I suppose you have to say that England’s victory on Saturday at Wembley was emphatic, was comprehensive and in the end it was easy but the players still had to do their job. However what you also have to say is that there will be much bigger and harder tests in the future for England an Steve McClaren but at least it was a great base and a starting point.

You would even have to say that the team selection was right. McClaren seemed to get his tactics right, the players performed well and the goals were great, especially Michael Owen’s, which was excellent. All the positives that come out of that are that it breeds confidence ahead of England’s next game against Russia on Wednesday night.

Michael Owen celebrates his spectacular goal on Saturday, his 38th in an England shirt.

How many of you would have picked Emile Heskey? Hands up! Hmm, no I wouldn’t have picked him either. But McClaren did and you do have to hold your hands up and admit Heskey was probably the Man of The Match. Hopefully McClaren picked Heskey because he saw a defensive frailty in the Israeli back line because Heskey certainly exploited it. Of course if there hadn’t been so many injuries for England, the name of Heskey probably wouldn’t have either entered McClaren’s head. But fair play to both of them, they got it right on the day.

This win by England should hopefully breed some well needed confidence for the all important games against Russia at Wembley on Wednesday. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if McClaren names an unchanged side . Well, why not? I know Russia is going to be a sterner test than Israel but the team he picked on Saturday stood up and did a good professional job. Rio Ferdinand, for one, will have to make sure England complete the job in hand on Wednesday night so he doesn’t give his club boss, Alex Ferguson any ammunition to make the defender’s life hell!

In other Euro 2008 qualifiers over the weekend the current World Champions Italy drew 0 - 0 with the team they beat in the Final, France. Germany also won whilst Spain, who were reduced to 10 men, were frustratingly held to a 1 - 1 draw in Iceland.

Holland also beat Bulgaria 2 - 0, Scotland beat Lithuania 3 - 1, whilst elsewhere there was an upset as Turkey could only draw 2 - 2 with lowly Malta.

You have to say the pick of those games was the World Cup Final replay at the San Siro in Milan. It was a game that was full of tension and passion, well hardly surprisingly really! The best chance of the game fell to Filippo Inzaghi but his touch deserted him on his home ground as he hit the bar after 30 minutes.

More chance fell to the Italians through Del Piero and captain Fabio Cannavaro, whilst the best chances for the French fell to Nicolas Anelka. The draw helped France put a little bit of a dent in Italy’s qualifying hopes.

The French coach, Raymond Domenech (does anyone else think this guy looks like Martin O’Neil’s long lost twin, or is it just me?) watched the game from the stands because of a Uefa ban. The draw keeps his side top of the group with 19 points. In second place on 18 points are Scotland following their win over Lithuania, while Italy are on 17 points in third.

Germany have one foot already in the Finals following their 2 - 0 win over Wales in Cardiff. They top Group D with 22 points out of a possible total of 24. Not bad! The striker Miroslav Klose, who was the top scorer in last year’s World Cup in Germany, scored both goals.

The Czech Republic staked their claim to the group’s runners up spot beating 10 man San Marino 3 - 0 which meant they moved clear of Ireland who conceded a extra-time goal to draw 2 - 2 in Slovakia.

But the games at the weekend only threw up two surprises really, in Iceland and Malta. Spain lost their midfielder, Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso, for a red card after only 19 minutes. They then fell 1 - 0 down on the stroke of half time. Just as a very embarrassing defeat looked on the cards for Spain, they managed to snatch a point with an equaliser from Andres Iniesta in the 86th minute.

Spain’s draw will have provided a shred of comfort for Northern Ireland who stay in second place in Group F but level on points with Spain after they lost 1 - 0 to Latvia courtesy of an own goal.

In the other upset, Turkey draw in Malta only due to a 76th minute equaliser from Servet Cetin. Malta oh so close! The result left Turkey in third place in Group C.

Finally Poland, Group A leaders, also grabbed a late point in Portugal with a goal in the 87th minuted to make it 2 - 2.

Seconds out for round 2 on Wednesday!

