Source: Eurosport
Ronaldo faces World Cup heartbreak
PARIS (AFP) - Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's most expensive footballer, faces a tense World Cup survival battle this weekend as Portugal, semi-finalists in 2006, desperately seek to prevent their 2010 campaign from suffering a humiliating derailment.[LNB]Ronaldo is one of a host of superstars who have seen their national teams splutter through qualifying while 1998 champions France are also about to face a testing back-to-back examination.[LNB]Portugal are third in Group One on nine points, trailing leaders Denmark by seven points and Hungary by four with four games left.[LNB]On Saturday, coach Carlos Queiroz, a former assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, takes his team to Copenhagen to tackle the Danes and then to Budapest next Wednesday.[LNB]Only Europe's nine group winners are assured of places in the finals; the eight best runners-up have to play-off.[LNB]"We still have every chance of qualifying. None of us wants his only experience of the World Cup to be watching it on TV," Portugal striker Hugo Almeida told www.fifa.com.[LNB]"We've dropped vital points, largely because we have a lot of new and young players in the team. We're ushering in a new generation, and the process isn't complete, but I'm certain we'll pull it off."[LNB]Denmark coach Morten Olsen admits he is surprised by his team's progress which has yielded five wins and a draw.[LNB]"I think most people would have expected Portugal to be on top at this stage, especially as they've started with more home games," said Olsen, in charge for almost a decade.[LNB]France, who welcome Romania to Paris, are second in Group Seven, five points behind Serbia but with a game in hand ahead of a testing trip to Belgrade on Wednesday.[LNB]Despite boasting the likes of Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema and Nicolas Anelka, France have managed just four goals in seven matches since last November.[LNB]Fans have made their dissatisfaction known, but coach Raymond Domenech has called for patience.[LNB]"If they boo us at the end of the match because of the result, that doesn't shock me," he said.[LNB]"If I've paid to watch the game, I thought it was rubbish, I have the right to boo. But not during the match. At the very worst, you get up and you go."[LNB]Croatia, third-place finishers at the 1998 World Cup, are seven points behind runaway Group Six leaders England, who have a perfect record of seven wins in seven outings. They face Belarus before travelling to Wembley on Wednesday to take on Fabio Capello's England, who face Slovenia in a friendly on Saturday.[LNB]In Group Five, Spain also have a perfect record of six wins in six games and are six points clear of second-placed Bosnia Herzegovina with four games to go.[LNB]A win over Belgium on Saturday coupled with a Bosnia loss at bottom side Armenia would see Spain go nine clear.[LNB]"Saturday is a big game against Belgium but we know it will be difficult because it is their last chance (to qualify) if they beat us," said experienced midfielder Marcos Senna.[LNB]Turkey, World Cup semi-finalists in 2002, are third in the group, 10 points behind Spain and four off second-placed Bosnia.[LNB]"There are 12 points still to play for and I don't think Bosnia will take all of them," said Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci.[LNB]World champions Italy lead Group Eight by one point from Ireland and have a game in hand.[LNB]Italy go to Georgia while Ireland are in Cyprus, who still harbour outside hopes of making the play-offs while, in Group Four, Russia look to cut the gap on leaders Germany to just one point with a win at home over Liechtenstein.[LNB]Holland are the only team in Europe who have already made sure of qualifying with a perfect 21 points from seven matches leaving Macedonia and Scotland, who are second and third respectively, 14 points behind, to battle for a potential play-off spot.[LNB]They meet in Glasgow on Saturday with the Scots still smarting from their recent 4-0 defeat in Norway.[LNB]Terry Butcher, who is manager George Burley's assistant and who captained England to a 1990 World Cup semi-final in Italy, says a Scotland win would be his finest moment in football.[LNB]"I'm not being flippant, but after everything we have gone through in this campaign, this means as much to me now as any game I ever played in - just as much as a World Cup semi-final."
