shiloh23

Could even make WHSmiths if you're lucky

kamini20

At least Scotdhino has a future... Hopefully, I'll make it to the top 11 sonner than later in Qatar

retired_ccropley1

Brilliant

retired_ccropley1

We are actually ranked 75th?

retired_rlkoenig16

A 9 for the 675k Di Chiara in that Sturm Graz match

retired_yolanda

Ortizinho in the 1st XI :thup:

retired_swmchick2006

World Cup Qualifying (continued)

We arrived in Qatar. Somewhat tired, somewhat nervous. It was our first visit.

That’s right, we’d never actually set foot in our new homeland until that moment.

We were guided off the jet towards a waiting car. Inside were a few more folders full of papers. Fleming and I both focused on the one marked “World Cup qualifying schedule,” but he got to it first. I chose the one marked “opposition scouting”. We began to flip through them as we drove out of the airport towards… er, wherever.

“So we’re in the 2nd stage now then, Qatar qualified out of the 1st round group,” Fleming said taking out a page. “Not a bad job by the nationals in the 1st stage.” He showed me the table:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> First Round Group 7os Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts-------------------1st Q Qatar 6 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 0 3 1 11 -------------------2nd Oman 6 2 1 0 5 2 0 2 1 0 1 9 3rd Singapore 6 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 2 3 6 7 4th Philippines 6 1 1 1 3 2 0 1 2 1 4 5 </pre>

“And now our group is with Iran, Kuwait, U.A.E., and Nepal.” Another table:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Second Round Group 1Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------1st Iran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --------------------------2nd Kuwait 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --------------------------3rd Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th Qatar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th U.A.E. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 </pre>

I nodded, flipping through my folder to the page I had just seen. “Iran is the big challenge according to this. Quite a few quality players and several good results over the years. The others don’t seem very highly regarded… though this page says ‘playing in Nepal poses significant athletic challenges.’”

“The other group is China, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. It looks like the winners of either group advance directly to the finals, while the runners-up have to play each other and then play against… um, a European team. That seems odd.”

I just shrugged. “Who knows? China and Saudi Arabia have to be the favorite there, going by these reports.”

Fleming suddenly went ashen white. He turned to me and coughed out, “Max… what day is today?”

“August 17th… why?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.” He handed over a sheet of paper:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ============================= 2001 Fixtures=============================Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers--------------------------------30.4.01 Philippines H World Cup Quals (ASI) 1st Rnd 0:0 25980 4.5.01 Singapore A World Cup Quals (ASI) 1st Rnd 1:0 8346 Al-Khlaiwi7.5.01 Oman H World Cup Quals (ASI) 1st Rnd 1:0 39974 Al-Shahrani11.5.01 Philippines A World Cup Quals (ASI) 1st Rnd 1:0 10528 Madani18.5.01 Singapore H World Cup Quals (ASI) 1st Rnd 1:2 32396 Madani25.5.01 Oman A World Cup Quals (ASI) 1st Rnd 1:1 24609 Al-Khlaiwi17.8.01 U.A.E. A World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 31.8.01 Iran H World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 7.9.01 Kuwait A World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 14.9.01 Nepal H World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 21.9.01 U.A.E. H World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 5.10.01 Iran A World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 12.10.01 Kuwait H World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- 19.10.01 Nepal A World Cup Quals (ASI) 2nd Rnd --- ----- </pre>

“Oh… bugger,” I said. “Um, driver, what country is this?”

“This is the United Arab Emirates,” the driver said over his shoulder.

The rest of the all too brief ride was spent in our rapidly scouring the papers for any reasonable info about the U.A.E. side we would be facing in, oh, about an hour.

