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Irish Independent, Ireland
June 4 2011
Advocaat must be wary of tricky Armenians
By Ruaidhri O'Connor
Saturday June 04 2011
WITH Ireland on a must-win mission to Macedonia today, there are
similar jobs in hand for Russia and Slovakia in Group B.
The trio are tied on 10 points with Giovanni Trapattoni's men sitting
pretty on top of the table and all eyes will be on St Petersburg at
4.0 as Russia are the first to take the field, welcoming the tricky
Armenians.
Any sort of slip by Dick Advocaat's men will be fuel to the respective
dressing-rooms in Bratislava and Skopje.
The Armenians are just two points behind the chasing pack and will
fancy their chances after holding the Russians to a draw in March.
Zenit midfielder Roman Shirokov misses out for the hosts, while
Advocaat also has doubts over his clubmate Aleksandr Kerzhakov, who
has knee problems.
Everton winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has warned the home side to be on
their guard.
"Armenia are a very mobile and well-organised team, they move fast
from defence to attack and their counter-attacks are always
dangerous," he said.
"They're a technically-gifted team and not easy opponents. But we're
playing at home, and we need three points."
weakest
Slovakia should have no problems dispatching of the group's weakest
link Andorra at home, with their clash kicking off more than an hour
before Ireland's.
They struggled to break the pointless Andorrans down away from home in
March, but Vladimir Weiss's men will be confident of boosting their
goal difference in Bratislava this evening.
They are without Slovakia Vladimir Weiss Jr and Marek Sapara through
injury, while Miroslav Stoch and 'keeper Jan Mucha are suspended but
they still should have enough to beat the Andorrans.
Meanwhile, Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho has been ruled out of
this evening's qualifier against Norway with a back injury, the
Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said yesterday.
The FPF said in a statement that the former Chelsea defender picked up
the injury in training earlier this week.
Portugal have had a dismal start to the campaign, but can go top of
Group H if they beat leaders Norway at the Luz Stadium tonight.
Coach Paulo Bento has engineered a remarkable turnaround, improving
the side's morale after replacing the sacked Carlos Queiroz in
September.
"It is a key opportunity to go first in the group," Bento said.
"We are under pressure, but it is a much better kind of pressure than
what we had back in October."
Iceland and Denmark face off in the group's other encounter, kicking
off just over an hour before the Portuguese clash.
- Ruaidhri O'Connor
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/advocaat-must-be-wary-of-tricky-armenians-2666242.html
June 4 2011
Advocaat must be wary of tricky Armenians
By Ruaidhri O'Connor
Saturday June 04 2011
WITH Ireland on a must-win mission to Macedonia today, there are
similar jobs in hand for Russia and Slovakia in Group B.
The trio are tied on 10 points with Giovanni Trapattoni's men sitting
pretty on top of the table and all eyes will be on St Petersburg at
4.0 as Russia are the first to take the field, welcoming the tricky
Armenians.
Any sort of slip by Dick Advocaat's men will be fuel to the respective
dressing-rooms in Bratislava and Skopje.
The Armenians are just two points behind the chasing pack and will
fancy their chances after holding the Russians to a draw in March.
Zenit midfielder Roman Shirokov misses out for the hosts, while
Advocaat also has doubts over his clubmate Aleksandr Kerzhakov, who
has knee problems.
Everton winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has warned the home side to be on
their guard.
"Armenia are a very mobile and well-organised team, they move fast
from defence to attack and their counter-attacks are always
dangerous," he said.
"They're a technically-gifted team and not easy opponents. But we're
playing at home, and we need three points."
weakest
Slovakia should have no problems dispatching of the group's weakest
link Andorra at home, with their clash kicking off more than an hour
before Ireland's.
They struggled to break the pointless Andorrans down away from home in
March, but Vladimir Weiss's men will be confident of boosting their
goal difference in Bratislava this evening.
They are without Slovakia Vladimir Weiss Jr and Marek Sapara through
injury, while Miroslav Stoch and 'keeper Jan Mucha are suspended but
they still should have enough to beat the Andorrans.
Meanwhile, Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho has been ruled out of
this evening's qualifier against Norway with a back injury, the
Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said yesterday.
The FPF said in a statement that the former Chelsea defender picked up
the injury in training earlier this week.
Portugal have had a dismal start to the campaign, but can go top of
Group H if they beat leaders Norway at the Luz Stadium tonight.
Coach Paulo Bento has engineered a remarkable turnaround, improving
the side's morale after replacing the sacked Carlos Queiroz in
September.
"It is a key opportunity to go first in the group," Bento said.
"We are under pressure, but it is a much better kind of pressure than
what we had back in October."
Iceland and Denmark face off in the group's other encounter, kicking
off just over an hour before the Portuguese clash.
- Ruaidhri O'Connor
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/advocaat-must-be-wary-of-tricky-armenians-2666242.html