Internationals...Yeah...That's Pretty Much It

Hah!

Well, those were a couple of quiet days, eh? The mood at SSN Headquarters gets awfully gloomy during international breaks. Let's just say that the club game is more our thing, OK? Now that we've said that (that said), at least there will be some matches today. We can see how badly Germany will clobber Ireland, hope Mexico lose to Panama, see what sort of experimenting Juergen will do with the U.S., chuckle whilst England try to handle the pressure against Montenegro, check out Bendtner's underpants when Denmark host Italy, and much more! So...it could be worse.

The obvious place to start is with The Podcast: It's Football Weekly Extra, and it's international week. Yay. AC Jimbo, Barry Glendenning and Jacob Steinberg aren't that fussed but Jonathan Wilson's getting all hot and bothered by all that can happen in Europe and elsewhere in the forthcoming round of World Cup qualifiers. If that doesn't make you go woof, we've also got Sid Lowe telling us about Spain's attempts at signing up Brazilian international Diego Costa to their national side – something which Jack Wilshere would doubtless have an opinion. Plus, there's reaction to Gus Poyet's appointment as Sunderland's latest manager, some crazy shenanigans in Cardiff, and more turtle/tortoise/terrapin news.

We know it's crunch time for England. But it's a big match for Montenegro as well. Jonathan Wilson takes a look. He also takes a look at three other countries that could possibly seal their first WC births. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso are all in with a shout.

Meanwhile, back across the pond, it's not crunch time for the Yanks because they've already booked their tickets to Brazil. The game still has meaning, though, as the U.S. will want to win the group. Here's a preview of tonight's match out in K.C. (6:30pm EDT on ESPN).

Hah!

World Cup 2014 qualifiers? Yes. 10 things to look out for?
OK. 

UEFA? England, Russia, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland could all qualify today.
Here's everything you need to know.

CONMEBOL? Colombia and Chile could also advance today.
Here's everything you need to know.

CAF? Playoffs. Yes, playoffs.
Here's everything you need to know.

This is rather fun: International Misfits XI: would this team qualify for the World Cup?

Paul Doyle's into the rains down in Africa and wants to talk Cameroon and Tunisia. Tunisia gets a second chance because of Cape Verde's suspended player usage (tsk-tsk) and although Eto'o retired, he's decided to come back.

Nice one, Vegas...

Mexico is in trouble! Only one win in their group and they've got Panama at Estadio Azteca tonight. Barry Glendenning looks at the El Tri mayhem.

William Zaha. Remember that guy? Tore shit up at Palace, Manchester United paid £15million for him, now he sits on the bench. For United and for England's Under-21s against San Marino. Ouch.

Unlike almost every other league on the planet, the United States' top division does not take a break when there are international fixtures. American exceptionalism, you see.

And finally, we'll believe this when we see it.

Enjoy that weekend, peeps!

-SSN