International Fulham, October Edition

[CanadianCottager]

Well, satisfied to have a taken a win into the international break, could be fun this week to watch Fulham players playing a different style of football, not to mention the prospects of a handful of players of making the World Cup this summer.
Here's a list of the players called up to their national sides and their fixtures (btw, please let me know if I leave anyone out, especially the u21 circuit as its hard to find information on them)

Phillipe Senderos and Patjim Kasami (Switzerland): @ Albania Oct. 11, vs. Slovenia Oct. 15
Switzerland are currently topping their group with 18 points, a win in either of their matches will guarantee them a spot in Brazil while a single point will ensure they make at least the playoff draw.

Brede Hangeland (Norway): @ Slovenia Oct. 11, vs. Iceland Oct. 15
Lower down the table are Norway, with 11 points and in fourth place. They can only aspire to a playoff spot and will face off against both of the teams they will need to overtake to survive elimination, provided of course that last place Cyprus can do them the favour of not losing away to Iceland on October 11.

Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica): @ Honduras Oct. 11, vs. Mexico Oct. 15
Ruiz and Costa Rica are already through to World Cup, but could go some way to impeding former cottager Carlos Salcido and Mexico to making Brazil with a win in their final home match

Alexander Kacaniklic (Sweden): vs. Austria Oct. 11, vs. Germany Oct. 15
Sitting in second in their group with 17 points, 2 points or a win against Austria will be enough to see Sweden into the playoff draw ahead of their pursuers, but only an Irish miracle in Cologne will give them any chance of overtaking 1st place Germany on 22 points.

Giorgos Karagounis (Greece): vs. Slovakia Oct. 11, vs. Liechenstein Oct. 15
Assured of second place minimum, Greece will need to outperform Bosnia or match them while making up the 15 goal difference that separate them in the next two matches to qualify directly to Brazil.

Aaron Hughes (Northern Ireland): @Azerbaijan Oct. 11, @ Israel Oct. 15
Mathematically eliminated from the World Cup, Northern Ireland (featuring Steven Davis and Chris Baird) will have the chance to play spoiler to Israel's dreams, who need two wins to escape elimination.

Adel Taarabt (Morocco): vs. South Africa Oct. 11
Having been eliminated in September from qualifying by Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco has finally allowed Adel Taarabt back into the national team set up after having dropped him following an outburst earlier this year. He will join the national side for a friendly against a South Africa side featuring Kagisho Dikgacoi fresh off the shock of having been eliminated by Ethiopia.

Elsad Zverotic (Montenegro): @ England Oct. 11, vs. Moldova Oct. 15
Zverotic and Montenegro are still in it with a fight in the nail bitingly tight Group H of UEFA qualification. In third place at the moment with 15 points (1 behind England and tied with Ukraine, -8 GD to the worse), Montenegro needs either England or Ukraine to slip up while staying ahead of Poland to survive UEFA's most wide-open group.

Ashkan Dejagah (Iran): vs. Thailand Oct. 15
Having already qualified for the World Cup, Iran (with former Fulham midfielder Andranik Teymourian) now focuses their attentions on qualifying for the 2015 edition of the Asian Cup, receiving Thailand in a match where they should extend their impressive unbeaten run this year.

Fernando Amorebieta (Venezuela): vs. Paraguay Oct. 11
Amorebieta and Venezuela will be praying for a shot at the playoff with Jordan in November, needing a fortuitous series of events to get there. Sitting in sixth place with 19 points (-6 GD) and only their home game to Paraguay left to play, Venezuela need one of Ecuador or Uruguay (22 points, +4 and 0 GD) to lose both of their remaining games as well as to beat them on goal difference to survive elimination.

Neil Etheridge (Phillipines): vs. Chinese Taipei Oct. 11, vs. Pakistan Oct. 15
Etheridge has been called in to represent the Azkals as they prepare for next year's AFC Challenge cup with two home matches against Chinese Taipei and Pakistan. FFC old boy Zesh Rehman will likely make an appearance for the latter.

