Roy Keane believes Ireland have only themselves to blame for failing to qualify for the World Cup and said they should “get over it”.

(more…)

French forward Thierry Henry (L) and Irish defender Richard Dunne are pictured at the end of the World Cup 2010 qualifying football match France vs. Republic of Ireland.

(more…)

• HOST

South Africa. Some would consider that they played well at the Confederations Cup, but failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup.

That was obvious… the other 31 after the jump… (more…)

With Portugal and CRon officially making it to the big dance in South Africa, you can bet there was a collective sigh of relief from brands, marketers and advertisers all around the world.

Oh man! You are going to be hearing a whole lot about this!  With Ireland up 1-0 away at France and level on aggregate, Thierry Henry clearly handles the ball with his hand and then sets up Gallas for the equalizer, thus putting France through to the World Cup. No doubt this is a clear handball and a horrible way for Ireland to not go through to the World Cup. Cue the arguments for instant replay in soccer starting in 3-2-…

Check the highlight of the goal and obvious handball below

[via]

Cameroon completed a fine recovery after a stuttering start to their World Cup qualifying campaign to reach the finals in South Africa with a 2-0 away win over Morocco on Saturday.

The Indomitable Lions have now qualified for an African-record six World Cup finals. (more…)

 Substitute Nejc Pecnik’s late goal gave Slovenia a lifeline in their World Cup qualifying play-off against Russia. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s brace seemed to have put the home side in commanding but Pecnik - only introduced in the 83rd minute in place of Andraz Kirm - pounced two minutes from time for a potentially crucial away goal.

A capacity crowd of 80,000 - which included Russian president Vladimir Putin - had been issued with protective masks to guard against swine flu in the Luzhniki Stadium. (more…)

Three Algerian soccer players were injured after Egyptian soccer fans hurled rocks at their bus as they entered Cairo for this weekend’s World Cup qualifier.

Inside the bus and post-stoning video after the jump…

(more…)