Barry lauds Lampard partnership

Gareth Barry feels England are reaping the benefits of having a settled midfield combination and is relishing the deeper role he plays on the international stage compared to club level.

Barry and Frank Lampard are working up an understanding as the central duo while Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are interchanging effectively with one of them filling in the 'hole' as the second striker. Manchester City's new £12 million capture is aware England will have sterner tests ahead than the 4-0 win over Kazakhstan in Almaty yesterday which took them closer to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

However, the former Aston Villa player, who scored his first competitive goal for his country, is taking encouragement from how things are starting to gel and England's ability to win when not firing on all cylinders. Barry said: "The more we do play together, that midfield, the more we are going to get used to the role.

"Steven and Wayne are mixing in and out, they are linking up well, and myself and Frank are working as a two in the middle, so the more we keep playing together the better. We know there are tougher games ahead but we are going to learn from each other.

Colombia remain hopeful

Colombia midfielder Fabian Vargas has backed his side's bid to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ despite yesterday's 1-0 loss to Argentina.

Los Cafeteros slumped to the narrow loss courtesy of a second-half goal by Getafe defender Daniel Diaz, with the result leaving them languishing in eighth place in the 10-team South American Zone. The statistics do not give the full picture in what is a congested qualifying group, however, with Colombia just three points from a play-off berth against a CONCACAF side to decide the Americas' eighth 2010 representative.

"We are not out of the World Cup at all, we'll keep fighting," Boca Juniors midfielder Vargas told reporters. "We must finish our goalscoring opportunities. We proved a good plan is not enough. Scoring is our weak point. Despite that, I am happy with the form of the team."

Colombia coach Eduardo Lara refused was also philosophical in defeat. "We always want to win, to take a positive result and we tried," he said. "Maybe we deserved to win or draw the game, but the truth is that we return to Colombia empty-handed."

Los Cafeteros take on rock-bottom Peru in Medellin on Wednesday as they bid to put further pressure on fifth-placed Uruguay in the race for the lone play-off berth.

Burley fancies Scotland's chances

Scotland coach George Burley turned up the heat on Norway by claiming defeat in Holland on Wednesday night would leave their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying hopes hanging by a thread. Burley watched Egil Olsen's men held to a goalless draw in Macedonia yesterday as they extended their winless run in European Zone Group 9 to four matches.

At the start of the qualifying campaign, Norway were thought to be Scotland's chief rivals for the runners-up spot, but defeat in Rotterdam in midweek would leave them rock bottom of the table and four points adrift of Burley's side. The countries then meet in Oslo on 12 August and Burley believes Norway would be under huge pressure to win that game.

He said: "Norway need points now. They've only got three points so far; they need to get things moving."

"If they do lose in Rotterdam, it's a must-win for them against us on August 12," he added. "They'd need to win all their games then.

"It's a competitive group. Not long ago, Norway went over to Germany and won in a friendly, so they're a good side. Every game's very difficult and we're certainly focused on the big game coming up," said Burley.

"It's a very early start for us; we're playing over in Norway before the SPL actually starts," he said. "So there's not going be any competitive action for the players, which is not ideal."

Nevertheless, Burley reckons Scotland are firmly "in the driving seat" to finish second after all their rivals dropped points this weekend. Scotland's grip on the runners-up spot was tightened last night as Holland won in Iceland to seal their place at next summer's finals shortly after Macedonia and Norway drew.

Seven from seven for Korea Republic

After Korea Republic qualified for their seventh consecutive FIFA World Cup™ finals, coach Huh Jung-Moo expressed his hope that history will be made by Korea DPR also making next summer's showpiece.

The Taeguk Warriors confirmed their place at South Africa 2010 by beating United Arab Emirates 2-0 in Dubai with Park Chu-Young opening the scoring in the fifth minute and Ki Sung-Yeung sealing the victory just before the break.

"Our first objective was to win this match and I am happy we managed to do that," said Huh.

"We now have two home games left, so we can play them free of any worries and perhaps try a thing or two."

The result took the Asian Zone Group B leaders to 14 points from six matches with their remaining two qualifiers both to played at home.

Korea DPR, for their part, were held to a goalless draw by Iran in Pyongyang which left them second on 11 points from seven matches. Saudi Arabia, on ten points, have a game in hand.

