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Brazil, France face contrasting World Cup battles
World champions Brazil will seek to make it 16 wins out of 16 against Venezuela on Saturday and taking another step towards the increasingly lucrative World Cup finals in Germany in 2006. Brazil, top of the South American qualifying group with four wins and four draws from eight matches, have won all 15 meetings with Venezuela since their first in 1969. They have scored 70 goals and conceded just two and will expect to extend that record in the sweltering Venezuelan oil city of Maracaibo. FIFA this week announced a huge increase in bonus money for the 32 teams who battle through the next 13 months of the elimination rounds. Almost 100 qualifiers are being played in South America, CONCACAF, Africa and Europe over the next six days. The teams who make it will each receive over 10.0 million Swiss francs ($8.0 million) -- 38 per cent higher than in 2002 -- just for taking part. While Brazil, having to qualify as champions following a change in the rules in 2002, should make it through, their predecessors France are not quite as certain of their place among the elite as they once were. FRENCH TRANSITION France, World Cup winners on home soil in 1998 before becoming European champions two years later, are going through a period of transition following the international retirement of many of the players that brought them their double success. New coach Raymond Domenech urged his players this week to "turn the page" on the past and has also named an experimental midfield for their Group Four match against Ireland in Paris on Saturday. Ireland have not won any of their four matches in Paris since 1937 but the men in green are likely to give the French a very hard match on Saturday. Victory is not beyond the visitors -- especially as their 30,000 fans are likely to be more inspirational than the unusually reserved home crowd at the Stade de France. While the Irish are making the short trip to Paris, many of their English Premier League colleagues will be doing battle in an intriguing match at Old Trafford where England play Wales in the 98th full international between the old British rivals -- but their first since 1984. Wayne Rooney, who exploded on to the international scene with four goals in three games during Euro 2004, returns to the England side after injury and is one of a legion of past and present Manchester United players involved in the game. The former United men include current Wales boss Mark Hughes, who scored the winner when Wales beat England 1-0 20 years ago. ERIKSSON DEBATE A similar result will re-ignite the debate about Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson's position as England boss while kick-starting Wales' campaign after two draws in their opening Group Six games. Such is the competitive nature of the European qualifiers that only four teams who have played more than one match -- Romania, Italy, Croatia and Portugal -- have yet to drop a point. Romania will be seeking a fourth straight win in Group One but face a tough task against the Czech Republic in Prague; Italy will be looking for a third victory away to Slovenia in Group Five; Croatia will be looking for their third success against Bulgaria in Zagreb in Group Eight, while Portugal should have no problems also making it three out of three when they travel to tiny Liechtenstein for their Group Three match. Elsewhere there are full programmes of qualifiers in the African and CONCACAF zones while a full programme of Asian matches will be played next Wednesday. The one team already certain of taking part in the finals -- hosts Germany -- play a friendly in Tehran although Iranian women have been banned from attending. In a move which goes against FIFA's avowed policies of "Fair Play for All", Iranian women will be refused admission to prevent them being "harassed by raucous fans", according to an Iranian FA spokesman. The Iran FA, however, will admit German women. |
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