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| The Three Lions The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. |
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 11-16-2007, 04:40 PM | #88 (permalink) | ||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Euro 2008 in the balance for Italy, France and England Written by: AFP
Israel's hosting of Russia and Italy's visit to Scotland will have implications for all four of those teams - with a place at next summer's European Championships at stake for three of them. But the results of those matches could also go a long way in deciding whether England, France and Italy get to travel to next summer's footballing extravaganza in Switzerland and Austria. Russia, third in group E, could leave Steve McClaren's under-achieving England deeper in the mire by becoming one of the few teams to beat Israel at home. A victory in Tel Aviv would leave Russia one point ahead of England in group E. As Russia's final group match is against lowly Andorra, most observers would see them as virtually qualified. If Russia lose in Israel, England need just a draw or victory against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday to secure their last-minute ticket. Under-fire McClaren has been given support from most of his players this weeek, and insisted Thursday: "I believe Israel or even Macedonia (against Croatia) will get a result on Saturday which leaves us needing a win to go through. That's what we are training for." Scotland have not featured at a major championships since their first round exit from the 1998 World Cup, won by the hosts France. But after stunning Raymond Domenech's 'Bleus' twice in group B, the final group fixture for Alex McLeish's men - against world champions Italy at Hampden - leaves them on the cusp of causing one of the biggest upsets of the year. A Scotland win would see them through but a draw would leave McLeish still in with a chance of qualifying his men - if Ukraine shock France next Wednesday. Despite Italy's pedigree, the Scots' swagger is back - and McLeish believes they can stun the reigning world champions, and thus leave 1998 world champions France with a major headache. "The players are refreshingly confident and have great self belief in their abilities. They have a swagger and there's a cutting edge about them," said McLeish. Italy need only a draw to ensure they qualify, before their final match at home to the Faroe Islands next Wednesday. And Italy striker Luca Toni played down claims by France's outspoken manager Raymond Domenech that both teams would play for a draw. "It would be better if Domenech concentrated on getting his own house in order. There's no way we're going to try and play for a draw so his words mean nothing to us," said Toni. "We know it's going to be tough in Glasgow and the crowd will be against us, but it's winner takes all and we're very confident in our abilities." While Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany and reigning European champions Greece have already qualified, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden have yet to book their tickets. Spain host an injury-hit Sweden, the group F leaders, in Madrid looking for the win that would qualify them and make up for their 2-0 defeat in Solna and shock 3-2 defeat to Northern Ireland. A draw between Northern Ireland and Denmark in another crucial group F game would send both Spain and Sweden through regardless of the outcome of their respective last games next week. Surprise group A leaders Poland will secure qualification with victory over Belgium, although a slip-up by Leo Beenhakker's side could open the door to second placed Portugal, Serbia or Finland. While Romania have qualified from group G, the Netherlands, in second place, are second in group G, and odds-on to beat Luxembourg. A win, coupled with a Romania victory over third placed Bulgaria would give the Dutch - who famously missed qualification for the 1964 European Championships after a 2-1 defeat in 1963 by the Duchy - a ticket to their fifth successive Euro. Fixtures Group A Finland v Azerbaijan, Poland v Belgium, Serbia v Kazakhstan, Portugal v Armenia Group B Scotland v Italy, Lithuania v Ukraine Group C Moldova v Hungary, Norway v Turkey, Greece v Malta Group D Wales v Republic of Ireland, Germany v Cyprus, Czech Republic v Slovakia Group E Andorra v Estonia, Israel v Russia, Macedonia v Croatia Group F Latvia v Liechtenstein, Northern Ireland v Denmark, Spain v Sweden Group G Bulgaria v Romania, Albania v Belarus, Netherlands v Luxembourg | ||||||
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| 11-16-2007, 04:41 PM | #89 (permalink) | ||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | England NT Latest news Euro 2008 in the balance for Italy, France and England Written by: AFP
Israel's hosting of Russia and Italy's visit to Scotland will have implications for all four of those teams - with a place at next summer's European Championships at stake for three of them. But the results of those matches could also go a long way in deciding whether England, France and Italy get to travel to next summer's footballing extravaganza in Switzerland and Austria. Russia, third in group E, could leave Steve McClaren's under-achieving England deeper in the mire by becoming one of the few teams to beat Israel at home. A victory in Tel Aviv would leave Russia one point ahead of England in group E. As Russia's final group match is against lowly Andorra, most observers would see them as virtually qualified. If Russia lose in Israel, England need just a draw or victory against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday to secure their last-minute ticket. Under-fire McClaren has been given support from most of his players this weeek, and insisted Thursday: "I believe Israel or even Macedonia (against Croatia) will get a result on Saturday which leaves us needing a win to go through. That's what we are training for." Scotland have not featured at a major championships since their first round exit from the 1998 World Cup, won by the hosts France. But after stunning Raymond Domenech's 'Bleus' twice in group B, the final group fixture for Alex McLeish's men - against world champions Italy at Hampden - leaves them on the cusp of causing one of the biggest upsets of the year. A Scotland win would see them through but a draw would leave McLeish still