Time for WC qualifiers

Sep 08, 2012 - Abhishek Parameswaran

The latest round of international fixtures is upon us, with the FIFA World Cup qualifiers taking place this over Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.

England are expected to steamroll Moldova, even with a depleted attack force, as Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll, Ashley Young and Adam Johnson miss through various ailments. Ashley Cole misses out through an ankle injury, but should play on Tuesday against Ukraine. Roy Hodgson might field Steven Gerrard and Lampard together for the first time since that fateful 1-4 pummeling at the hands of Germany in the 2010 WC.
The Germans, with rising stars Marco Reus and Mario Gotze in their ranks, can look forward to an easy win against the Faroe Islands, and with dear neighbours Austria the other fixture on Tuesday, it should mean that they stand to gain maximum points.
Also a young Dutch side will look to make amends for a disappointing Euros.
The French regroup as well, with factions and major infighting leading to a spectacular implosion at the European Championships. New coach Didier Deschamps will look to a rejuvenated Abou Diaby to provide the impetus for their two matches against Finland and Belarus.

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