Who Is Hot and Who Is Not in World Football After Weekend of Nov. 13-16
International week has once more brought with it a share of impressive performers and severe underachievers, with some surprising results, some exciting Euro 2016 qualifying groups and a handful of high-scoring victories thrown into the mix.
Here we take our usual look at the game over the elongated weekend and select the best and worst to give you our "Hot or Not" feature.
Enjoy our selections and feel free to add your own below.
Hot: The Minnows
1 of 8
San Marino.
Liechtenstein.
The Faroe Islands.
What do they all have in common? Well, aside from being teams you want your nation to be paired with in every draw, they are all the perceived minnows of the European game...and avoided defeat this week.
San Marino drew 0-0 at home to Estonia, Liechtenstein won 1-0 away from home against Moldova and the Faroe Islands managed the biggest upset of all, beating Greece—winners of the Euros 10 years ago—away from home by 1-0.
In addition, Albania drew with France, Malta drew with Bulgaria and Estonia beat Norway as the gap continues to creep closer in international football.
Not: Claudio Ranieri and Greece
2 of 8
That Faroe Islands win naturally means we have an obvious candidate for our first decidedly not hot selection: Claudio Ranieri.
The Italian was the boss of Greece heading into the international break, but he is not coming out of it; he was sacked immediately following the loss to the 187th-ranked side. Greece remain bottom of Group F with just one point after four games. The Faroes have three, while Northern Ireland, in second, have nine.
Not all the blame here is falling on Ranieri though; he might have got the sack, but a hefty portion of our "Not" vote is reserved for the players, who have no excuse for losing to a nation such as the Faroes.
Hot: Domagoj Vida
3 of 8
Italy and Croatia played out an incident-filled game in Milan in Group H on Sunday night, with the final scoreline of 1-1 not really reflecting the true nature of the game.
Croatia were by far the better team, both going forward and in defence, where Domagoj Vida was the pick of the bunch, as he bullied Italy's forwards into submission for most of the match, threw himself in front of shots and kept his team on the front foot.
There were a number of other big performers for the away side, but Vida deserves note for his display.
Not: Ivelin Popov
4 of 8
Remember that quick note about Malta drawing with Bulgaria back in the "Minnows" slide? Well, a fair part of that is down to Ivelin Popov, the Bulgaria captain, top scorer in the modern squad and starting No. 9.
Popov stepped up to take a penalty with just 15 minutes left to play but failed to find the back of the net. His "top scorer in the squad" tag is courtesy of his eight goals in almost 50 appearances for his country, which is not exactly prolific.
Popov's missed spot-kick was the best chance for Bulgaria to record a much-needed victory in Group H, and the draw leaves them in fourth, five points adrift of the all-important third place.
Hot: Andriy Yarmolenko
5 of 8
Ukraine have recovered from defeat in their opening match to record three successive victories in Group C, moving up to third with a 3-0 win away in Luxembourg this weekend and level on points with Spain in second.
Andriy Yarmolenko was the hero this time, netting a hat-trick to take all the acclaim and plaudits.
A high shot after a corner, a curling effort from the edge of the box and a solo dribble and finish from 20 yards gave the in-form wide man his treble.
Not: Fabio Capello
6 of 8
It seems as though Fabio Capello ends up with his name on a "Not" slide every time international week rolls around.
The Russia boss just cannot get his team performing, cannot seem to grasp the need to change his setup or team selections and most of all cannot get the wins on board.
A 1-0 defeat to Austria leaves Russia in third, above Montenegro on goal difference alone and already five points behind the leaders. Their only victory in four qualifiers has come against Liechtenstein, and if they keep this up, Russia will be warming up for a World Cup on home soil by watching how the successful sides do things at Euro 2016 from the comfort of their own homes.
Hot: Nicklas Bendtner
7 of 8
The Nicklas Bendtner story continues at international level. Bendtner hit goals 25 and 26 with Denmark this weekend, with his brace against Serbia helping his team come from behind to take the three points and stay top of Group I.
It's likely to be an extremely tight group, meaning victory was imperative for the Danes—especially with Portugal finding form and Albania looking a tough opponent.
Denmark have seven points from their four qualifiers so far.
Hot: Shaun Maloney
8 of 8
We finish up with another "Hot" option: Shaun Maloney, who scored the winning goal for Scotland against close rivals Ireland in the extremely exciting Group D.
The late winner, a great curled effort after a set-piece routine, moved Scotland above Ireland and into third, level on seven points with Germany and three behind Poland, who are out in front on 10. There is such little margin for error in this group; with four candidates for qualification, every point won or lost could prove pivotal.
Maloney was the man this time for Scotland, and his goal keeps things very interesting.
.jpg?w=600 "Burrow's IG Story Before Trade 🧐")
.jpg?w=600 "Coached Stunned by Lawrence Trade")
.jpg?w=600 "Lawrence 'Jacked' About Trade")