12 października 2005
Serbia and Montenegro v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina is to play Serbia and Montenegro in a FIFA World Cup qualifier today.Who was the sick bastard at UEFA who put them into the same group? Is he related to the Asian Confederation official who had Iraq and Iran face each other in qualification back in 2001?
This is the first time Bosnia-Herzegovina has played in Belgrade, although the Serbia and Montenegro side played in Sarajevo in the first leg of the qualifier. It ended in a 0-0 draw with plenty of heated words, two yellow cards, but no fan violence whatsoever.
Serbia and Montenegro needs a win or a tie to secure first place in their group and punch their ticket to Germany. Bosnia-Herzegovina needs a win just to have a chance to get in. Wow, no pressure there.
The qualifying group includes Spain, which is in second place behind Serbia and Montenegro, Belgium and basketball powerhouse Lithuania. Basketball prowess doesn't translate into decent soccer, unless you are Jay Heaps.
San Marino, yes, San Marino, rounds out the group. They have failed to win or tie a single one of their nine matches, and have scored a grand total of two goals. They lost one match to Spain by a whopping ten goals.
I saw Serbia and Montenegro play a match in 2001. They were still Yugoslavia then, and the stadium was still called Bank One Ballpark. Anyhow, they embarassed Mexico 2-0. Mexico was struggling in their qualifiers that year and later fired their coach.
I attended that game with Gabby Giffords. Not to drop names or anything.
I'm going to start my own international cup tournament featuring only teams with the word "and" in their names. Serbia and Montenegro, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and maybe we'll throw in Rushden and Diamonds for good measure.
Do zobaczenia. Hasta la proxima.
