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Some recommended reading (and a new SBI series)

FabregasRooney (AP)

By SEAN RUBIO

If you have ever been up late (or very early) and wished you had some quality soccer stories to read, your fix is on the way. We will be introducing SBI Late Night, a new feature in which we work to fill the overnight void with some interesting stories that you may have missed during the day.  Consider it a sampler of stories, both from the blogosphere and from traditional media, that may have gone under-the-radar for those who like to burn the midnight oil, or an overview of the day's previous stories for the early birds.

While this inaugural installment of SBI Late Night actually turned into SBI Mid-Day, night owls and early birds can start looking for this series on SBI shortly.

Now, onto some recommended stories from Thursday that you may have missed:

Which story did you enjoy the most?  Think Wayne Rooney should lay off the Wikipedia?   Heading to the ATM to try and win Rochester's stadium naming rights? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Best daily soccer writing in English is of course Rob Hughes of the IHT. Now NY Times is publishing his always excellent pieces online in their global sports edition

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  2. Steven –

    word. the other Special 1 TV episodes kept me up til 2am on a work night – hi-larious!

    Ronaldo’s cameo – i was dyin’
    drogba calling in… great stuff

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  3. ThaDeuce – Given that 13 teams qualify from UEFA and a max of 4 from CONCACAF, you have to expect that some normally good teams won’t qualify EVERY cycle while at least one just OK team from CONCACAF (Honduras, CR, T&T) will. Czech, Portugal, and Turkey have not had a good qualifying round so far, but each still have a chance IF they get results. Russia is still in excellent position to qualify. It is up to them to beat out the likes of Bos-Herz, Denmark, Hungary, etc.

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  4. I believe those percentages are for the group winners only. There is yet another round after this group stage. Now, it is true that the group winners move on to the World Cup. That’s only 8 teams, and UEFA has 13 spots if i’m not mistaken. The next round will determine the remaining 5 spots. Go to fifa.com to figure out the exact competition format for each confederation. I think it has something to do with 2nd place/3rd place teams that challenge the next round.

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  5. Thanks, this is all I need. More reasons not to do work. Soccer America sends a daily email that is similar in that it provides reading material from different outlets. SBI’s seems to have dug a little deeper. Nice job.

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  6. “…and “organizations that are not conducive to the family-fun atmosphere promoted” by the Rhinos.”

    I guess “Rochester XXX Emporium Stadium” is out of the running.

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  7. Portugal probably won’t qualify just like the Checkers Republic of Hamburgers probably won’t after half their team and coach were dropped from the team.

    All the better for the U.S. 🙂

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  8. ThaDeuce–

    Please tell me that you are kidding. That is PRECISELY what the statistics (run according to the methods that he website used) say. Why?

    Well, Portugal is currently sitting on 6 points, third place in Group One with a game in hand. The last time they scored in qualifying was FOUR games ago against Denmark (and they lost). They have five games in qualifying left, and obviously still have to play the top two teams in the group (again). Only the eight best SECOND place teams qualify from UEFA for the World Cup.

    Honduras, for example, is in third place in CONCACAF, which (if held) would qualify them for the World Cup. Another option is to end up in fourth place (above only El Salvador and TandT) and play-off against the Fifth place CONMEBOL team.

    Thus, Honduras’s chances ARE significantly better than Portugal (or the Czech Republic, etc.).

    It’s not a certainty–it’s STATISTICS based on probabilities and a variety of other static and variable factors. And, its pretty accurate if you do even the smallest amount of research.

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  9. There are some great and poignant articles on the London Times and BBC sites regarding the Hillsborough disaster.

    I’m far too lazy to look them up and link to them, but they aren’t hard to find.

    Great read for those of us who weren’t as engaged in the European soccer scene in 1989 as we are now.

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  10. IVES,

    UEFA – Group 1 Percent
    Denmark 73.83%
    Sweden 19.30%
    Portugal 4.15%
    Hungary 2.72%
    Albania 0.00%
    Malta 0.00%

    UEFA – Group 3 Percent
    Slovakia 61.32%
    Czech Republic 19.62%
    Poland 12.73%
    Northern Ireland 3.14%
    Slovenia 3.19%
    San Marino 0.00%

    UEFA – Group 4 Percent
    Germany 87.94%
    Russia 11.44%
    Finland 0.62%
    Wales 0.00%
    Azerbaijan 0.00%
    Liechtenstein 0.00%

    UEFA – Group 5 Percent
    Spain 99.83%
    Bosnia-Herzegovina 0.17%
    Turkey 0.00%
    Belgium 0.00%
    Estonia 0.00%
    Armenia 0.00%

    Does this mean it is likely that Portugal (4%) Russia (11%), Czech Republic (20%), and Turkey (0%) are extremely unlikely to qualify???

    There is a serious problem when Honduras is much more likely to qualify for the world cup (67%) than Turkey (18%) or Czech Republic (37%).

    Reply

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