“Michael Owen may just have been watching the credits roll on his England career as coach Fabio Capello swatted away the merest notion of him being enlisted for World Cup combat to confront Ukraine. England strikers dropped like fallers at Aintree’s first in the friendly win against Slovakia – but Capello still refused to countenance the recall of a marksman proven over time at the highest level.” (BBC)
Michael Owen out in cold as Fabio Capello rules out England recall for injury-prone striker (Guardian)
Capello’s drive for power leaves Owen stranded (The Independent)
Fabio Capello dismisses chance of Michael Owen recall (TIMESONLINE)
Ostracised Michael Owen still has part to play (Telegraph)
United front is simply Fab: Stars know their place but Owen’s on outside (Mail Onliine)
Owen believes Beckham can play on (BBC)
Behind the scenes at Michael Owen’s Chester stables (Evening Leader)

“Roberto Carlos da Silva (born April 10, 1973, Garça, São Paulo), better known simply as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian football player who currently plays for Turkish club Fenerbahçe, normally as a wingback.” Wikipedia, YouTube, (1), (2)

Argentina impress, Brazil stall (FIFA)
“Diego Maradona’s official debut as Argentina coach went according to plan as his charges disposed of Venezuela to close the gap on leaders Paraguay, who slumped to defeat in Uruguay. Brazil fell to fourth in the table after they drew in Ecuador, while Chile and Colombia both won to stay firmly in the hunt.”

Argentina 4-0 Venezuela: Messi the star turn (FIFA)
“Argentina, inspired by Lionel Messi, gave Diego Maradona what he described as a perfect home and competitive debut as coach by beating Venezuela 4-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday.”
Maradona hails “perfect game” after thrashing (ESPN)
Argentina and Messi razed Venezuela in the official debut of Maradona (4 -0) (CONMEBOL)

Brazil held by plucky Ecuador (sambafoot)
“Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw with Ecuador following an lacklustre performance in Quito last night. Substitute Julio Bapista scored against the run of the play to give Brazil a fortuitous lead deep into the second half, after his effort rebounded off the post and then off Ecuadorian goalkeeper José Cevallos to cross the line on 74 minutes.”
Ecuador hit just at the right moment and Brazil took a point from Quito (1-1) (CONMEBOL)
Julio Cesar earns Brazil a point (FIFA)

Colombia breathes with victory over Bolivia that keeps it in the race (2-0) (CONMEBOL)
“The Colombian national football team put an end tonight to a goal drought of 560 minutes and conquered Bolivia by 2-0, in a match of the eleventh round of the Qualifiers, a result that allows it to continue dreaming of qualifying to the World Cup.”

Sanchez-inspired Chile leap to third (FIFA)
“Alexis Sanchez scored the first goal and contributed to the other two as he inspired Chile to a 3-1 win away to arch-rivals Peru in a 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa qualifier on Sunday.”
Peru 1 – 3 Chile (FIFA)

Notes, curiosities and statistics of the Qualifiers (CONMEBOL)
“The double round of the Qualifiers for South Africa 2010 that will take place between this Saturday March 28 and Wednesday April 1st, offers an interesting outlook through notes that cover the 50 matches disputed until today and the history of the competition.”