England U21 6 – 3 Macedonia U21

Fabrice Muamba came on for Peterborough United’s Danny Rose with 20 minutes to go. Unfortunately Muamba’s most notable contribution seems to be that he may have injured Micah Richards when he collided with the Manchester City defender.

Finalnd 2 – 1 Wales

Jussi Jaaskelainen failed to keep a clean sheet against Wales. Although Finland took an early lead Man City’s Craig Bellamy equalised in the 17th minute. Bellamy had two more good chances to test Jussi in the first half but both attempts sailed harmlessly over the crossbar. Finland retook the lead with quarter of an hour to go and Jaaskelainen had to produce a good save to prevent an 90th minute equaliser.

Finland’s win would be in vain as they cannot qualify for The 2010 World Cup. Finland face Germany next, who qualified for the World Cup in South Africa following their win against Russia. Finland are destined to come third in the group but perhaps a win at Hamburg will earn them some pride.

Welsh international Sam Ricketts missed this fixture as he has a ankle injury it is unlikely that he will play for Wales in their last qualifier match against Liechtenstein. Like Finland, Wales have failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Ukraine 1 – 0 England

Gary Cahill once again did not make the starting line–up for England. Robert Green, who Gary Cahill scored against during Bolton’s Carling Cup 3–1 win over West Ham, became the first England goalkeeper to be sent off. Despite Shevchenko missing the resulting penalty Ukraine went on to win by a single goal. Testament

England face Belarus on Wednesday (October 14) perhaps Fabio Capello will give the Bolton defender a chance at Wembley.

Israel 3 – 1 Moldova

Tamir Cohen played a full 90 minutes for his country at The National Stadium in Ramat Gan. Israel’s much needed win keeps alive their hope of qualifying for their first World Cup since 1970. Genk’s Elyaniv Barda, who was recently linked with Bolton, had a goal disallowed in the 20th minute but went on to score two of Israel’s three goals.

On Wednesday Israel face Switzerland in Basel but will have beat the Group 2 leaders and hope that 2nd placed Greece loose at home to Luxembourg in order to stand a chance of qualification via November’s play–offs.

Croatia 3 – 2 Qatar

Ivan Klasnic scored for Croatia in the friendly match against Qatar. However, their win will be of little consolation as Croatia look unlikely to qualify for a place in the 2010 World Cup following Ukraine’s win over England. Ivan Klasnic is likely to feature in Croatia’s last qualifier on Wednesday when they travel to Kazakhstan.

Croatia need Andorra to earn their first point of their qualification campaign when they play Ukraine in order to be in with a chance to qualify via the playoffs next month.

South Korea P – P Senegal

Lee Choung–Yong flew back to South Korea recently but Saturday’s friendly against Senegal was postponed. The friendly has been rescheduled for Wednesday (October 14) and will still be played at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

South Korea have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup along with North Korea, Australia and Japan from the Asian groups.

Nigeria vs Mozambique

Danny Shittu should be playing this evening and Nigeria may go top of their group earning them a place in the 2010 African Cup of Nations at least.

(This page will be updated after Nigeria’s match on Sunday evening.)

Related Articles

• Cahill not the Only One on International Duty
• Midweek International Roundup
• Gary Cahill Thrilled to be Training with England Squad

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Jlloyd Samuel was meant to be playing for Trinidad and Tobago but once again he has had to miss out. There is a farce that surrounds Samuel’s non–involvement with the Soca Warriors. It starts with his flight details being emailed to him a few hours after the plane had taken off. The farce continued until Samuel picked up a groin injury during practise but not before his mother had made a complaint to the T&T manager.

Other Wanderers on International Duty

Welsh International Sam Ricketts will miss a trip to Helsinki due to an ankle injury. However, Bolton team–mate Jussi Jaaskelainen will be in Helsinki for the World Cup qualifier, in goal for Finland at the Olympiastadion. Jussi is also expected to travel to Hamburg on October 14, for Finland’s clash against Germany at the HSH Nordbank Arena.

While Jussi is in Germany his fellow BWFC goalkeeper, Ali Al Habsi will have travelled over 10,500 miles to Australia for a friendly. Ali will be between the sticks at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne when Oman take on Australia.

Bolton’s Chung Yong Lee is back in South Korea where Senegal will visit the Seoul World Cup Stadium for a friendly — that will be a round trip more or less equal to Al Habsi’s one–way journey to Victoria in Oz.

Ivan Klasnic does not have to travel to far for Croatia’s friendly again Qatar ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in Astana, Kazakhstan’s captial city.

Tamir Cohen probably gets the second least amount of airmiles (after Jussi) with a trip to Isreal and back to Bolton via Basel midweek for World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Switzerland.

Danny Shittu (still a Trotter) travels to the capital of Nigeria, Abuja, to take part in the World Cup qualifier against Mozambique at the National Stadium. Nigeria are also set to play Kenya on Wednesday but this yet to be confirmed.

Sweden visit Copenhagen but it is not clear if Johan Elmander will be taking part in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against group leaders Denmark or the midweek match against Albania.

Gary Cahill is not the only Wanderer to represent England at international level either. Fabrice Muamba will be playing for the England Under 21s tonight in and will be hoping to continue their unbeaten run in qualification for the 2011 UEFA Under-21 Championship against FYR Macedonia U21. Meanwhile Ricardo Vaz Te joins the Portugal U23s who take on Poland at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.

