England succumbed to a defeat this week which may end the nation’s hopes of reaching Euro 2008 after being stunned by a second half Russian comeback in Luzhniki. The 2-1 reverse leaves England second in the group on 23 points behind Croatia on 26. England will now have to hope other results go their way if they are to qualify as Croatia and third place Russia (on 21 points) have a game in hand over England. The team played well on an unfamiliar synthetic surface, particularly the restored Sol Campbell and the tireless Joe Cole as England stifled attacks, defended manfully and even took the lead with a wonderfully taken goal by Wayne Rooney thirty minutes in. For an hour England were rarely troubled and it looked as though Russia would be left struggling to qualify. However, after increased pressure on the hour mark, the panic button was hit hard and for 10 minutes England lost their composure and the ability to manage the tempo of proceedings. Substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has a prolific record at the stadium, took full advantage stunning England with 2 goals in 5 minutes. England had good chances before and after Russia’s onslaught but ultimately, after the brief frantic period, the damage had been done.
In the immediate aftermath the blame was put squarely on the shoulders of Wayne Rooney and Paul Robinson. Football experts deemed that the result hinged on two errors, leading to Pavlyuchenko’s two goals, although in hindsight this represents a failure to credit Russia and their manager Guus Hiddink with the tactical praise they deserved. Russia’s first goal was a dubious penalty following a tumble from Konstantin Zyryanov. Rooney, covering for Joe Cole on the left, lost concentration for a vital few seconds and Zyryanov sped onto a pass behind the England striker. He was hauled down in a desperate attempt from Rooney to claw back the yards his mental lapse had cost. It was a legitimate foul from a forward player out of position and was foolishly committed, although replays showed the offence clearly happened outside the penalty area. It had looked a questionable decision in real-time too but there were few complaints by Rooney or the other England players even though the linesman did not flag. Instead it was the referee, some distance away, who instantly pointed to the spot, much to McClaren’s fury, ‘It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s outside the box. The linesman didn’t give it. It was the referee from quite some distance. Things like that turn games.’ Worse was to follow for McLaren and England after Pavlyuchenko dispatched his first of the night past the crisis-strewn Robinson from the spot.
With England backs against the wall clearances were now being hoofed and sliced anywhere, while the Russians kept supplying their number 10 Andrey Arshavin with possession and he tried a number of keys to unlock England’s back door. As the shots continued to rain in, finally one wasn’t blocked by the impressive Ferdinand or Campbell as Vasily Berezutsky poked a shot goal wards. There was average power in the strike and it came at a comfortable height and reach to Paul Robinson, although there was a fair amount of spin on the wet ball. While a more composed and settled keeper may have attempted to catch or at least parry the ball to safety, the ‘England number 1’ (which sounds more and more like a cruel joke these days) could only fumble the ball into the six yard box. Pavlyuchenko showed the sharpest reflexes, beating the lunging Joleon Lescott to stab home the all-important second goal. McClaren’s faith in an underperforming keeper has cost England and many will feel it was an accident waiting to happen given the Spurs man’s prolonged series of errors. Unfortunately no proven alternative has shone to wrest the position from Robinson, with the only genuine contender David James infamous for going from the sublime to the ridiculous (think Portsmouth 7 Reading 4).
There are now serious repercussions for Steve McLaren and if England fails to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since 1994 he will surely be asked to leave his post. It may point to his failings at the very highest level when you contrast the post-match comments from McLaren and Russia’s Guus Hiddink. Hiddink the master tactician, has had great success with getting the best from inferior footballing nations in the past, such as South Korea and Australia, and he revealed his specific approach to maximise his side’s effect against England, ‘in the first half we had two strikers and they were playing with Lescott rather inside as a central defender with Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell. So in the first half we had a lot of space on the right side and so we could penetrate there…That was why I changed it at half-time; they were vulnerable that side. And I like making Joe Cole a left full-back: you get rid of one of their attackers. That is why we damaged them.’
