Hermann in World Cup's last-chance saloon
Hermann Hreidarsson will all but bid goodbye to his last chance of competing in the World Cup finals if Iceland suffer defeat tonight.
The Pompey defender will face Macedonia in group nine desperate for victory.
Iceland are currently bottom with just one point to show from their opening three matches, courtesy of a draw against Norway.
On Saturday they slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Holland – Joris Mathijsen and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar the scorers – with Hreidarsson playing the full 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, Ben Sahar's Israel are progressing well in group two, finding themselves in second spot.
The 19-year-old striker came on as an 81st-minute substitute in Saturday's 3-1 win at Luxembourg which keeps them on the tails of leaders Greece.
They make the trip to Latvia tonight looking to maintain their unbeaten record and take another step towards South Africa 2010.
Matters are not quite so rosy for Lassana Diarra's France, whose coach, Raymond Domenech, is under increased pressure.
The former World Champions are fourth in group seven with four points from their opening three games.
Without the injured Diarra, they drew 2-2 against Romania at the weekend after fighting back from two goals down and are without a game tonight.
Domenech is now under fire, although their next match is against Lithuania in March next year.
Over in Africa, both Nigeria and Algeria have reached the next qualification stages after topping their respective groups.
The Super Eagles have been in sensational form and wrapped up their group with a sixth-straight win on Saturday, this time a 4-1 triumph over Sierra Leone.
Kanu was an unused substitute, while John Utaka was back at Fratton Park receiving treatment for a hamstring problem.
In their absence, though, Nigeria secured victory to top group four and put themselves among the seeds for the third qualification round.
Meanwhile, Nadir Belhadj played the full match for Algeria in their goalless draw with Liberia, which saw them win group six.
Both sides now go into the draw for the next qualification section involving the remaining 20 African clubs, with spots at the South African World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations in Angola at stake.
Finally, Younes Kaboul represents France tonight in their under-21 play-off second leg against Germany in the European Under-21 Championships.
The Pompey defender netted the equaliser in last week's 1-1 draw in Magdeburg to cancel out Ashkan Dejagah's earlier effort.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
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