Review 2004
September: Asian U-17s in action as Kenya plan ahead
From: FIFA
September was a month of transition between the Olympic tournament in August
and the FIFA Women's Under-19 World Championship Thailand and the FIFA Futsal
World Championship Chinese Taipei 2004. Except, of course, for the ongoing FIFA
World Cup Germany 2006™ qualifying campaign, which got up and running in
Europe. Meanwhile, teams in Asia were busy disputing qualification for the FIFA
Under-17 World Championship Peru 2005, with China overcoming surprise-package
North Korea in Japan. North Korea also went through as runners-up and both will
be joined in Peru by Qatar, who took third place at the expense of Iran.
Kenya were finally able to re-arrange dates for their preliminary round matches
for FIFA World Cup Germany 2006™, having been suspended in June for government
interference in the national game and then welcomed back into the fold in
August after the setting-up of a normalisation committee.
FIFA took a strong stand in the Philippe Méxès case, suspending him for six
weeks with his new club AS Roma for "unilateral breach of contract" with AJ
Auxerre. It was a decision designed to help smaller clubs who often develop new
talent only to have it lured away without compensation.
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
There was little change in the higher reaches of the standings, but September
did see Honduras break into the top 50, climbing 12 places after a victory away
to Costa Rica, one of the established powers in the North, Central American and
Caribbean zone. Other successes in August allowed the Ivory Coast to move up
six spots, with both Wales and Vietnam jumping seven.
2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™
Europe, the last continent to begin qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Germany
2006™, got started with no less than 21 games on 4 September. There were a few
surprises in store, not least the 2-2 draw achieved by Austria against England,
Albania's 2-1 defeat of European champions Greece and France's lacklustre
goalless draw with Israel. A few days later, though, the favourites bounced
back to set up what promises to be an enthralling contest for places.
Key dates:
- September 2: Philippe Méxès suspended for six weeks
- September 16: Opening of the first official FIFA World Cup boutique
- September 30: Unveiling of the official FIFA World Cup poster
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