in with a chance of qualifying his men - if Ukraine shock France next Wednesday. Despite Italy's pedigree, the Scots' swagger is back - and McLeish believes they can stun the reigning world champions, and thus leave 1998 world champions France with a major headache. "The players are refreshingly confident and have great self belief in their abilities. They have a swagger and there's a cutting edge about them," said McLeish. Italy need only a draw to ensure they qualify, before their final match at home to the Faroe Islands next Wednesday. And Italy striker Luca Toni played down claims by France's outspoken manager Raymond Domenech that both teams would play for a draw. "It would be better if Domenech concentrated on getting his own house in order. There's no way we're going to try and play for a draw so his words mean nothing to us," said Toni. "We know it's going to be tough in Glasgow and the crowd will be against us, but it's winner takes all and we're very confident in our abilities." While Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany and reigning European champions Greece have already qualified, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden have yet to book their tickets. Spain host an injury-hit Sweden, the group F leaders, in Madrid looking for the win that would qualify them and make up for their 2-0 defeat in Solna and shock 3-2 defeat to Northern Ireland. A draw between Northern Ireland and Denmark in another crucial group F game would send both Spain and Sweden through regardless of the outcome of their respective last games next week. Surprise group A leaders Poland will secure qualification with victory over Belgium, although a slip-up by Leo Beenhakker's side could open the door to second placed Portugal, Serbia or Finland. While Romania have qualified from group G, the Netherlands, in second place, are second in group G, and odds-on to beat Luxembourg. A win, coupled with a Romania victory over third placed Bulgaria would give the Dutch - who famously missed qualification for the 1964 European Championships after a 2-1 defeat in 1963 by the Duchy - a ticket to their fifth successive Euro. Fixtures Group A Finland v Azerbaijan, Poland v Belgium, Serbia v Kazakhstan, Portugal v Armenia Group B Scotland v Italy, Lithuania v Ukraine Group C Moldova v Hungary, Norway v Turkey, Greece v Malta Group D Wales v Republic of Ireland, Germany v Cyprus, Czech Republic v Slovakia Group E Andorra v Estonia, Israel v Russia, Macedonia v Croatia Group F Latvia v Liechtenstein, Northern Ireland v Denmark, Spain v Sweden Group G Bulgaria v Romania, Albania v Belarus, Netherlands v Luxembourg | ||||||
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| 11-16-2007, 04:51 PM | #90 (permalink) | ||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | England face Austria as they await their Euro 2008 fate England face Austria as they await their Euro 2008 fate Written by: AFP
Instead, the match England will play against Austria here on Friday evening could come to be regarded as the mother of all meaningless friendlies. No matter how sharply they perform in the Austrian capital, Steve McClaren's men know that 24 hours later they could be facing up to the fact that they will not be returning to either Austria or Switzerland next summer. If Russia beat Israel in Tel Aviv on Saturday and Croatia secure a point in Macedonia, a generation of England stars once regarded as potential world-beaters will be looking forward to an unwanted summer of leisure while the rest of Europe's top players take in the Alpine air. "To be sitting at home watching that tournament would be a nightmare," acknowledged Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool midfielder who will stand in as captain here in the absence of the injured John Terry. "From an international point of view it would be the biggest disappointment of my career." Given that Israel have little to play for, the odds must be on Russia getting the win that would leave them needing only to beat minnows Andorra in their final group game to clinch one of the top two spots in group E. Provided Macedonia do not pull off a shock win against Croatia in Skopje, that would mean England will have to turn up at Wembley for a match against the Croats which will give disgruntled supporters the perfect opportunity to vent their anger at their under-performing heroes. Despite the frustrating circumstances, Gerrard is happy to be involved in Friday's fixture. "I think it will help," he said. "It helps to take the focus off the Israel and Russia game and also Croatia. "It's a chance to play another international game and get a win and breed some confidence. I could be sitting here on Monday a couple of days away from one of the biggest internationals ever so we need some kind of preparation." Michael Owen, who is expected to be paired with Peter Crouch in attack in the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney, echoed Gerrard's comments, while admitting that thoughts of just how unpleasant Wednesday's match against Croatia could be had entered his head. "It could be a tough night for a number of reasons," he said. "You don't want to go out at Wembley with nothing but pride to play for. "There is no hiding the fact we should be qualifying out of this group but it is easy to think 'What if?'. "We are talking about hypotheticals. There is a lot of uncertainty around at the moment but we have to stay positive. "If someone did us a favour on Saturday and we weren't in the right frame of mind to take advantage on Wednesday, it would be criminal." McClaren, who is widely expected to be dismissed if England's failure is confirmed, is expected to take a look at Scott Carson in goal, although Paul Robinson will return if there is anything to play for in the match against Croatia. With John Terry injured and Rio Ferdinand suspended for the Croatia game, England will also have an unfamiliar look in defence with Sol Campbell and Joleon Lescott expected to occupy the central berths and Wayne Bridge at left-back. McClaren's pre-emptive campaign to save his job has been bolstered by support from some of his leading players in recent days. A convincing win over Austria would certainly not harm his cause but the reality is that events in Vienna will have little bearing on the looming decision about his future. | ||||||
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