ENGLAND THROW POINTS AWAY

 

(Image taken from BBC)

We'd already faced Switzerland in in our Euro 2012 qualifying campaign and saw them off 3-1 at St Jakob Park. Since then, well our campaign hasn't been the smoothest one but we were still on course for POLUKR and we were still unbeaten. Switzerland in the meantime have settled into a midtable position so that when the teams came out for our Euro 2012 qualifying Group G match at Wembley. Having our main assasin suspended didn't do the Three Lions any favours but with Terry(captain) and Rio in central defence, Asley Cole left back, Walcott right mid, Lampard and Parker and Wilshire centre mid with Bent up front, we looked to have enough to deal with this task.

Well in theory we did. In practice the Three Lions never really got going, it was slow, it was flat. The Swiss in the meantime looked to have their uses but our defence looked lively enough to keep them out but it looked as though Fabio was hoping to go into half time at 0-0. As it was, the Swiss had other ideas, taking advantage of two braindead moments. In the 32nd minute an Tranquilio Barnetta freekick should have been dealt with but wasn't and the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder got his second in the 35th minute when he fired a ball through our defence and a gap at the near post our goalie left for him. We did pull one goal back thanks to a 38th minute Lampard penalty, but we certainly had work to do in the second half.

The early stages of the second half saw us step it up. One sub, Milner, set up another, Young in the 50th minute and the Villa man found the net easilly. We were back in business and would surely turn it round...instead though well we didn't so much go flat as blow every opportunity that came our way. In fact as the match went on the Swiss started gaining confidence themselves and it looked as though we might yet lose the match! Well the good news was that we held them off. The bad news was that we blew another opportunity before the end. Two points blown and you suddenly realise that qualification is not a foregone conclusion.

Elsewhere, Wales were given the day off but Montenegro faced Bulgaria at the Stadion Pod Goricom. Montenegro ran the show for the first half with the Bulgarians not getting any opportunities till midway through the period but neither side could hit the net. Montenegro then broke through early in the second half though Radomir Djalovic only for Ivelin Popov to level for Bulgaria. Both sides could have won the game in the closing stages but neither side did. That means that England remain top of qualifying group G, on course for POLUKR, level on points with Montenegro at the playoff mixer but with a +5 goal difference advantage. Wales remain 5th in the group, eleven points behind the top two with three games remaining and are now definately not going to qualify.

In qualifying Group I, Scotland were given the day off but elsewhere in that group Leichenstein faced Lithuania at the Rheinpark Stadion. Phillippe Erne opened the scoring for the home side before Michele Polverino got their second before half time. The Lithanians did their best to get back into the match early in the second half but came up empty and the match cruised to a halt at the end end with the home side almost making it three before the end. That means that Scotland remain 3rd in the group, five points behind the Czech Republic and the playoff mixer but with a game in hand. As things stand, the Tartan Army is not going to POLUKR.

In qualifying Group C Northern Ireland were also given the day off but elsewhere in the group other sides were in action. The Faroe Islands were beaten 2-0 by Slovenia in the Torsvollor Stadium with goals either side of half time. Italy beat Estonia 3-0 at the Alberto Braglia stadium with the Azzuri going two up by halftime before finishing their opponents off early in the second half in a predictably straightforward encounter. That leaves Northern Ireland 5th in the group, five points behind Slovenia and the playoff mixer but with two games in hand. Still, as things stand they are not going to POLUKR, though I suppose that's par for the course.

In qualifying Group B, the Republic of Ireland faced Macedonia at the City Stadium. Roobe Keane opened the scoring for the Irish and in the process became the first player from the British Isles to get 50 international goals and got his second goal before halftime. The Macedonians hit the net early in the second half but the ref ruled it out for handball and that was as good as it got for the home side, the men in green cruising the rest of the way. That means thatthe Republicrise to the top of the group, level on both points and goal difference with Russia and the playoff mixer but the Irish have scored two more goals and as a result are on course for POLUKR!

So, finally a quick look at the playoff mixer. As things stand the following teams are in this virtual group. Belgium, Russia, Slovenia, Belarus, Sweden, Croatia, Montenegro, Denmark and Czech Republic. There are no teams of interest for me in that bunch. The best of the bunch right now is Croatia and so they're currently on course for POLUKR. The rest will head into the playoffs.

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