THE ULTIMATE HUMILIATION

 

(Image taken from BBC)

Well we'd already been hammered once by Croatia in the Stadion Maksimir, one of the darker moments in our Euro 2008 qualifying Group E campaign. Since then we'd seemingly hauled ourselves back from the brink and faced the Balkan side at Wembley on course for Mitteleuropa. A draw and we'd been sorted. We went 4-5-1. SWP right mid, Gerrard, Barry and Lampard centre mid, Crouch up front. Pub packed an hour before kick off, all or nothing.

Well England had the first attack but crumbled soon after, Nico Kranjcar given the whole box to play in in the 8th minute. 1-0 Croatia and it became 2 in the 13th when England's defence screwed up the offside trap allowing Eduardo to set up Ivica Olic. We'd had a decent chance between the two goals and more afterwards but the performance never looked particularly smooth. The formation clearly wasn't working and Steve McLaren was left with 45 minutes to take us back from the brink.

So, enter Becks after half time and we started to step up a gear and put Croatia on the defensive but we still had to put the ball in the net and eventually forced a 56th minute penalty. It felt like our last chance to get back into the competition, Lampard obliged and the Walkabout went suitably mental. As a result England kept on coming. 65th minute. Becks cross. Crouch's head. 2-2. We were back on course, now we just needed to hold out, England had chances to complete the turnaround but blew them. We also dodged bullets at the other end though and then seemingly out of nowhere Mladen Petric picked up the ball at the edge of the box in the 77th minute and scored it in! And then England just crumbled. We had nothing left and in a scene reminiscent of "Mike Basset England manager" we were left relying on Andorra!

Well, elsewhere, Israel beat Macedonia 1-0 at Ramat Gan. The match all England fans wound up praying over though was Andorra vs Russia at the Estadi Communal. The fate of England, in the hands of a mountain range on the France-Spain border. Oops. Russia won 1-0, the desperados I left behind at the Walkabout were never likely to get their miracle. So England finished third in Group E, two points behind second placed Russia and qualification. Steve McLaren goodbye, who will replace him, I don't have a clue! His time had it's high points but we were way too inconsistant during this campaign.

In other groups, well in Group B Georgia were beaten 2-0 by Lithuania in the Lokomotivi Stadium and Italy beat the Faroe Islands 3-1 in the Stadio Albeto Bragila. The big match of the group was between the Ukraine and France at the Olympic Stadium. The bulk of the action happened in the first half with the final score 2-2. So Scotland finished in third place in the group, only two points behind France and qualification, given their recent competitive record, that's nothing to complain about in itself.

In Group D, Wales faced Germany in the Fussball Arena Munchen. Well the Germans had already qualified, the Welsh had been out of the picture for ages and the pace of the first half was pretty slow. Overall Germany were the better side but the Welsh defence were always in the games with the home side's best chance coming from Miroslav Klose late on. Wales finish fifth in Group D, two points behind third place Ireland who finish an amazing ten points behind second placed Germany and qualification. Back to the drawing board for both sides.

In Group F, Northern Ireland faced Spain at the Estadio de Gran Canaria with the UK's traditional small fry still in the running for a qualification spot. The underdogs could have gotten a penalty in the first half but it was waved away though they still came into half time level. Xavi hit the winner for Spain though in the second half. That left Nigel Worthington's crew third in the group, six points behind second placed Sweden but still arguably the biggest over acheivers of the qualifying campaign.

So that's it, the Euro 2008 qualifiers are over. So let's rewind to my predictions for this stage. How off base was I?

Hosts: Switzerland and Austria. A freebie two out of two.

Group A: Poland and Portugal. It was Poland that topped the group rather than Ronaldo and crew but still two for two.

Group B: Italy and France. Same deal as Group A. Another two for two.

Group C: Greece and Turkey. Had Euro 2004 down as a fluke so that's my first major opps. One out of two.

Group D: Germany and Czech Republic. Seriously overestimated the Irish and underestimated the Czechs(again!). One out of two.

Group E: Croatia and Russia. What can I say? I did not expect this level of cackup from the Three Lions. One out of two.

Group F: Spain and Sweden. On the money even if I got them the wrong way round. Two for two.

Group G: Romania and Netherlands. Same as Group F. Two for two.

Thirteen correct calls out of sixteen. I'd be impressed if only two of my three wrong calls were the two British Isles sides I predicted to go through. No sides from this part of the continent whatsoever.

It'll be a very wierd tournament.

Back to the club game please!

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