The Cottage will also feature this international break, as the British crown has called in their colonial subject in Canada and Australia to amuse them with a friendly match on October 15 (8 pm local time).

Squads are to be found here, with former cottager Mark Schwarzer the notable exclusion from the Socceroos.

Australia: http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/socceroos-squad-named-for-france-and-canada/75643

Canada: http://www.canadasoccer.com/canada-announces-roster-for-australia-friendly-p155262

[cmg]

Useful summary, thanks.

UEFA u21 qualifying matches occur during the break. The following Fulham players hane been named in their national squads:

Liam Donnelly - NIreland v Belgium and Serbia

Lasse Vigen Christensen - Denmark v Slovenia, Russia

Jack Grimmer - Scotland v Slovakia, Georgia

Pajtim Kasami - Switzerland v Croatia

[HatterDon]

thanks, you guys. CC, that was a very well written summary

[cmg]

I missed our very fine u21 keeper, Jesse Joronen, who is in the Finland squad.

Omri Altman is in the Israel squad, although there seems to be some doubt as to his status with us. I understood he was on loan in Tel Aviv, but it seems it may be a permanent arrangement.

I notice that Connor Roberts (now with Cheltenham) is in the Wales squad. His sudden appearance for us in the closing stages of the PL u18 trophy two years ago remains a mystery for me.

[CanadianCottager]

Thanks for the assist cmg, and as far as I can tell Omri Altman still belongs to Fulham, while Kasami got bumped up to the senior squad for the next two matches

Cheers HatterDon, high praise coming from your neck of the woods!

[CanadianCottager]

Tomorrow's schedule of matches, all times GMT:
Phillippines (Etheridge) vs. Chinese Taipei 11 AM
Azerbaijan vs. Northern Ireland (Hughes) 5 PM
Morocco (Taarabt) vs. South Africa 7 PM
Albania vs. Switzerland (Kasami, Senderos) 7:30 PM
Slovenia vs. Norway (Hangeland); Sweden (Kacaniklic) vs. Austria; Greece (Karagounis) vs. Slovakia  7:45 PM
England vs. Montenegro (Zverotic) 8 PM
Honduras vs. Costa Rica (Bryan); Venezuela (Amorebieta) vs. Paraguay 10 PM

Obviously won't be able to watch all these games myself so please feel free to post on how our players play for their national sides tomorrow if your going to be watching the games

[cmg]

Update on the UEFA u-19 qualifiers

Plenty of Fulham interest in the Rep of Ireland v Sweden match. Noe Baba started and Dean O'Halloran came on just after h/t for Ireland. Maumer Tankovic had several chances for Sweden before a long range shot settled matters for Ireland. Tankovic had previously netted a hat-trick in the match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Cameron Burgess started for the Scotland v. Latvia draw and was on the bench for the victory over Belarus.

[CanadianCottager]

Thanks for the U21 info cmg.

A bit late but here's a summary of Friday's matches:

Phillipines 1 - Chinese Taipei 2
Neil Etheridge played the full 90 minutes as the Azkals fell 2-1 to the visitors.

Azerbaijan 2 - Northern Ireland 0
Aaron Hughes didn't make the matchday squad for Northern Ireland.

Morocco 1 - South Africa 1
Adel Taarabt came on at half time (0-1) and carved out a nice chance for himself that he failed to take on 74 minutes.

Albania 1 - Switzerland 2
Kasami and Senderos watched from the bench as Switzerland booked their ticket to Brazil.

Slovenia 3 - Norway 0
Hangeland captained Norway for 90 minutes as Novakovic put a poor Norwegian backline to the sword with a hattrick to eliminate Norway from the World Cup.

Sweden 2 - Austria 1
Kacaniklic played all 90 minutes as Sweden advanced to the playoff round.

