the route to South Africa

Our route to the World Cup will be a challenge to say the least and while this might sound a trace like I’m rattling the sabers and banging the drums but we’ve got the men to meet such a challenge.

To paint you a backdrop, UEFA is allocated thirteen spots to the World Cup. Think of that for a bit, thats three less than the actual teams in the EURO’s, so these spots are quite a premium. Europe is divided into nine groups of five teams with one group with four. The winner of each group will automatically advance while the top eight second place will do battle in a two match elimination series for the final four spots.

I suspect it’s a debatable point but we were drawn into group four which I consider to be toughest with Germany (#3 FIFA ranking), Russia (#11 FIFA ranking), Finland (#44 FIFA ranking), Azerbaijan (#139 FIFA ranking) and Liechtenstein (#129 FIFA ranking). With our work cut out for us, the following is a list of our upcoming qualifying and friendlys:

Wales v Georgia
Friendly Match
Wednesday 20 August 2008
Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales.

Wales v Azerbaijan
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Saturday 6 September 2008
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

Russia v Wales
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia.

Wales v Liechtenstein
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Saturday 11 October 2008
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

Germany v Wales
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Wednesday 15 October 2008
Borussia Park, Monchengladbach, Germany.

Denmark v Wales
Friendly
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Brondby, near Copenhagen, Denmark

Wales v Finland
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Saturday 28 March 2009
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

Wales v Germany
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

Azerbaijan v Wales
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Saturday 6 June 2009
Baku, Azerbaijan.

Wales v Russia
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

Finland v Wales
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Saturday 10 October 2009
TBC, Finland.

Liechtenstein v Wales
FIFA World Cup 2010, Group 4 Qualifying Round
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

So with this in mind its time to take a good look at our roster and the development of our U-21, 19 and 17 squads.