We arrived at the stadium, already getting very full (the “Zayed Sports City” stadium, I was to later learn, capacity of over 40000), were shuffled into the changing rooms, and found ourselves facing an assembled assortment of motley players from all around the world. There were about 25 or so. One of our pinstriped handlers gave me a list:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Al Begami, Mohammed Sheli D C QAT 13.4.80 21 6 - £300 10.2.06 £40K - Al Beshry, Hussein D R QAT 2.12.81 19 1 - £900 17.2.04 £14K - Al Dosari, Sami M C QAT 27.10.74 26 4 - £500 14.2.02 £30K - Al Shopaky, Omer Saleh M RC QAT 15.9.72 28 5 - £300 18.2.03 £45K - Al Traifi, Fuad Anwar D R QAT 9.9.73 27 3 - £850 2.2.07 £14K - Al-Dosary, Mohina GK QAT 21.9.83 17 - - £500 17.12.05 £400K - Al-Jehani, Ahmed Doukhi AM L QAT 20.4.81 20 - - £500 17.2.05 £12K - Al-Owairan, Khalid AM L QAT 10.8.76 25 - - £500 5.2.03 £12K - Di Chiara, Alessandro SW/D C ITA 4.5.83 18 - - £525 7.2.05 £675K - Fernandes, Henrique GK POR 19.3.83 18 - - £90 9.6.05 £45K - Gigi Papa F C GRE 4.4.85 16 - - £140 14.6.05 £325K - Golubev, Vadim DM/F C RUS 4.9.83 17 - - £575 12.6.05 £700K - Heald, Jim GK ENG 20.2.84 17 - - £675 18.6.05 £450K - Kerkhof, Frank DM LC HOL 7.5.83 18 - - £65 7.6.04 £20K - Landström, Tony M RLC SWE 5.10.84 16 - - £150 9.6.05 £160K - Lucas, David S C FRA 7.9.84 16 - - £375 10.6.05 £700K - Madani, Ahmed Doukhi S C QAT 22.11.76 24 8 3 £4.3K 16.2.07 £350K - Max Power S C GER 19.4.84 17 - - £150 22.6.04 £95K - Milito, Walter AM RL ARG 4.9.83 17 - - - - Free - Ortiz, Jon D RLC ESP 9.8.85 16 - - £190 10.6.05 £65K - Fernandez, Carlos AM RLC MEX 17.9.84 16 - - - - Free - Vergeylen, Patrick D RL BEL 25.11.83 17 - - £525 13.6.05 £550K- Watkins, Rob D LC USA 20.9.83 17 - - - - Free - Watson, David D RC SCO 10.8.85 16 - - £120 12.6.05 £55K - Xenao DM RC BRA 9.1.83 18 - - £70 2.6.04 £45K </pre>

There was an awkward silence. The Qatari nationals looked generally displeased, though there were handful that had amused expressions. The youngsters looked generally a bit nervous, though mainly a bit confused.

Scattered around the room were a handful of what appeared to be, only naturally, translators. We had our own lurking over our shoulder.

I coughed, “Right. Um…” I dug the diagram of the formation out of my pocket and tried to straighten and flatten it out into some reasonable shape, “here’s how where going to be playing.” I looked around the room for something to attach it too, found a suitable spot, and put it up.

It was at this point that a man covered in dust from head to foot, with a greasy streak from his navel to his left ankle walked into the room. “Sorry, I’m late,” he said. “I’ll just wash up and get changed.”

“Who the… what the devil....” I spluttered.

Fleming just shook his head. “That’s Watkins… and I really1 don’t think we want to know.”

“Right.” I said. I wrote Watkins on the diagram over the question mark. I read off the names and told them their positions and asked, “Any questions?” The translators jabbered at their respective players.

One of the players at the end of the room raised his hand, spoke a few words, and then his translator said, “What about him?”

I looked at the player. “Is that Golubev?” I muttered to Fleming.

He nodded, “I think so.”

“Right. Ah, you are on the bench, as well as Lucas, Vergeylen, and um…” I gestured around the room, “the rest of you. Any other questions?”

Another hand. Another translator, “Any tactical instructions for the players?”

“Uh… what would you like?” I ventured.

A few laughs, and then the translators spoke, and then there were a few more. Guess that went over well.