The Dutchman’s comments demonstrated how he carefully constructed Russia’s setup in response to the way England lined up, adapting it as the game developed so that his side forced England back. McLaren on the other hand, in what has become a typically bland response said, ‘I can’t reflect in the detail right now. I have not seen the flow of the game. That decision cost us. We went from that to losing the game.’ Rather, than analyse tactical failings or plans that did or did not materialise in the game, he simply looked for an excuse or a scapegoat. McClaren holds a UEFA A licence coaching badge, and I am far from saying he is inept but he has never shown publicly his application and knowledge of specific technical insight in the same way that someone like Hiddink has. Sometimes though, luck too has a cruel role to play and McClaren has not had much of that – Robinson’s freak miss-kick against Croatia (which was the catalyst for his ruined confidence), injuries to key players (Owen, Terry, Neville) and referee mistakes (Rooney’s trip outside the box) have disrupted the campaign.
It has been a harsh tenure in charge of England for McLaren. The team did not deserve to lose against Russia and in recent times the players have found a balance and cohesion, playing good football and the fans have been won over after a post-World Cup depression. However, after a poor start to qualification England needed to have a faultless campaign thereafter and those early results are now the ones which may lose McLaren his job. Captain Steven Gerrard was left pondering what might have been had his volley 8 yards out at 1-0 gone in and spoke for us all when he said, ‘It’s unthinkable that we could have a European Championship without England being there…’. Unthinkable yes, but now also quite probable too. Come on Israel!
Thursday 18 October 2007
Monday 15 October 2007
Bolton Bothered, Ten Cate joins Chelsea, Dida in the Dock and Mascherano's magic
Brief News
A proverbial mole hill may be turning into a mountain for underperforming Bolton Wanderers, as their beleaguered boss Sammy Lee comes under increasing pressure to maintain control and respect towards his position within the club. Since the resignation of Sam Allardyce many supporters have not been overenthusiastic about the credentials of the new boss, and it now appears that certain players in the club have feelings along the same lines. Gary Speed, who was appointed first-team coach at the start of the season appears to hold the greatest respect and trust with those in and around the club and this is seriously undermining Lee’s position as top dog. Bolton’s awful start to the season has done little to help this either. Speed clearly has his eyes on becoming the Bolton boss when his playing days draw to a close – of which there are not many left. And when Lee publicly called for a backing of loyalty from Speed (the senior playing representative at the club) it was followed by a less than rousing response. Then this week, following a series of arguments with Lee over new training regimes that many players, including Kevin Nolan and Ivan Campo, were not happy or impressed with, Speed quit his job as coach. Bolton now go to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal next weekend where defeat may prove to be the final nail in the coffin for Sammy Lee. Chairman Phil Gartside is reportedly very disappointed that Lee has alienated an influential figure within the club and caused a divide. In a plea for mercy which had the feeling of one man against the world, Lee battled ‘I hear things about my methods but I’ve been with these lads for two years and I’ve been at the FA and with Liverpool. All I’m trying to do is make sure we can compete on all fronts. People are trying to undermine what we are trying to do.’ Looks like mutiny on the Bolton bounty!
As was mentioned as a possibility last week, Henk Ten Cate has indeed joined the coaching staff at Chelsea. Avram Grant, under oil-baron instruction, will aim to inject some of the flair of Europe’s more fanciful team’s like Barcelona by employing their ex-coaches. It makes you wonder though, why didn’t Mr Abramovich just go out and buy Barcelona in the first place? And be done with it. It would have saved him a lot of bother trying to impose an easy-on-the-eye style to Chelsea’s play when the culture of the club’s recent history is anything but. With Ten Cate involved there will be an evident increase in flair and creative license from the team, in terms of formations (Ten Cate favours the typically Dutch attacking 4-3-3) and skill on the ball. ‘Nearly everybody played 4-3-3 when I started out so I was pretty much raised in that offensive system and thinking. I have always played at clubs that played attractive football and did not depend on brute force.’ Ten Cate said in his arrival at Stamford Bridge. This will be great news for players such as Joe Cole and Shawn Wright-Phillips who possess a trick or two but were told to keep them for the training ground by Mourinho. It will be disappointing too for both Ten Cate and Chelsea fans that Arjen Robben was hastily sold off under a cloud in the summer as he would have surely been given the opportunity to shine at full capacity under the new management. Robben’s creativity was criminally under-used at Chelsea and he is proving now at Real Madrid, how good he really is when in full flight.
