Gunners past and present save French blushes
Senderos keeps Swiss on a roll
Shev spot on for Ukraine
—– France - the world champions in 1998 - avoid the embarrassment of another early World Cup KO with the help of a couple of Arsenal legends.
After being frustrated for nearly an hour, quick-fire goals from Patrick Vieira (on his 30th birthday) and Thierry Henry give Les Bleus a 2-0 win against Togo in Cologne to secure second place in Group G.
France needed a win to be sure of not being eliminated before the second phase for the second World Cup in row. They now face Spain in the Round of 16.
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—– Arsenal have a further influence on the outcome of Group G as young Gunners defender Philippe Senderos bravely heads Switzerland in to the lead as they beat South Korea 2-0 in Hanover to secure top spot.
Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo brilliantly and rightly ignores his assistant’s flag to allow Alexandre Frei to fire home the second.
It is only the second time since1938 that the Swiss have progressed beyond the first round at the World Cup finals.
—– Switzerland will now face Ukraine after their captain and national hero Andriy Shevchenko converts the match-winning penalty to reach the Round of 16 on their World Cup finals debut.
Ukraine beat Tunisia 1-0 in Berlin to finish as runners-up in Group H.
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—– Despite making 11 changes from their previous game, Group H winners Spain complete a 100% record in their group games with a 1-0 win against Saudi Arabia in Kaiserslautern.
Juanito scores the only goal as Spain stroll to victory in the summer sun.
—– While there’s cheery news for Arsenal fans from Germany, there’s also good news back home.
The Football Association fails to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing by the Gunners in their relationship with Belgian side Beveren.
BBC Newsnight had alleged that Belgian police found that Arsenal made illegal payments to Beveren.
FIFA asked the FA to investigate, but they found not breach of any FA or Premier League rules.
A FA statement reads: “As a result of our inquiries, we can confirm that we have not identified any evidence to suggest that Arsenal have breached any rules of the FA or the FA Premier League in relation to their dealings with Beveren.”
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