Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: World Cup 2010 Qualifying on Oct. 11

Another day of World Cup 2010 qualifying, and the action will continue next Wednesday, October 15th. I hope everyone's country faired well in their group match. Now, we'll do a thumbs up, thumbs down for those that impressed, and those that didn't.

Again, I won't go into all of the matches like Denmark hosting Malta. Victory for Denmark was expected there.

Thumbs Up

Anything short of victory would have crushed Switzerland supporters after losing to Luxembourg last month. A 1-1 tie with Latvia and it looked like as if another disappointing result was in the makings. However, Blaise N'kufo headed in a free-kick a minute after Latvia had tied the game to grab three much needed points.

I finally get to cheer about my team's performance in qualifying. Poland defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 at home, in a battle between two teams expected to lead Group Three. Jakub Blaszczykowski maneuvered past three Czech players to set up the first goal, and then fired home the winner with a smooth chip shot over Petr Cech.

Just because a team is expected to top the group doesn't mean it will happen. Slovenia scored two goals in the span of a minute to crush Northern Ireland's hopes late in the match. With two wins, and a tie, they currently sit atop Group Three alongside Poland.

Injuries aside, Russia put up a strong performance in Germany. They gave the Germans all they could handle, but fell short in the end, losing 2-1. Had the likes of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Dimitri Torbinsky been on the pitch for the Russians, it might have been a different outcome.

You can never count these fellas out of any match. Turkey erased a 1-0 deficit and struck twice in the second half from set pieces, defeating a spirited Bosnia-Herzegovina side.

No defeats in 26 matches for Spain. The Spaniards kept their 100 percent record intact with a 3-0 win in Estonia. Juanito, David Villa, and Carlos Puyol did the honours in this one. Four goals in three matches for David Villa as he continues to show his class.

After suggesting that countries should have points deducted for rascist fans, Rio Ferdinand opened the scoring in Wembley against Kazakhstan. He got on to the end of a Frank Lampard corner-kick and headed it home at the far post.

What a strike that was by Yoann Gourcuff. His bullet of a shot rattled off the crossbar before going in and earned France a 2-2 tie in Romania. Is Raymond Domenech safe for a few more days?

Serbia made sure that Lithuania wouldn't win a third straight shocker. Following wins against Romania, and Austria, the Lithuanians had little to offer against the Serbs. Nikola Zigic missed a spot-kick in the second half, but made amends with an 82nd minute header to give Serbia three goals and three points.

It was a touch of class indeed, when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar struck a hard low shot from the left to give Holland a 2-0 lead against Iceland. With Ruud Van Nistelrooy's international retirement, Huntelaar may be the next big thing up front for the Dutch.

Thumbs Down

Three matches, three scoreless sheets for David Healy. He came out of nowhere in Euro 2008 qualifying with 13 goals to lead all players. Now that he's no longer Northern Ireland's secret weapon, defenders are keeping a better eye on him.

When Ashley Cole sent a lob pass right to the path of Zhambyl Kukeyev for an easy finish, he didn't hear the end of it from the English fans. The goal cut England's lead to 2-1, but they would restore cheers with three more goals in the late stages of the match.

Romania looked ready to destroy France scoring two goals less than twenty minutes in. To the credit of Les Bleus, they came back to secure a point. All that remains for the Romanians is what could have been.

One has to wonder if Austria's opening match win against France was a fluke. Since that first match, they have lost to Lithuania, and tied the Faroe Islands yesterday. It was the first competitive point earned by the Faroes in three years.

Despite the easy group, Italy were held to a 0-0 draw in Bulgaria. Yes, the Bulgarians do have Martin Petrov and Dimitar Berbatov, but the Italians have how many quality players?

Are you kidding me? How on earth did Chris Iwelumo miss the open net from about three yards out? I think it's safe to say any one of Bleacher Report's writers could have put that ball into the back of the net.

Missed opportunities were the big story for Sweden in their match with Portugal. Johan Elmander missed not one, not two, but three great chances in the first half that could have given the Swede's an even better victory than Denmark's last month.

The wheels may be falling off for Croatia. Among the troubles are the 4-1 loss to England the previous match, Luka Modric struggling in the EPL, and now a scoreless draw in Ukraine. The Croatians sit in third place in Group Six.

I hope everyone enjoyed the third edition of thumbs up, thumbs down for World Cup 2010 qualifying. I'll return with another piece next Wednesday.