Ten Cate is bound to bring some excitement to the Premier League but ass yet he is fairly unknown entity. Despite glorious success with Barcelona as assistant to Frank Rijkaard, winning the league and Champions League in 2005, he has endured a disastrous spell since as manager of Ajax. Already slightly off the pace at the top of the Eredivisie under Ten Cate, the once formidable side of European football were knocked out of the Champions League and the booby prized UEFA Cup at the first hurdle. Chelsea will hope that Ten Cate’s best role lies with him as a number two, where he made a name for himself at Sparta Rotterdam and NAC Breda before joining Barcelona. Finally, one thing Chelsea might not know about Ten Cate is his explosive temper, Jan Luijkx fired by the Dutchman while at NAC Breda explains, ‘Ten Cate manages to kick up a row every day, and not only with me. He treats people with contempt and always blames someone else.’ After the glamour of Mourinho and ‘the special one’ it looks like Chelsea under Grant and Ten Cate has ‘the grumpy ones’.
Meanwhile, back at the Performing Arts School of Excellence for beginners, Dida the delayed reaction anti-hero, has been hit with a ban by UEFA for his involvement in the fan versus goalie clash at Hampden Park last week. The Brazilian was tapped on the chest by a fan who had invaded the pitch in a worryingly easily breach of security, however Dida became the real villain, albeit comedic and desperate, when he decided to feign a life threatening injury as a result. UEFA have given him a 2 match ban from the Champions League, stating to player and club AC Milan that, ‘member associations, clubs, as well as their players, officials and members, shall conduct themselves according to the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship.’ Dida had first attempted to chase the fan before deciding that faking injury would be the most sensible approach to diffusing the situation. Celtic, for their failure to control the crowd were handed a £25,000 fine and the supporter in question Robert McHendry has been banned by the club for life and charged by the police for a breach of the peace. Back at school Performing Arts Head Rivaldo was delighted with his pupil’s progress if not for the outcome.
Javier Mascherano, who has performed like a different being since his West Ham days, has urged Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez to sign him on a permanent deal. Currently Mascherano is on an 18 month loan at Anfield from Kia Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investments Group which runs out late next year. The loan move cost Liverpool £1.5million but if they want to sign the Argentine midfield enforcer full-time they will need to cough up in the region of £17million! Mascherano said ‘I love playing for Liverpool and if the manager wants to keep me then I’d definitely stay for a long time. I’m very happy here. I feel settled and would like to play in the new stadium when it opens.’ This season he has become the player West Ham thought they were getting in 2006, showing a tough, uncompromising aspect to compliment his South American technique. This form does much to explain why on his arrival at West Ham he was being touted as one of the most promising defensive midfielders around. Although not an imposing figure, standing at just 5 foot 8, he is ferocious in the tackle, constantly biting away to get the ball, breaking up play and playing easy short passes. He also has bags of energy which means he will chase down opponents all day for his team. Regardless of the fee, Rafa would do well to sign the player, in Mascherano Benitez even has a fellow advocate of his much-maligned rotation system, ‘In South America, rotation isn’t such a problem…he’s always used rotation. Why would he stop working that way when it has brought him so much success here and at Valencia?’ At present, surely that is reason enough alone for Rafa to get his wallet out.
