France to face Ireland in World Cup playoffs

ZURICH (AP) -- France will face Ireland in a two-leg playoff for a spot at next year's World Cup in South Africa, while Portugal was drawn on Monday to play Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Also, Russia will face Slovenia and Greece will play Ukraine. The draw featured the eight best runners-up from European qualifying.

France got perhaps the toughest test of the four seeded teams. The French will travel to Dublin for the first leg and host the Irish for the crucial return.

"These games are like cup finals," said Ireland's Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni. "We have come through the qualification group and are one of only five teams in Europe with an unbeaten record. That will give us self-belief going into these games.

"We have come out of a group containing the current world champions, Italy, and have got positive results against them in both games (1-1 and 2-2). Now we face the 2006 World Cup finalists and our results to date will give us the conviction and the belief that we can get a result."

France technical director Gerard Houllier said it was tough for both teams.

"I don't think they wanted to play us either," he said. "Both teams start with an equal chance. A lot of Irish and French players play in the Premier League so it's going to be a good game."

Portugal, Russia and Greece must all play at home first before facing their lower-ranked opponents on the road.

The matches will be played Nov. 14 and 18.

The draw for the World Cup finals will be made on Dec. 4 in Cape Town. Next year's 32-nation tournament is scheduled for June 11-July 11.

FIFA was criticized when it decided last month -- with just two rounds of qualifying left -- to seed the playoff draw and ensure that the highest-ranked nations would not face each other.

Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni suggested FIFA acted to protect marquee attractions, such as Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo and France striker Thierry Henry.

France, the highest-ranked playoff team at No. 9, stuttered in qualifying despite an array of world-class forwards such as Henry, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema. The French lost in Austria, labored to beat Lithuania and eventually allowed Serbia to win their group with one match to spare.

France coach Raymond Domenech faced regular calls for his firing despite having led France to the 2006 World Cup final.

Ireland was the only playoff team to go unbeaten through qualifying, yet finished runner-up to world champion Italy.

Portugal, ranked No. 10, also struggled as it got only one victory in its first five matches. Ronaldo failed to score in the 10-match series but helped his country edge past Sweden to finish runner-up behind Denmark.

"We deserve to be here," Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz said. "It will be very difficult for both teams -- everything for the winner and nothing for the loser. We have plenty of players with the experience to cope with that kind of situation."

Bosnia scored 25 goals in qualifying as it edged Turkey to claim the runner-up spot behind European champion Spain.

"We have a chance to play at the same level as Portugal," Bosnia coach Miroslav Blazevic said. "We are a small country, very poor. The country would be very proud to qualify."

Bosnia got its football independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1993 and has never played at a World Cup, though the 74-year-old Blazevic led Croatia to the semifinals in 1998.

Slovenia is another former Yugoslav republic aiming to overcome the odds.

"I know that Russia is a big favorite," Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek said. "Not every time does the favorite win. But it will be very difficult to play in Russia in November."

Slovenia is aiming to reach the World Cup for the second time. In 2002, the team lost all three of its games. Ranked No. 49, Slovenia edged the Czech Republic to finish runner-up in its group behind Slovakia.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink is trying to lead his fourth different nation to the World Cup finals, after placing second behind Germany in qualifying.

He took his native Netherlands to the semifinals in 1998 and co-host South Korea to the last four in 2002. Three years ago, Hiddink led Australia to the second round.

Greece, the lowest-ranked seeded team at No. 16, was the favored opponent for the non-seeded nations -- and got No. 22 Ukraine.

The 2004 European champions finished second in their group behind Switzerland. The Greeks lost all three matches at their only previous World Cup, in 1994.

Ukraine was a quarterfinalist at the 2006 World Cup, its first major tournament appearance since splitting from the former Soviet Union.

Victory in the playoffs will be worth millions of dollars, both in prize money paid by FIFA and increased commercial exposure at the world's most-watched televised sporting event.

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