South Korea 2 – 0 Senegal

Bolton’s Lee Chong–yong assisted Ki Sung-yong in getting on the score sheet in the friendly against Senegal in Seoul. Celtic’s Sung–yong took South Korea ahead with a shot from 20 metres a few minutes before half–time. Oh Beom-seok scored the second goal in the 80th minute.

South Korea have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup and this friendly extends their unbeaten record to 26 games.

Australia 1 – 0 Oman

Oman failed to continue with their unbeaten qualification campaign for the 2011 Asian Cup. The Socceroos went ahead in the 75th courtesy of Everton’s Tim Cahill to give Australia their first win in the qualifying rounds of the Asian Cup.

Apart from the single goal Bolton’s Ali Al–Habsi and his defence fought well to put a stop to the Soccoroos’ advances and Oman ruled the first half which led to Oman’s coach, Claude Le Roy, to comment:

“I’m very disappointed, but this team of Oman, we know we aren’t the best team in the world, but this team has a fantastic spirit, with very loyal people.”

Oman and Australia meet again next month at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Muscat, Oman. It may be a crucial game as both teams are on 4 points in Group B of the Asian Cup qualification the finals of which are to be held in Qatar in 2011.

Kazakhstan 1 – 2 Croatia

BWFC’s Ivan Klasnic came close to scoring at least three times before he was substituted after 75 minutes. One shot just over the bar, one that tested Kazakhstan’s goalkeeper, Mokin and one that tested the strength of the crossbar. Despite their win Croatia needed Andorra to beat Ukraine to qualify for the 2010 World Cup via the play–offs — a tall order indeed. Sadly Andorra were unable to do Croatia a huge favour and were beaten 6–0 by Ukraine.

Germany 1 – 1 Finland

Bolton’s first choice goalkeeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen was obviously angered by Germany’s late equaliser. Finland did well to be winning early in the match but the 90th minute equaliser spoiled what could have been an consolatory win for Finland who already knew that they had no chance of World Cup qualification.

Jussi Jaaskelainen vents anger at Referee.

Switzerland 0 – 0 Israel

Tamir Cohen took part in Israel’s final qualification match. Israel went down to 10 men after an hour but still managed to hang on for a scoreless draw. Even if Israel had won their hopes of reaching their first World Cup finals would have been dashed by Greece who narrowly beat Luxembourg 2–1.

Sweden 4 – 1 Albania

Johan Elmander was substituted after just 35 minutes of play which suggests that he has picked up another injury. Despite their convincing win Sweden failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

England 3 – 0 Belarus

Bolton’s Gary Cahill wasn’t used again. Enough said!

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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.)

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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.

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TTFF manager takes Jlloyd for a joy ride
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Gary Cahill has joined the England squad for training ahead of the contentious yet historic game against Ukraine at the Dnipro Stadium tomorrow (Saturday, October 10, 2009).

He told the official BWFC website;

“It’s great to be training alongside players of that calibre, especially with me being a few years behind the centre-backs at the moment. They’ve achieved things you want to achieve in your own career and that spurs you on as well.

“You can always learn off good players. I’ve still got things to learn, and to learn off players like that who have been there and done it, is only going to bring my game on. That is why I like coming away with England.

“I was thrilled to get the call-up and to work with these guys can only help me.”

From Villa to England, Via Bolton

Talking to The Guardian Gary Cahill says that Aston Villa manager, Martin O’Neill made a mistake in letting him leave for Bolton Wanderers.

“It was a shame I had to move. If I’d bided my time a bit longer, then maybe I’d have got my chance. He never forced me out of the door. I spoke to him a few times and, at that time, he couldn’t guarantee me a place week in and week out. I can’t do anything sat on the bench and we agreed it was best for me to be playing more regularly. I’ve improved a lot from my days at Villa and that’s through playing. It could have backfired but it’s turned out to be a good decision. It’s worked out well for my career.”

At the end of the article (link below) Cahill concludes;

“…at the moment, I am enjoying my time at Bolton and still have plenty to learn.”

Gary Cahill will be with the England squad in Dnipropetrovsk for the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine and back in England for Wednesday’s fixture against Belarus at Wembley Stadium in the southern village of London.

Incidently, the price to watch England versus Ukraine online went up to £9.99 yesterday and will rise again tomorrow to £11.99. Watch for ‘free’ on bet365.com — terms and conditions apply.

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The Official Bolton Wanderers Website

Photograph: Carl De Souza

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Samuel was due to join the Soca Warriors when they play El Salvador tomorrow (August 12) at the Hasley Crawford Stadium in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s capital Pot of Spain. However he is expected to join the squad in their struggle to qualify in the last 4 matches that take place in September and October.

Good luck Soca Warriors!

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