A proverbial mole hill may be turning into a mountain for underperforming Bolton Wanderers, as their beleaguered boss Sammy Lee comes under increasing pressure to maintain control and respect towards his position within the club. Since the resignation of Sam Allardyce many supporters have not been overenthusiastic about the credentials of the new boss, and it now appears that certain players in the club have feelings along the same lines. Gary Speed, who was appointed first-team coach at the start of the season appears to hold the greatest respect and trust with those in and around the club and this is seriously undermining Lee’s position as top dog. Bolton’s awful start to the season has done little to help this either. Speed clearly has his eyes on becoming the Bolton boss when his playing days draw to a close – of which there are not many left. And when Lee publicly called for a backing of loyalty from Speed (the senior playing representative at the club) it was followed by a less than rousing response. Then this week, following a series of arguments with Lee over new training regimes that many players, including Kevin Nolan and Ivan Campo, were not happy or impressed with, Speed quit his job as coach. Bolton now go to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal next weekend where defeat may prove to be the final nail in the coffin for Sammy Lee. Chairman Phil Gartside is reportedly very disappointed that Lee has alienated an influential figure within the club and caused a divide. In a plea for mercy which had the feeling of one man against the world, Lee battled ‘I hear things about my methods but I’ve been with these lads for two years and I’ve been at the FA and with Liverpool. All I’m trying to do is make sure we can compete on all fronts. People are trying to undermine what we are trying to do.’ Looks like mutiny on the Bolton bounty!
As was mentioned as a possibility last week, Henk Ten Cate has indeed joined the coaching staff at Chelsea. Avram Grant, under oil-baron instruction, will aim to inject some of the flair of Europe’s more fanciful team’s like Barcelona by employing their ex-coaches. It makes you wonder though, why didn’t Mr Abramovich just go out and buy Barcelona in the first place? And be done with it. It would have saved him a lot of bother trying to impose an easy-on-the-eye style to Chelsea’s play when the culture of the club’s recent history is anything but. With Ten Cate involved there will be an evident increase in flair and creative license from the team, in terms of formations (Ten Cate favours the typically Dutch attacking 4-3-3) and skill on the ball. ‘Nearly everybody played 4-3-3 when I started out so I was pretty much raised in that offensive system and thinking. I have always played at clubs that played attractive football and did not depend on brute force.’ Ten Cate said in his arrival at Stamford Bridge. This will be great news for players such as Joe Cole and Shawn Wright-Phillips who possess a trick or two but were told to keep them for the training ground by Mourinho. It will be disappointing too for both Ten Cate and Chelsea fans that Arjen Robben was hastily sold off under a cloud in the summer as he would have surely been given the opportunity to shine at full capacity under the new management. Robben’s creativity was criminally under-used at Chelsea and he is proving now at Real Madrid, how good he really is when in full flight.
Ten Cate is bound to bring some excitement to the Premier League but ass yet he is fairly unknown entity. Despite glorious success with Barcelona as assistant to Frank Rijkaard, winning the league and Champions League in 2005, he has endured a disastrous spell since as manager of Ajax. Already slightly off the pace at the top of the Eredivisie under Ten Cate, the once formidable side of European football were knocked out of the Champions League and the booby prized UEFA Cup at the first hurdle. Chelsea will hope that Ten Cate’s best role lies with him as a number two, where he made a name for himself at Sparta Rotterdam and NAC Breda before joining Barcelona. Finally, one thing Chelsea might not know about Ten Cate is his explosive temper, Jan Luijkx fired by the Dutchman while at NAC Breda explains, ‘Ten Cate manages to kick up a row every day, and not only with me. He treats people with contempt and always blames someone else.’ After the glamour of Mourinho and ‘the special one’ it looks like Chelsea under Grant and Ten Cate has ‘the grumpy ones’.
Meanwhile, back at the Performing Arts School of Excellence for beginners, Dida the delayed reaction anti-hero, has been hit with a ban by UEFA for his involvement in the fan versus goalie clash at Hampden Park last week. The Brazilian was tapped on the chest by a fan who had invaded the pitch in a worryingly easily breach of security, however Dida became the real villain, albeit comedic and desperate, when he decided to feign a life threatening injury as a result. UEFA have given him a 2 match ban from the Champions League, stating to player and club AC Milan that, ‘member associations, clubs, as well as their players, officials and members, shall conduct themselves according to the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship.’ Dida had first attempted to chase the fan before deciding that faking injury would be the most sensible approach to diffusing the situation. Celtic, for their failure to control the crowd were handed a £25,000 fine and the supporter in question Robert McHendry has been banned by the club for life and charged by the police for a breach of the peace. Back at school Performing Arts Head Rivaldo was delighted with his pupil’s progress if not for the outcome.
