England and McClaren Earn Points

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!

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Many thanks
Rik