Huh underlined that he would like to see his country's northern neighbours join them in South Africa and have both Korean teams at a FIFA World Cup finals for the first time ever.

"I personally hope that North Korea can qualify with us to the finals because it will be the first time in World Cup history to have this," he said.

"I'm really happy that we made it to the World Cup finals. We played well and we are all satisfied with a performance that saw us win and ensure a place in South Africa in 2010.

Okada targets 2010 semis

Japan have vowed to move mountains in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ finals after becoming the first country to qualify for South Africa 2010 with a narrow 1-0 win in Uzbekistan.

"We will surprise the world! Hip, Hip, Hurrah!" the Blue Samurai chanted before spraying champaign over manager Takeshi Okada and themselves on the pitch in Tashkent. "At last, we stand on the start line of our challenge," said Okada, who has targeted a semi-final spot in South Africa after taking over from Ivica Osim in late 2007 when the Bosnian suffered a stroke.

"I feel thrilled and thankful now that we have this chance," he told Japanese media, although his goal has been widely dismissed as unrealistic. "I want to let the players experience many things in the year ahead at the world's top level."

Striker Shinji Okazaki scored on nine minutes but the former Asian champions failed to covert more chances and survived a flurry of Uzbek attacks. "We want to raise our level higher as we are aiming for the World Cup last four," added Okada, whose side have scored seven goals in his eight internationals.

Veteran centre-half Yuji Nakazawa called Okada's semi-final goal a "huge flag for one person alone to bear". "I think I can be one of the persons up front to support it," he said.

Front pages on Sunday's Japanese newspapers were full of headlines praising Japan's qualification for a fourth straight FIFA World Cup finals. "Okada-ism in place. Now aim for last four," the daily Sankei Shimbun wrote.

Okada piloted Japan to a winless FIFA World Cup debut at France 1998 in his first stint as national coach. Japan reached the last-16 round in 2002 at home under French coach Philippe Troussier but faded with two losses and one draw under Brazilian legend Zico at the group stage in 2006 in Germany.

"Japan have acquired the toughness unmatched in Asia," the influential daily Asahi Shimbun wrote, adding that Okada has picked up where Osim left off and honed the players' talents.

Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, the key man in Japan's qualifying campaign, said: "We will improve the quality of what we have been doing. We also want to play much stronger countries," added Nakamura, reported to be on the verge of returning to his old J-League club Yokohama Marinos.

The business daily Nikkei recalled that all four Asian countries in the 2006 finals - Japan, Korea Republic, Iran and Saudi Arabia - bowed out at the group stage at Germany 2006. Australia qualified then through Oceania.

Asia lacks leader countries that have definite prospects of reaching the last 16 such as USA and Mexico in their continent, Nikkei claimed, adding: "It is about time Japan played such a role."

Terry: England must peak in 2010

John Terry has stressed the need for England to peak at the right time - during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ finals - but is confident the team "are getting to where the manager wants us to be".

England moved a step closer to qualifying for South Africa next summer with yesterday's 4-0 win over Kazakhstan in Almaty thanks to goals from Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney and a Frank Lampard penalty. It was their sixth successive Group 6 win, took their goals tally to 20 and maintained their 100 per cent record.

However, Terry knows it is crucial that England are at their best when they attempt to lift football's most coveted trophy for the second time. The Chelsea star said: "We are playing really well and are well on the way to where we want to be.

"We are getting to where the manager (Fabio Capello) wants us to be. There are still improvements to be made. The manager wants improvements and the players can see little bits that need tweaking as well.

"But, although everyone says about Spain being a lot more technical, we can play as well. We are playing in one of the best leagues in the world anyway. People like Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry dictate the pace and speed of games. They can really play and make things happen."

Terry believes Capello has helped to remove the fear factor from England's play. The occasions such as when the players and the then coach Steve McClaren were booed relentlessly during a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona seem a distant memory.

Terry said: "The players are now really relishing getting on the ball and playing and having confidence and trusting each other again. There were times when people were on our backs a little bit and certain players didn't want the ball in certain areas.

"But if you look at everyone in this game, they all wanted the ball and were all making angles for each other. Since the manager has come in, that has been a big part of it, to play right from the back and work hard for the team. You can see how much harder we are working as a group."

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