Javier Mascherano, who has performed like a different being since his West Ham days, has urged Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez to sign him on a permanent deal. Currently Mascherano is on an 18 month loan at Anfield from Kia Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investments Group which runs out late next year. The loan move cost Liverpool £1.5million but if they want to sign the Argentine midfield enforcer full-time they will need to cough up in the region of £17million! Mascherano said ‘I love playing for Liverpool and if the manager wants to keep me then I’d definitely stay for a long time. I’m very happy here. I feel settled and would like to play in the new stadium when it opens.’ This season he has become the player West Ham thought they were getting in 2006, showing a tough, uncompromising aspect to compliment his South American technique. This form does much to explain why on his arrival at West Ham he was being touted as one of the most promising defensive midfielders around. Although not an imposing figure, standing at just 5 foot 8, he is ferocious in the tackle, constantly biting away to get the ball, breaking up play and playing easy short passes. He also has bags of energy which means he will chase down opponents all day for his team. Regardless of the fee, Rafa would do well to sign the player, in Mascherano Benitez even has a fellow advocate of his much-maligned rotation system, ‘In South America, rotation isn’t such a problem…he’s always used rotation. Why would he stop working that way when it has brought him so much success here and at Valencia?’ At present, surely that is reason enough alone for Rafa to get his wallet out.
Euro 2008 Round-Up
This week saw a break from the Premier League campaign as Euro 2008 qualifying reached the business end, providing satisfying results for both England and the Scots. Republic of Ireland’s chances now looked doomed though as they only managed to draw with Germany 0-0 at Croke Park, while Wales were less than majestic, slumping to a 3-1 defeat to Cyprus.
So, after much debate and over-inflated media attention, Michael Owen did in fact play on Saturday in England’s 3-0 victory over Estonia. As a precaution Steve McClaren took the injury-prone striker off after 70 minutes and I’m sure Owen will have been gutted not to have scored against Mart Poom and his merry men. There is more than a sneaking suspicion that Owen, with the not too distant scent of glory and the all-time England scoring record in the offing, insisted he play in the expectation that he would be closer to owning this record by full-time. He played well enough though, stitches and all, and looked a sharp threat, which he will have to be on Wednesday against Russia. England’s next game in Russia has shaped up to be the most important game for the side in recent times and qualification hinges on their success in Moscow. Matters have not been helped by the confirmation that the game will be played on an artificial, plastic pitch. Although meeting UEFA standards, these plastic pitches are notorious for aggravating injuries (the ever constant thorn in England’s efforts); the bounce of the ball is also very different and unnatural and if fallen on produces nasty cuts. In particular there are fears for Paul Robinson, who describes the fixtures as, ‘a learning experience for us all’. The goalkeeper is short of confidence and has not been put under pressure in England’s last few games which would have helped get it back. Club form has been erratic and the skidding, bouncing surface is a real cause for concern for the English defence, while it will greatly encourage speculative efforts from the Russians. It felt to the wise mind of Joe Cole to put the worries of the artificial pitch into perspective, ‘For me, the ball is going to be round and it’s leather, so there’s no excuses really.’ Quite right Joe, well said.
There is a current renaissance in Scottish football right now, with James McFadden as the poster boy to the nations long lost appetite for international qualification. Following Saturday’s impressive 3-1 win over Ukraine Scotland lead a group containing the two World Cup 2006 finalists Italy and France, and need just 4 points to secure their passage to Euro 2008. McFadden scored his 13th goal for Scotland on Saturday, which manager Alex McLeish called ‘a belter’ and has produced a string of match-winning performances in the qualifiers so far. Allied to McFadden’s input it has been, in typically Scottish style, the ingredients of dogged tenacity and a ‘never say die’ attitude that have combined to grind out unexpected results and garner renewed optimism for an appearance in a first international competition since World Cup 1998. However, despite an impressive points haul Scotland must win in Tbilisi, Georgia on Wednesday and also need to get something out of a home tie with Italy, or rely on France not gaining maximum points from their last two fixtures (Lithuania & Ukraine). It has been a valiant effort nonetheless and Scottish fans will take heart from their team’s efforts in a very tough group.
