Qualifying for the Soccer Betting 2010 World Cup in South Africa continues on Saturday as a number of high profile teams are in action. Portugal welcomes back Cristiano Ronaldo while Spain and England look to remain at the top of their groups. France and Germany are in need of wins in their groups.

Spain is looking good with six points in European Group 5 as they lead Turkey and Belgium by two points. Spain has not lost in 25 games and will look to continue their unbeaten streak at Estonia and Belgium.

England has started World Cup qualifying strong and could remain unbeaten with wins against Kazakhstan and Belarus. Coach Fabio Capello has left Michael Owen off the squad for those two matches while recalling Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Manchester City manager Mark Hughes was happy that Wright-Phillips was rewarded. “It is just reward for an outstanding start he has made to the resumption of his City career,” Hughes said, “He came back to a club he knows well, he is playing with a smile on his face and both Shaun and the club are benefiting from that.

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England shut out the United States 2-0 in a friendly on Wednesday at Wembley Stadium in England. Captain John Terry and Steven Gerrard scored goals for the English squad. The United States squad is playing three friendlies before their World Cup qualifier next month against Barbados. In addition to England, the U.S. will play Spain and Argentina. If the English result is any indication, the U.S. has a long way to go.

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The match was completely dominated by England. Terry headed in David Beckham’s free kick in the 38th minute to give England the lead. Gerrard made it 2-0 taking a Gareth Barry pass in the 59th minute. The match was attended by only 71,233 fans, the smallest England crowd since the stadium was rebuilt and reopened a year ago.

England had a very experienced team that kept control of the match from the beginning. England nearly scored in the 11th minute but referee Kyros Vassaras blew the whistle forcing a second free kick after England would have scored on the first one. Beckham proved that he still has a lot left as he set up a number of good chances for England in the first half. He did not play the second half.

Read more on Soccer Betting Preview: England Dominates U.S. in Friendly

All 16 teams that will be competing in this year’s European Soccer Betting Championship will play friendlies on Wednesday as teams start to get their rosters ready for the summer tournament that begins on June 7th. Other teams that are not part of the tournament like the United States and England also play on Wednesday.

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The interesting friendlies on Wednesday have Spain facing Italy, France vs. England; Poland vs. the United States and Sweden vs. Brazil. The United State roster was announced and includes Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson. Landon Donovan will be making his 99th international appearance for the United States. Defender Jonathan Spector also is on the roster after starting for the U.S. under-23 team. The coach’s son, Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley is also on the team. The U.S. is 3-14-3 in Europe since April 1999. The U.S. team beat Sweden 2-0 and tied Mexico 2-2 in its first two games this year. The United States opens World Cup qualifying against Barbados or Dominica on June 15 at Carson, Calif. Poland is part of the Euro Championship in a group with Austria, Germany and Croatia. Poland and the U.S. last played in March 2006 with the U.S. winning 1-0 in a match played in Germany.

Spain is trying to get their roster organized as coach Luis Aragones called up Getafe midfielder Ruben De La Red and dropped FC Barcelona striker Bojan Krkic. Barcelona defender Carles Puyol returns from injury but Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez is still out. Gonzalez is Spain’s all-time leading scorer with 44 goals in 102 games.

Soccer Betting Preview: International Friendlies on Wednesday

Fabio Capello, the former manager of Italian Serie A club AC Milan and the previous manager of Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid, will be now in charge of the England national football team on a four-and-a-half year contract as confirmed by the Football Association just recently.

Fabio Capello replaces Steve McLaren, who was dismissed from his post as head coach when England failed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals which will be held in Austria and Switzerland. Fabio Capello, a 61 year-old Italian, becomes England’s second foreign manager. Prior to Fabio Capello, Swedish football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson once coached England.

Fabio Capello’s latest achievement includes leading Real Madrid to the 2006-2007 Spanish La Liga championship. However, Capello was sacked despite the achievement. Apart from that, Fabio Capello once led AC Milan to four Italian Serie A championships and a UEFA Champions League title. He also won an Italian Serie A championship with AS Roma in 2001. Cappello also helped Juventus capture two Italian Serie A championships before the club was stripped from their titles following the 2006 match-fixing scandal.

Read more on 2010 World Cup Betting: Fabio Capello and England As 2010 World Cup Champion?

2010 World Cup European Qualifying Group 6: England, Croatia, Belarus, Ukraine, Andorra, KazakhstanPlayers to watch out for in 2010 World Cup European Qualifying Group 6:

England: David Beckham of LA Galaxy, Steven Gerrard of Liverpool, Frank Lampard of Chelsea, Wayne Rooney of Manchester United, Micah Ricahrds of Manchester City, Ashley Cole of Chelsea, Michael Owen of Newcastle United.

