UGLY, BUT THREE POINTS

 

The World Cup. The biggest football tournament in the world. The next edition is being held in South Africa 2010. It's a very long way there, but the journey has offically started. Last time round, our route to the 2006 World Cup went through qualifying Group 6 involving Poland, Austria, Wales, Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan. Sven Goran Ericcsson was the manager, I was a BIT student at South Bank University based out of Teddington. Well we topped the group despite some messy encounters and there weren't any classic games during the campaign. Our best days were smooth rather than classy, but the Three Lions did the job at lleast on that occasion.

The first order of business this time round was Andorra, that little moutain you can point to on a plane flying out of Spain. Our only previous history with them was in Euro 2008 qualifying Group E, what will probably go down in unfortunate legend as the "McLaren campaign". Well our opening match didn't go so badly, we slaughtered the part timers 5-0 at Old Trafford. However by the time we came to the Olympic Stadium there were already hints that things wouldn't be going quite as planned. And our eventual 3-0 win was far messier than had been anticipated. So, while we have a 100% record against the Andorrans, we certainly know that they can't fully be taken for granted.

This time round, well like last time round, we have a foreign coach, his name is Fabio Capello and we've yet to really hit top gear with him in charge despite everyone treating him like the second coming. Now was the time to do so though. It's 2010 World Cup UEFA qualifying group 6 and we were headed back to the Olympic Stadium to see if we could actually put on a decent performance this time, three points were surely in the bag. Johnson was at right back with Terry and Lescott in central defence(a gamble even with Rio injured). Walcott right mid, Downing left mid. Not our strongest possible X1 but it should have been enough to do the business.

Well the good news was England attacking from the start and giving Anorran goalie Koldo nightmares. However we kept hitting and hitting them. Sooner or later with that many chances we ought to have put the ball in the net. As it was, once again in the Walkabout, I wound up getting a sense of deja vu. By the midway point in the half we should have been three up at least but the players, classy individuals all acted like they had left their brains in their hotel rooms! As it was Andorra got to spend a decent amount of time late on in our half and I really could not believe it when half time came with no goals. I was really just trying to work out who I wanted to shoot.

A very annoyed Fabio brought on Joe Cole at half time. Problem solved. In the 49th minute the Chelsea man picked up the rebound from a Lampard free kick to show his teammates how it should be done before recieving a Rooney pass to make in two in the 55th minute! After that we continued battering the Andorran goal but Fabio was still not happy wiith us messing about on the halfway line(I'm liking this guy's thinking). Overall though the general play was decent from England but despite some big name substitutions being made we weren't able to add to our tally. Very messy but as much as I'd be tempted to grill Fabio on the performance, he seems to be as annoyed as me. Let's see if he's a miracle worker.

Elsewhere, the group opened with Kasakhstan beating Andorra 3-0 at the Ortalyk Tsentralnyi Stadium best part of a month before the rest of the group got underway. Later on Croatia beat Kazakhstan 3-0 at the Stadion Maksimir to give the Kasakhs a pretty serious reality check. Ukraine then beat Belarus 1-0 in the Olympic Stadium(Kiev not Barcelona) in a match that suggests that we possibly aren't the only team that's off form. That combo of matches leaves England second in Group 6, putting us into the playoff mixer. We're level on points with both group leaders Croatia and third place Ukraine but with a -1 goal difference deficit to Croatia and a +1 goal difference advantage to Ukraine.

In qualifying group 9 Scotland faced Macedonia at the City Stadium. Things immediately looked ugly with Ilco Naumoski opening the scoring for the home side early on. The Scots literally couldn't take the heat with temperature in the Balkans getting pretty high and George Burley's men couldn't find any edge whatsoever. Macedonia continued having the edge through the second half though the Scots could have had a penalty late on. That puts the Scots 5th and bottom of the group, but it's early days and they are only one point behind second placed team Iceland and the playoff mixer. Still, the Tartan Army will be looking for an improvement.

In qualifying Group 4, Wales faced Azerbaijan at the Millenium Stadium. The Welsh fielded a young team but were still running the show in terms of performance. However performance alone doesn't put the ball in the net and the home side were left frustrated at half time. More frustration follwed in the second half with a penalty claim being denied untill one of the new guys, Wolves player Sam Volkes was brought on to secure the win for a relieved John Toshack. That gives the Welsh second in the group to start with, putting them in the playoff mixer. They have are level on points with group leaders Germany, though with a -5 goal difference deficit and three points ahead of Finland and Russia who are in joint third.

In qualifying group 3, Northern Ireland faced Slovakia in Tehelne Pole. Nigel Worthington's side went all guns blazing in the first half but couldn't find the net despite being by far the better side, building on their potential shown in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. However the home side quickly made up for that in the second half with Martin Skrtel opening the scoring and Marek Harnsik making it two before NI pulled one back and even then it was an og fron Jan Durica and the equaliser never happened. That leaves NI 6th and bottom of the group though in these early stages there are still only one point away from Poland and the playoff mixer.

In qualifying Group 8 the Republic of Ireland faced Georgia in a match switched to the Wildparkstadion due to political issues. Kevin Doyle opened the scoring for the Irish and the men in green could have finished the game off before half time. The Georgians may not have been in a good mood due to the switch but that was no excuse for their lack lustre display and Glenn Whelan made it two for the Irish before Georgia hit the net thanks to Levan Kenia. That puts the Irish joint top of the group with Italy(level on every criteria possible), on course for a draw to decide who goes to South Africa and who goes into the playoff mixer. Both sides are two points ahead of third placed Bulgaria.

So now we come to the virtual group that I've called the playoff mixer. Nine teams in it, top eight go into the playoffs. England lie second in the group, easilly securing a spot in the playoffs having picked up two more points than bottom side Albania. Which doesn't look so bad - we should still make it to South Africa one way or another. Of the other teams of interest in the mixer, Wales lie in 6th place, also two points ahead of Albania. If the Republic of Ireland were to lose their draw with Italy and wind up in the playoff mixer then they would find themselves in joint 4th position with Latvia, but still two points ahead of Albania so that would be a non issue. So, no British Isles sides on course to South Africa just yet but three on course for the playoffs isn't too bad.

Of course the big games for England have yet to come.

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