A resilient attempt to qualify fell flat for Republic of Ireland in Group D as they could only draw 0-0 with Germany, all but ending their chances of going through from the group. And there were chances on offer too in this game, notably Robbie Keane spurning the best of them as, when one-on-one with Jens Lehmann he gave up on converting the goal as he thought he was offside. The result was little more than a chipped shot into the German’s hands, when he could easily have won the match for the Republic. A draw was good enough to seal qualification for the Germans, although Lehmann’s club and country future is less certain after national coach Joachim Low insisted he start for Arsenal or switch clubs if he wanted to retain his place. For Jens Lehmann, he can no longer hide behind the excuse that he is not playing club football because of injury and sent out a message to the Arsenal manager, ‘I am fully fit and I expect to be back against Bolton. Wenger has not told me anything but I am here now and I expect him to play me, so no worries.’ It will be interesting to see how such unabashed arrogance goes down with the Arsenal manager, especially following several high-profile Lehmann errors in the Premiership and the consistent good form of understudy Manuel Almunia.
Still suffering from the repercussions of ‘Grannygate’, reported to you on these pages some weeks ago, Manchester City and Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland withdrew from the squad to play Germany and Cyprus citing a psychological battle. During the last round of international fixtures Ireland had first withdrawn from the squad because of the death of his grandmother, however this was found to be untrue as she was alive and well. Ireland proceeded to change his story several times, falsely proclaiming the deaths of his other grandmother and an ex-partner of his granddads - eventually Ireland revealed he had wanted to travel home to be with his girlfriend. The Republic also lost the game Ireland missed 1-0, seriously damaging their hopes of going through from the group. He was granted permission to be omitted this time though, and his reasoning was this time considered as genuine by the national manager Steve Staunton, ‘We know that Stephen has got problems and at this moment in time he’s not mentally ready or prepared to play for his country.’ A word of warning to Mr. Ireland though, is careful what you wish for as you may soon end up with more time off than you’d like.
Home nations’ results and fixtures…
Cyprus 3-1 Wales
Okkas 59, 68 Collins 21
Charalampidis 79
England 3-0 Estonia
Wright-Phillips 11
Rooney 32
Rahn 33 o.g.
Rep. of Ireland 0-0 Germany
Scotland 3-1 Ukraine
Miller 4 Shevchenko 24
McCulloch 10
McFadden 68
Wednesday 17th October
Georgia vs. Scotland
Rep. of Ireland vs. Cyprus
Russia vs. England
San Marino vs. Wales
Sweden vs. Northern Ireland
So, after much debate and over-inflated media attention, Michael Owen did in fact play on Saturday in England’s 3-0 victory over Estonia. As a precaution Steve McClaren took the injury-prone striker off after 70 minutes and I’m sure Owen will have been gutted not to have scored against Mart Poom and his merry men. There is more than a sneaking suspicion that Owen, with the not too distant scent of glory and the all-time England scoring record in the offing, insisted he play in the expectation that he would be closer to owning this record by full-time. He played well enough though, stitches and all, and looked a sharp threat, which he will have to be on Wednesday against Russia. England’s next game in Russia has shaped up to be the most important game for the side in recent times and qualification hinges on their success in Moscow. Matters have not been helped by the confirmation that the game will be played on an artificial, plastic pitch. Although meeting UEFA standards, these plastic pitches are notorious for aggravating injuries (the ever constant thorn in England’s efforts); the bounce of the ball is also very different and unnatural and if fallen on produces nasty cuts. In particular there are fears for Paul Robinson, who describes the fixtures as, ‘a learning experience for us all’. The goalkeeper is short of confidence and has not been put under pressure in England’s last few games which would have helped get it back. Club form has been erratic and the skidding, bouncing surface is a real cause for concern for the English defence, while it will greatly encourage speculative efforts from the Russians. It felt to the wise mind of Joe Cole to put the worries of the artificial pitch into perspective, ‘For me, the ball is going to be round and it’s leather, so there’s no excuses really.’ Quite right Joe, well said.