Croatia: Eduardo of Arsenal FC, Bosko Balaban of Dinamo Zagreb, Darijo Srna of Shakhtar Donetsk, Mladen Petric of Borussia Dortmund, Jerko Leko of AS Monaco, Niko Kranjcar of Portsmouth FC, Niko Kovac of Red Bull Salzburg.

Read more on 2010 World Cup Betting Tips: European Qualifying Group 6

WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON, ENGLAND - England coach Steve McLaren was just hoping that England could hold on to as draw with Croatia in order for England to be among the top two teams of Group E to make it to the UEFA Euro 2008 Finals in Austria and Switzerland. Croatia had already qualified for the UEFA Euro 2008 Finals even prior to the match with England at the Wembley Stadium in London, and they didn’t really need the points. However, Croatia was eager to prove why they were the leaders of Group E with a stunning display of football.

Croatia opened the scoring as early as the 8th minute when Croatia’s Niko Kranjcar unleashed a shot to beat England goal keeper Scott Carson, who replaced England’s regular starting keeper Paul Robinson. On the 14th minute, Croatia doubled their lead through Croatia’s Ivica Olic who finished a clinical counterattack to make the score 2-0 entering the end of the first half.

Read more on UEFA Euro 2008 Finals Betting News: Croatia Knock-out England 3-2

The remaining fixtures for Group E of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying stages include Israel vs. Russia and Macdeonia vs. Croatia on November 17, and then England vs. Croatia and Andorra vs. Russia on November 21.

The standings in Group E of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers have Croatia leading the group with 26 points, followed by England with 23 points and Russia with 21 points.

England’s qualification is out of their hands. Their best hope is to finish ahead of Russia. But if the Russians win in Israel on Saturday, they will be one point ahead of England with one match to play - and that match is away to rock-bottom Andorra. England will not expect any favours from Andorra, who are on a run of 28 consecutive Euro qualifying defeats.

Read more on UEFA Euro 2008 Betting Tips: Group E Qualifiers England, Croatia and Russia

Russia’s chances for qualifying to the UEFA Euro 2008 Finals are still alive after coming from behind to beat England 2-1 in their recent Euro 2008 qualifying match held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia this October 17. It wasn’t an easy task though for Russia with England playing top form. In fact, it was England who struck first to silence the Russian home fans when England striker Wayne Rooney of English Premier League champions Manchester United chested a flick pass from teammate Michael Owen and slammed a powerful volley into the goal of Russia past Russian goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov.

Russia were struggling to get an equaliser, and Russia’s head coach Guus Hiddink made some adjustments with key substitutions, bringing in midfielder Dmitri Torbinskiy to replace defender Vasili Berezutski in the 46th minute, and then brining in forward Roman Pavlyuchenko to replace a tired Aleksandr Kerzhakov in the 58th minute.
Read more on Russia Beats England 2-1 To Stay Alive in Group E of UEFA Euro 2008.

The England national football team cruised to an easy 3-0 victory against Estonia to the delight of a full-capactiy crowd in the New Wembley Stadium in London, England.

In the 11th minute, England midfielder Shaun-Wright Phillips put England 1-0 up against Estonia when he drilled a shot between the legs of Estonia’s keeper Mart Poom. In the 32nd minute, England striker Wayne Rooney of English Premier League champions Manchester United made it 2-0, grabbing his first international goal in eleven months. One minute after that, Ashley Cole sent in a deep cross that was headed by Estonia defender Taavi Rahn into his own net. Rahn’s own goal gave the English home side a 3-0 advantage, which they maintained throughout the match.
Read more on England Beats Estonia 3-0 in UEFA Euro 2008

On Saturday, Manchester United overtook Arsenal in the top of the Premiership with 20 points for Manchester United in the standings versus 19 points for Arsenal. ManU took the lead with an earlier Saturday win gainst Wigan Athletic. However, Arsenal’s Sunday victory on their home pitch at the Emirates Stadium against Sunderland returned them to first place in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s Robin van Persie scored on the 80th minute to give Arsenal a one goal lead, and the full three points in order to regain their position at the top of the English Premier League standings. Robin van Persie was also responsible for opening the scoring of the match with a scorching free kick in the 7th minute that left Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon helpless, and putting up Arsenal 1-0. In the 14th minute, Arsenal’s Philippe Senderos was able to pick up a loose ball from a corner, and put it in the back of the Sunderland net to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead.
Read More on Robin Van Persie Scores for Arsenal To Beat Sunderland 3-2