The Soccer Blogger

England defender Rio Ferdinand has stated he is desperate to help England reach the Euro 2008 championships and avoid the shameful prospect of having his club boss Sir Alex Ferguson laughing at his and his country’s misfortune! As if a Scotsman would laugh at any England failure, please!

Steve McClaren’s England go into today’s qualifier against Israel at the new Wembley stadium knowing that they must produce a win to keep alive their hopes of making into next year’s Finals. England last failed to make a major Championship Finals 13 years ago when they couldn’t qualify for the 1994 World Cup held in the USA and Ferdinand can’t bring himself to consider the possibility of a repeat. And if you’re an England fan, quite frankly I would imagine you’re hoping the Ferdinand isn’t the only one of England’s team who think like that.

Ferdinand, the Manchester Utd defender admits his season would be ruined if England miss out and almost as bad for him, it would leave him at the mercy of his Scottish boss! Ferguson is, of course, a proud Scot, who would doubtless miss the opportunity to remind Ferdinand about any England downfall. Ferdinand has said, “God forbid we don’t qualify for this tournament. It would be a catastrophe really. It would be a massive disappointment for the players, the country and the fans. It would be devastating. Even walking into the training ground and seeing the manager would kill me. it’s his smirk. And I would have to see the others players who would be going to the tournament. it wouldn’t be a good place to be.”

And you can bet, now he’s opened his mouth, if England shouldn’t make it, his boss and all those other players are going to take the absolutely p*ss out of him. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut but I don’t think keeping quiet is one of Ferdinand’s strong points!

Anyway, England have claimed just two wins from their last nine matches and those came against Andorra and Estonia, hardly the most daunting of challenges (great going Steve!).

This was supposed to be the age of the “golden generation” but England are no way here living up to that mantle. Successive exits at the quarter-finals stages of Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 all point to the fact that England are no more than a decent team, however the country and most definitely the English Press, seem to automatically believe they are destined to win every game and every tournament, why? Some misguided believe that because you invent a game you should be allowed to win? England invented lots of games and they haven’t won too much over the years, have they. 2 Worlds Cups, one football one rugby and I don’t see that tally being added to any time soon.

While Ferdinand is adamant that the squad is talented enough to go the distance in a major tournament, he did concede that England’s perennial underachievement is a real source of concern. He continued by saying, “I’ve been frustrated because I don’t think we’ve ever fulfilled our potential (you can say that again!). We’ve never brought our club football together as a package with the England team. When each individual plays for their club they play fantastic football and we just need to get that into the England team. We need the confidence we have from our club football but we can’t do it overnight.

“I don’t know what it is. Every England manager has been trying to find the answer. We haven’t been able to pin it down.” May I suggest, it might be nothing more than England simply aren’t good enough at the moment!

“After the World Cup a lot of us sat down for a good few hours and talked about it. We said at the time we actually thought we were going to win the tournament. We were sitting there in the hotel and you reflect on the tournament. The boys had a few drinks, just relaxing after the game. It’s a numbness, like how the hell are we out of this tournament?

“You your asking yourself questions. A lot of the lads in the squad are very honest players and you are asking yourself whose fault it is.”

So with the group leaders Russia coming to Wembley on Wednesday, I think you’ll find the next week will go along way to deciding not only England’s fate in this competition but also that of Steve McClaren. If England don’t win these two games and fail to get to Euro 2008, McClaren will be sending out his CV again. Even if they do get through, he is not the man for the job, but that’s just my opinion. England have never recovered from not offering the job to Brian Clough all those years ago. Now he would have been an excellent England manager and why the FA couldn’t see that? Well, I think they knew he was an excellent manager, they just didn’t like his personality and were scared of him!

You have to say that the current manager is looking increasingly beleaguered and out of his depth as an International manager and he can’t afford any more slip ups. Ferdinand knows the players have their manager’s future in their hands, but he insists that they have to cope with that kind of pressure if they want to succeed at the highest international level.

“Playing for England is a different entity in terms of pressure and tension. There is so much history and nostalgia that goes with playing for your country.

“But I don’t dread playing for England. (Good to hear!) The attention and pressure that is on England is a different level from club football, but that is something you have got to deal with if you want to be successful.”

