Oceanic qualifying left us with the top two sides – Solomon Islands and New Zealand – who will battle to grab the continent’s only (half) qualifying spot, a place in the Intercontinental play-offs. Similarly, Asian qualifying has boiled down to a play-off between Indonesia and Uzbekistan, with the winner also entering the Intercontinental play-off.
We’ll be following each match to their conclusions in this episode, starting with the first legs!
First leg: New Zealand vs. Solomon Islands
New Zealand started Oceanic qualifying as run-away favourites, and have largely matched expectations by winning their two groups so far. However, Solomon Islands have been just as impressive, and will consider themselves to have a realistic chance of an upset here.
The hosts’ key man is Emmanuel Ekpo in the centre of the park, whilst up front some may remember Paul Ifill from his days at Millwall. Solomon Islands go with a high-tempo 4-4-2, with stuck brilliantly-named stars such as Jerry Donga and Philip Mango (PHILIP MANGO!).
Indonesia pulled off a fine recovery to get through the first round of Asian qualifying, and in the second round just missed out on qualification behind Kuwait and China, drawing 4-4 with the latter in the final match of the round. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan were excellent in winning their Round 1 group, but found themselves on 3 points from 5 games in the second round. The group was of such a standard that just two wins helped Uzbekistan steal third spot. Round 1 form favours Uzbekistan, whilst Round 2 was much better for Indonesia. So this could be a cracker.
Indonesia play a 3-2-3-2 formation, with the aim of crowding out their opponents, but the noteworthy element of their side is the big name stars they have added since last year. Namely, ex-Premier League African trio Michael Essien, Mohammed Sissoko and Peter Odemwingie. Paulo Sergio on the wing is a talented players as well. Uzbekistan are playing a wonky 4-2-3-1, with the unusual tactic of playing a wide target man, Dragan Ceran. Unsurprisingly, the play is to get crosses in from the right-hand side.
Needless to say, this match is not quite as well-placed as the other to promise drama. In fact, I’d expect New Zealand to continue to pile on the misery for Solomon Islands. Anyway, there’s only way to find out...
Solomon Islands shuffle their pack slightly, bringing in Aengari and Nawo as they move to the 4-1-3-2 they used after the initial onslaught in the first leg. Unsurprisingly, New Zealand are unchanged.
This is where the real interest lies... I feel like apologising for delaying things with the other game, but it had to be played. Anyway, Indonesia have a single goal advantage, but with goals so free-flowing in the first leg, and with home advantage to Uzbekistan, a single goal doesn’t feel like much here.
Indonesia resist the urge to make changes at the back, despite some slightly iffy performances. Uzbekistan bring in Zoteev for Komilov, and move Kanuk into his natural AMC position.
It was much easier for New Zealand than Indonesia, but the final destination is the same – both sides will be joining Italy, Ghana, Jamaica and Colombia in the first-ever Intercontinental play-off. That will be in two episode’s time, but next time we’ll be seeing the second legs from the play-offs in Europe. We’re so close to the finals now!