Carvalho: Portugal must take their chances
Carlos Queiroz’s side went into the Group 1 campaign as favourites to secure the automatic spot for next summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa but instead find themselves on the verge of elimination.
With two games left, Portugal trail leaders Denmark by five points and Sweden by two, with the Scandinavian rivals facing each other in a blockbuster encounter.
Hungary are level with Portugal on 13 points after eight games and the losers at the Estadio da Luz will almost certainly find themselves out of contention for even a play-off spot.
Indeed, a Sweden victory and a draw in Lisbon would rule both teams out and, with the Copenhagen clash kicking off an hour and three quarters ahead of Portugal’s match, the scenario will be clear for Queiroz’s men.
“We have to take the chances we create, knowing Hungary also have more to gain than to lose,” Carvalho pointed out. “They have to attack because they still have possibilities.”
Denmark can secure top spot with victory over Sweden but their hopes have been dealt a blow by the news Jesper Gronkjaer is out because of ongoing knee prob
In Group Four, Germany take on Russia with the top two separated by just one point and well clear of third-placed Finland.
They head into today’s meeting at Moscow’s Luschniki Stadion knowing there will be a second chance to qualify via the play-off for the pool runners-up, but both are naturally keen to clinch top spot.
Germany lead the way by one point so can clinch top place by moving four points clear. Any other result would see qualification go down to the final round of matches on Wednesday, when Germany host Finland in Hamburg and Russia visit Azerbaijan.
France are refusing to give up on automatic qualification for the World Cup finals, even though Group Seven table-toppers Serbia have a four-point advantage over them.
France effectively need to beat the Faroe Islands as anticipated to stay in with a chance. But they also need Serbia to secure a draw at best, or ideally lose, at home to Romania if the qualification equation is to extend into the last round.
Yet goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, for one, is far from ready to give up on finishing the campaign as group winners.
“It’s still feasible. We still believe,” he said. “Nothing is over. We’re going to fight for it until the end.”
The Faroes will not necessarily make things easy for their hosts, having lost only 1-0 to them in the return fixture.
Even so, coach Brian Kerr is under no illusions about tomorrow’s task.
“France away is a tough one all right, especially because of the position the French are in,” he said.
“They need a point at least. France are playing in Guingamp, which might not get too many international games — so the stadium will be packed.”
In Group Eight, already-eliminated Cyprus play host to a Bulgarian side still with an outside chance of pipping Ireland to second place.
The third-placed Bulgarians have only suffered one loss in eight qualifiers but five draws — including frustrating stalemates against both Georgia and Montenegro — have left them trailing Trapattoni’s men by five points with two matches remaining.
In Group Three, Slovakia are aiming to add their name to the history books when they host Slovenia in their penultimate World Cup qualifier.
A point for Vladimir Weiss’ men in Bratislava would be enough to earn them top spot.
It would be the first time Slovakia have qualified for a major tournament since their independence in 1993, an impressive achievement from a pool which also contains Poland and Czech Republic.
The Czechs take on Poland in Prague with both teams still harbouring a chance of claiming a play-off place.
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