Will England be successfully over the next 5 crucial days or will Ferguson etc. make Ferdinand’s life a living hell? Personally I think he better stay in bed when Utd have their next training session!

The Soccer Blogger

I didn’t realise how long it had been since I last posted! Must have been an “end of season / Champions League” hangover type of thing!

Anyway, David Beckham….remember him? Steve McClaren does now because Beckham basically inspired England to a comfortable win over Estonia in Tallinn last night in their latest Euro08 qualifier and in so doing eased the pressure a little bit on the national manager.

However it was the Chelsea man Joe Cole broke the deadlock on 36 minutes when he chested down and turned on a Peter Crouch flick on at the near post. The shot, on the half volley, was clean and true and went in off the inside of the upright. Relief for England, their fans and most importantly for McClaren.

Peter Crouch then doubled England’s lead eight minutes after the break. He met a superb Beckham cross to head the ball back past Mark Poom. It was again Beckham, who appeared to be playing through the pain barrier at this point with an ankle injury, who then provided another excellent cross, this time for Michael Owen to steer the ball into the net with the outside of his right leg.

England were 3-0 up and home and dry. However you have to say that the game was probably over at 1-0 as Estonia, even though they played far more adventurously and better than Andorra did, they never looked like scoring really. They were very resilient and defended as if their lives depended on it but as an attacking option they were really non-existent. Until the last minute that is! They almost claimed their first goal of the qualifying campaign but John Terry cleared off the line from Tarmo Kink. Although he was inches away from putting the ball into his own net in the process. His clearance only just missed the post.

This display won’t set the world alight and have other countries worrying too much but it was a professional one from England and it that sets them up nicely for the crucial qualifying games against Croatia and Russia later this year.

And as well as Beckham confirming his return to the international stage before limping off with that ankle injury, Owen must also be extremely delighted to be back on the score sheet for England after being out of the England set-up for nearly a year after the injury he sustained in last year’s World Cup.

It must be said that Beckham was a major source of danger, despite struggling after twisting an ankle early on. As well as producing those two fine crosses, he also created confusion in the Estonia area in the 28th minute, keeper Mart Poom palming out his free-kick to Owen, but the striker was unable to turn home the rebound. He was replaced by Kieron Dyer on 67 minutes to an ovation from the England fans and that must have felt very good indeed.

The only other downside on England’s night was a late booking for Crouch which rules him out of the qualifier with Israel at Wembley in September. But then again, you could say that Crouch was probably only in the starting line-up here because Rooney had a one match suspension. Although McClaren, I’m sure won’t be happy that he won’t even be available as a sub. It was a stupid and needless booking and Crouch should have known better.

So a satisfactory evening for England. It was really one of those “can’t win” evening really. They were of course expected to win, so when they do, it’s simply a job well done but if they had struggled and drawn or even lost, they would have been pilloried and I suspect Steve McClaren would now be clearly out his desk. At least some good would have come out of it then!

For all the latest news on David Beckham please review the following links. I update these news items on Beckham on a daily basis for you or whenever there is a new story about him, which let’s face it is rather often! …..
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The Soccer Blogger

It has been revealed that England are to cut down on the number of friendly fixtures they play. Not surprised, they keep losing them!

From 2008 for four years they will play 18 friendlies instead of 20. Not much of a cut back is it? 10%, hardly seems worth it really.

Anyway, the England coach Steve McClaren, stated that he was in favour of the cut if it meant spending more time on training camps. I bet! Where are they going to be then Steve? La Manga? What a surprise! Beats losing again I suppose and he might as well enjoy going out to sunny Spain during the English winter for a few training camps whilst he can because I don’t see him still being in the job for too many of those 18 friendlies.

The Soccer Blogger

Despite their current problems off the pitch, see Catania Suffer Heavy Punishment, the Italian National team and current World Champions have knocked Brazil off the top of the FIFA World Rankings.

Brazil had remained at No. 1 for more than four years whilst this is the first time Italy have held the “crown” since 1993. Not sure why Italy weren’t ranked No.1 after actually winning the World Cup, but there you go!

There were no other major movers in the top 8 Ranking. England remained at No.6 behind the likes of Argentina, France and Germany.

The Soccer Blogger