Related Articles

• International Wanderers Weekend Roundup
• Midweek International Roundup
• Chelsea 4 – 0 Bolton Wanderers

TTFF manager takes Jlloyd for a joy ride
Don’t forget to download a free ‘Kevin Davies for England‘ wallpaper for your computer or iPhone.

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League Cup, Third Round

Cheers Replace Jeers at The Reebok

• Tuesday, September 22, 2009
• Venue: The Reebok Stadium
• Attendance: 8,050
• Referee: Howard Webb

• Herita Ilunga [59]
• Kevin Davies [86]
• Extra Time
• Scott Parker [94]
• Gary Cahill [96]
• Johan Elmander [119]

With the last Saturday’s boos still ringing in Megson’s ears expectations were low, as was the attendance, but The Wanderers were not disheartened and made a livley start forcing a corner in less than a minute.

West Ham soon fought back and so the evening was set, both teams were to unleash forays deep into each others halves.

Ivan Klasnic made his first start for The Wanderers and showed that he too could squander golden opportunities. Aside from being apparently dumbfounded when given a gifted opportunity to score Klasnic played with gutsy conviction and hopefully will refine his prowess if partnered with Kevin Davies in the future. Klasnic also forced a great save by West Ham goalkeeper, Robert Green, when he headed a decent cross by Muamba goalward. Ivan certainly made an impression on the home fans as he earned enough respect for his name to be chanted for a spell. It’s still early days yet, but Davies and Klasnic could prove to be the goal-scoring partnership that Bolton boss Megson may have cunningly planned. Okay, perhaps not ‘cunningly planned’ but a fortuitous fluke.

The game as a whole was entertaining yet nerve–wracking — both teams created chances throughout the 90 minutes, it was truly a display of ‘end to end’ football. Bolton looked the more likely to score but all too often crosses into the penalty area were blocked resulting in over 20 corners.

Ten minutes into the second half there came a lull in the game, it seemed that The Wanderers were tiring.

A momentary lapse of concentration led to West Ham’s only goal from what was a terrible corner. Matthew Taylor’s attempt to clear the corner kick was somehow scuffed towards the far post, Herita Ilunga strode in to take the visitors ahead. The ‘lull’ soon passed as the relatively few fans that braved the possibility of further misery provided a chorus of chants that added to the impetus that the unfortunate goal had given the Bolton squad.

As the clock ticked down to full–time yet another Bolton corner was won and Kevin Davies swooped to nod in Matthew Taylor’s cross. Moments later Davies almost headed the ball in again but his close range effort skimmed over the crossbar. In the dying seconds of normal time West Ham fought to get ahead but were denied, mainly by the towering presence of Zat Knight. The 90 minutes were up and Kevin Davies had forced 30 minutes of extra time, all was not lost.

It must be said that Bolton Wanderers looked the better side throughout the additional 30 minutes. Kevin Davies was everso close to scoring but could only direct the ball with his chest rather than stooping low again to score. Gary Cahill struck the left post from a 25 yard free–kick and West Ham were having to defend a torrent of shots by The Wanderers. One such shot by Fabrice Muamba was blocked but the rebound set up Gary Cahill who powered the ball past his England team–mate from just outside the penalty area.

Muamba almost extended Bolton’s lead with a neat lob that caused Robert Green to stretch upwards to deflect the ball over. The England ‘keeper was certainly one of West Ham’s busiest, especially during extra time.

Although West Ham did have a few chances in extra time, few were truly threatening except for Alessandro Diamanti’s fine effort which hit the crossbar 10 minutes from the end which could have taken the game into a penalty shootout. Bolton tend to defend marginal leads but as ‘Que Sera Sera’ was sung they looked determined to increase their lead.

Their determination proved fruitful as two substitutes combined well to get Bolton’s third goal. Chung-Yong Lee, who was kept busy by pestering the Hammer’s defence, managed to whip in a superb cross that was met by a sliding Johan Elmander who duly scored his much awaited first goal of the season.

In the ‘Next Match’ panel I had written;

“Bolton will bring their League Cup hopes to an end when they take on The Hammers at The Reebok Stadium. Either that or our spirits will be lifted with a notable win.”

Fortunately, the latter statement came true and Bolton progress to the next round the draw for which takes place this Saturday (September 25, 2009). The 4th Round takes place in the last week of November.

Megson Praises Fans

“The crowd were up for it right from minute one, sang all the way through, and were right behind the team, even at one down. It certainly played a part in driving the team forward. It meant that no one hid, even when we conceded, and I still felt that we could take the win.”

The Bolton manager also mentions the frustration after Saturday’s game on the official Wanderers website — his words are almost apologetic. Almost!

Follow BWFC24 on Twitter to find out who Bolton face in the next round. You can also use your Twitter account to log–in to the BWFC24 commenting system below.

What was your opinion of the game? Did Klasnic and Lee impress? Still want Megson out? Feel free to give your opinion.

Official BWFC Website Match Report
Manager [Gary Megson] Reviews Cup Victory — “There were a huge amount of positives to take from the game…”
Official West Ham United Website Match Report

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