Greece 1 - Slovakia 0
Karagounis helped Greece run down the clock after coming on in the 76th minute vs. Slovakia, but the real talking point was the shocking own goal that gave Greece the win. Greece keep pace with Bosnia and can go to the World Cup if they score more points than Bosnia in their respective final matches.
Ελλάδα - Σλοβακία 1-0 Greece vs Slovakia 1-0 Skrtel Own Goal {11/10/2013}

England 4 - Montenegro 1
Zverotic was discrete throughout most of his 90 minute shift in Wembley. Montenegro now need San Marino to beat Ukraine to have any chance at all of going to Brazil.

Honduras 1- Costa Rica 0
Bryan was well-neutralised by Honduras and handed off the captains armband on the hour mark when he was subbed off with the score 0-0.

Venezuela 1 - Paraguay 1
Amorebieta played all 90 minutes as Venezuela were eliminated from the World Cup after failing to finish their chances against Paraguay.



The schedule for tomorrow is as follows:
Philippines (Etheridge) vs. Pakistan 11 AM

Iran (Dejagah) vs. Thailand 3:30 PM
Israel vs.  Northern Ireland (Hughes); Greece (Karagounis) vs. Liechenstein 6 PM

Switzerland (Kasami, Senderos) vs. Slovenia; Norway (Hangeland) vs. Iceland 7 PM

Sweden (Kacaniklic) vs. Germany 7:45 PM

Montenegro (Zverotic) vs. Moldova 8 PM

Costa Rica (Bryan) vs. Mexico 2:30 AM (Wednesday Morning)

[fulhamben]

do we think the iran game will be on telly. will be good to see ashkan again

[CanadianCottager]

do we think the iran game will be on telly. will be good to see ashkan again

Will likely have to find a stream, it's not a world cup qualifier so I'd imagine with all the other matches on feature tomorrow it won't be broadcast many places outside of Asia

[CanadianCottager]

Some goals to bring you from today's matches, only Bryan and Costa Rica have yet to play

Philippines 3 - Pakistan 1
Etheridge played the full 90 for the victorious hosts.

Iran 2 - Thailand 1
A rusty Dejagah lasted 66 minutes on the field until giving way at 0-0 for the more effective Ansari Fard on 66 minutes, who would be an important catalyst in Iran's victory.

Israel 1 - Northern Ireland 1
Hughes was once more absent in what amounted to a dead rubber between two eliminated sides.

Greece 2 - Liechenstein 0
Karagounis captained the 2004 Euro Champions for all 90 minutes and scored his side's second on 81 minutes with an absolute peach of a free-kick from all of 25 yards out, but will be disappointed as Bosnia and Herzegovina's victory in Lithuania sent his side to a playoff spot.
Griechenland vs Liechtenstein 2-0 - 81 Min - Goal Karagounis 15/10/13

Switzerland 1 - Slovenia 0
Senderos played the full match and Kasami came on after 71 minutes for his full debut with the score 0-0 for the already qualified Switzerland.

Norway 1 - Iceland 1
Hangeland captained the eliminated Norway for the whole match as Iceland secured a playoff spot.

Sweden 3 - Germany 5
Kacaniklic started and scored Sweden's second on 41 minutes and came off at 73 as Germany overcame Sweden in a 5-3 classic featuring a spectacular hattrick for Schurrle and a brace for Hysen.
Suecia Vs Alemania 3-5, Elim. Brasil 2014

Montenegro 2 - Moldova 5
Zverotic started for Montenegro and played 90 minutes as the hosts were stunned by Moldova in what amounted to a dead rubber thanks to Ukraine's convincing rout of San Marino

Meanwhile, at the cottage, Australia convincingly thumped a lifeless Canada 3-0, meaning Canada has only scored 1 goal in 11 matches since being eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers last October.

[CanadianCottager]

Costa Rica 2 - Mexico 1
Bryan opened the scoring for Costa Rica on 24th minutes, but came off injured on 47 minutes as Costa Rica almost left Mexico out of the world cup, were it not for an incredible last minute comeback by the USA in Panama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7BqwXGC0AlE

[Deanothefulhamfan]

Thanks for the updates.... Always nice to see how our bous are doing on International duty

[Big Martin Jol]

Nice to see Kacaniklic score against Germany, hopefully he can work his way back into our side.