“Nice job,” said Fleming with a roll of his eyes.

“Kick-off in 15 minutes,” a voice announced from somewhere.

Both Fleming and I just replied with a four-letter word.

retired_swmchick2006

World Cup Qualifying (continued

U.A.E. vs Qatar

I chewed on my nails. Fleming crossed his arms and tried to not to look concerned.

The players on the pitch, and on the bench look a little more relaxed.

The whistle blew.

"This is the first game I've ever watched in person," Fleming said.

With my teeth nibbling a bit of nail on my little finger, I just grunted a yes.

About 5 minutes in, and my nerves settled a bit. "We look pretty good," I said.

Fleming just grinned. Ortiz passed the ball up to Milito who headed the ball into path of Gigi Papa. The striker half-volleyed the ball with power and direction... but the U.A.E. keeper streched well to push the ball wide.

"Well," I said.

From the ensuing corner, the U.A.E. defense had to scramble to prevent the striker from getting on the end of a Landstrom pass.

"Hunh," said Fleming.

Things were looking promising. Fernandez took a player on, went past him, then played a nifty give and go with Max Power. The midfielder hit a hard shot towards the upper corner, but it hit the bar and went out of play.

Fleming and I were on our feet with the rest of the bench.

"That was close," Fleming and I both said.

U.A.E.'s Madani attempted a flamboyant over-the-head bicycle kick after a chip into the area, but it flew well over the goal.

In the 23rd a scramble of players in the box, and somehow the ball popped loose. Fernandez got to it first, turned, and fired home a shot into the wide open net. The U.A.E. keeper was no-where to be seen.

We jumped up and shouted, as the player's celebrated. Fernandez just ran around wildly in the middle of the field until di Chiara grabbed him and flung him into the air.

"Now that was unexpected!" shouted Fleming.

"And fast too!" I yelled.

"Speedy, even," He yelled back. "Speedy... Speedy Fernandez!"

When the player's had finally settled down, the game did too.... lots of movement, but little action worth noting. When the assistant referee raised his little board with the number 4 on it ("4 what?" Fleming and I asked), it looked like halftime was nearly upon us.

From a throw-in from Watson, Landstrom turned with the ball and ran at the U.A.E. defense. His ball across the area didn't look very dangerous until Max Power appeared out of nowhere, unmarked, and the German ripped a low shot past the U.A.E. keeper. Power ran to the corner flag, pointed at himself, and flexed his arms.

"Yes!" we shouted.

U.A.E. came out from the restart looking for a goal, but their striker put a shot wide, just before the whistle blew.

After a brief half-time break ("Now what?" asked Fleming), we were back on the side of the field. "Golubev," I said, "are you ready to go on for Power?"

He did. I hadn't meant right then, but oh well.

Milito forced a good save from the U.A.E. keeper just after we restarted, but about 10 minutes in and Madani scored for U.A.E. to make the score 2-1 in our favor.

Milito, again with a header, forced another good save after being set up by Xenao. ("I'm surprised they even pass to one another," said Fleming with a smirk.)

Xenao forced a save himself a few minutes later, thanks to a Watkins cross.

I was starting to get nervous again, we had started well, but U.A.E. looked like scoring at anytime. The Qatar defense went missing at about the hour mark and Al-Muwallid hit the bar with a full volley for U.A.E.

"Uh-oh," remarked Fleming. I tried to ignore him.

Gigi Papa had a header that looked goalbound, until it drifted wide, and after Fleming suggested I go ahead and put Lucas in, I did.

Golubev hit a shot after the substitution, but well wide. Then Lucas jumped well to head a ball, but over the bar.

I had my fingers crossed, Fleming was glancing at his watch every two seconds, "hurry-up, hurry-up," he kept saying.

Finally... the whistle blew. We had just negotiated our way to a 2-1 win.

shiloh23

Brilliant stuff attjen keep it up. Speedy Fernandez!! \o/

retired_k923

Woo! Assist!