat us as a real zone.... Cos after playing the llikes of Tahiti, Fiji, NZ to come up against a side from S.America which has played 18 tough internationals is total b.s ... we need gaming experience and cohersion...
Those clubs better let our lads come out and play - but no doubt they won't... No wonder Soccer is so FUBAR in this country
Originally posted by Zamphyr
Where do most Australians play ? Will they have a lot of Euro friendlies ? A home-away against NZ is no prep at all for Peru.
Originally posted by Inter32
Perú? Are you kidding...perú is playing terribly. The 5th spot might get it Venezuela who's playing very well in these qualifications.
Originally posted by Håkon
Impressive. Don't Venezuela usually finish last in the qualifications?
Originally posted by Inter32
Last qualifications they ended up 6th. winning the last 4-5 games, beating teams like Colombia, Uruguay..
In the last game Vzla. beat Colombia 1 - 0 in Colombia.