International Herald Tribune – “Born in a mining town in the north, near Newcastle, brother to England’s greatest international scorer, Bobby Charlton, and eventually an English international defender himself, Charlton was hired in 1986 to reinvent Irish soccer in his image. By 1988, he had taken Ireland to the European Championship, where it upset England, 1-0.” (International Herald Tribune). YouTube, (1), (2)

England see off Slovakia at Wembley (uefa)
“Emile Heskey lasted only 15 minutes of England’s friendly against Slovakia at Wembley but in that time claimed his first international goal for six years to set his side on their way to victory.”
England mark Beckham milestone with easy victory (The Observer)
Gerrard hints at total football as potent England triumph (Guardian)
David Beckham wins record 109th England cap as Slovakia soundly beaten at Wembley (Telegraph)
England 4-0 Slovakia (BBC)

Northern Ireland 3-2 Poland (BBC)
“Northern Ireland’s hopes of making the World Cup finals were boosted by an impressive win at a sunny Windsor Park. Warren Feeney finished from close range after 10 minutes but Poland levelled when Maik Taylor failed to keep out Ireneusz Jelen’s shot.”
Northern Ireland boost World Cup hopes by beating Poland (Yahoo)

Wales 0-2 Finland (BBC
“Wales hopes of qualification for next year’s World Cup suffered a massive blow after being stunned by Finland. Jonatan Johansson put Finland ahead two minutes before the break capitalising on Jari Litmanen’s neat through-ball.”
End of road for Wales – Bellamy (BBC)
Welsh World Cup hopes end with a whimper against Finland (Telegeaph)
Wales – Finland (0-1) (Mighty Football)
Wales of Discontent In Cardiff (Football365)

Comfortable win lifts Russian hopes (FIFA)
“Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Zenit midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov scored a goal apiece in the hosts’ first game against their former compatriots.”
Russia – Azerbaijan (2-0) World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (Mighty Football)

“Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored to give them a brilliant win over Cameroon on Saturday. He scored the only goal of the game in the 11th minute of the match in Accra.” (BBC), Kenya 1 vs Tunisia 2 (MTN)

South Africa earn last gasp win (BBC)
“2010 World Cup hosts South Africa netted a late winner to beat Norway 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday. It was their first win in seven years over European opposition.”

Rwanda 0 vs Algeria 0 (MTN)

Have your say (BBC)
“It’s the start of the final round of qualifiers for the World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations in 2010. Twenty countries still hope to make it to the finals in South Africa and Angola next year.”

“Osama Al Harbi’s header three minutes from time saw Saudi Arabia come back from a goal down to hand Iran a 2-1 defeat at the Azadi Stadium and revitalise the nation’s hopes of appearing at a fifth straight World Cup finals.” (AFC), Saudis battle back to stun Iran in World Cup qualifying (Yahoo)

Iran 1-2 Saudi Arabia: Al Harbi revives Saudi hopes (AFC)
“Osama Al Harbi’s header three minutes from time saw Saudi Arabia come back from a goal down to hand Iran a 2-1 defeat at the Azadi Stadium and revitalise the nation’s hopes of appearing at a fifth straight World Cup finals.”

JPN 1-0 BHN: Nakamura strike enough for Japan (AFC)
“Shunsuke Nakamura’s second-half strike proved enough to hand Japan a crucial 1-0 victory over Bahrain in a Group A encounter in Asian Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”

UZB 4-0 QAT: Tadjiev stars as Uzbeks crush Qatar (AFC)
“Farhod Tadjiyev scored a hat-trick of headers as Uzbekistan thrashed 10-man Qatar 4-0 at Pakhtakor Stadium on Saturday to reignite their challenge for a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.”

PRK 2-0 UAE: DPR Korea go top (AFC)
“DPR Korea secured a 2-0 victory over the UAE in Pyongyang to move top of Group B in Asian Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”