There is a current renaissance in Scottish football right now, with James McFadden as the poster boy to the nations long lost appetite for international qualification. Following Saturday’s impressive 3-1 win over Ukraine Scotland lead a group containing the two World Cup 2006 finalists Italy and France, and need just 4 points to secure their passage to Euro 2008. McFadden scored his 13th goal for Scotland on Saturday, which manager Alex McLeish called ‘a belter’ and has produced a string of match-winning performances in the qualifiers so far. Allied to McFadden’s input it has been, in typically Scottish style, the ingredients of dogged tenacity and a ‘never say die’ attitude that have combined to grind out unexpected results and garner renewed optimism for an appearance in a first international competition since World Cup 1998. However, despite an impressive points haul Scotland must win in Tbilisi, Georgia on Wednesday and also need to get something out of a home tie with Italy, or rely on France not gaining maximum points from their last two fixtures (Lithuania & Ukraine). It has been a valiant effort nonetheless and Scottish fans will take heart from their team’s efforts in a very tough group.
A resilient attempt to qualify fell flat for Republic of Ireland in Group D as they could only draw 0-0 with Germany, all but ending their chances of going through from the group. And there were chances on offer too in this game, notably Robbie Keane spurning the best of them as, when one-on-one with Jens Lehmann he gave up on converting the goal as he thought he was offside. The result was little more than a chipped shot into the German’s hands, when he could easily have won the match for the Republic. A draw was good enough to seal qualification for the Germans, although Lehmann’s club and country future is less certain after national coach Joachim Low insisted he start for Arsenal or switch clubs if he wanted to retain his place. For Jens Lehmann, he can no longer hide behind the excuse that he is not playing club football because of injury and sent out a message to the Arsenal manager, ‘I am fully fit and I expect to be back against Bolton. Wenger has not told me anything but I am here now and I expect him to play me, so no worries.’ It will be interesting to see how such unabashed arrogance goes down with the Arsenal manager, especially following several high-profile Lehmann errors in the Premiership and the consistent good form of understudy Manuel Almunia.
Still suffering from the repercussions of ‘Grannygate’, reported to you on these pages some weeks ago, Manchester City and Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland withdrew from the squad to play Germany and Cyprus citing a psychological battle. During the last round of international fixtures Ireland had first withdrawn from the squad because of the death of his grandmother, however this was found to be untrue as she was alive and well. Ireland proceeded to change his story several times, falsely proclaiming the deaths of his other grandmother and an ex-partner of his granddads - eventually Ireland revealed he had wanted to travel home to be with his girlfriend. The Republic also lost the game Ireland missed 1-0, seriously damaging their hopes of going through from the group. He was granted permission to be omitted this time though, and his reasoning was this time considered as genuine by the national manager Steve Staunton, ‘We know that Stephen has got problems and at this moment in time he’s not mentally ready or prepared to play for his country.’ A word of warning to Mr. Ireland though, is careful what you wish for as you may soon end up with more time off than you’d like.
Home nations’ results and fixtures…
Cyprus 3-1 Wales
Okkas 59, 68 Collins 21
Charalampidis 79
England 3-0 Estonia
Wright-Phillips 11
Rooney 32
Rahn 33 o.g.
Rep. of Ireland 0-0 Germany
Scotland 3-1 Ukraine
Miller 4 Shevchenko 24
McCulloch 10
McFadden 68
Wednesday 17th October
Georgia vs. Scotland
Rep. of Ireland vs. Cyprus
Russia vs. England
San Marino vs. Wales
Sweden vs. Northern Ireland
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