World Cup Qualifying round-up

A number of City players were in action in World Cup Qualifiers for their respective countries on Friday night, with varying degrees of success. Thankfully, there were no fresh injuries to report, if only because the likes of Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell weren't called up due to, um, injury.

Joe Hart and Joleon Lescott each put in a heroic shift, as England's brave lions repelled wave after wave of San Marino attacks and escaped with a somewhat fortuitous 8-0 smash and grab victory.

Aleksandar Kolarov, meanwhile, did his bit to help maintain to Dayton Peace Accord by generously gifting a goal to Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic. The Croats eventually ran out 2-0 winners in a convival atmosphere in Zagreb.

Kolarov's Balkan team mate Edin Dzeko fared somewhat better, scoring a brace as Bosnia and Herzegovina ran out 3-1 winners against Greece. He's clearly been holding back the goals for his club recently in preparation for the international break.

David Silva briefly thought he was ten men during Spain's 1-1 draw with Finland, squaring up to all and sundry like a drunk at last orders. Incredibly Javi Garcia was once again overlooked in favour of the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Andreas Iniesta and Sergio Busquets. He'll end up as the Matt Le Tissier of his generation at this rate.

Tuesday night sees England face Montenegro (featuring Stefan Savic and reported target Stevan Jovetic), whilst Spain face a crucial tie against France. Presumably Garcia was being held back for this one. Vincent Kompany could be recalled to the Belgian side to face Macedonia, and Aleksandar Kolarov will be expecting an easier run-out against Group A whipping boys Scotland.