ENGLAND RUN OUT OF CLASS

 

 

Well Ukraine gave us a tough enough match at Wembley in our 2010 World Cup UEFA qualifying Group 6 campaign but we did eventually come up with a 2-1 win. Since then, well we'd managed to book a spot in South Africa with two games to spare! That wasn't an excuse for British TV channels to refuse to screen the game though and so we had the farce of an online feed to watch the match at the Dnipro Stadium. Me, I was at the Exeter Snooker Club and credit to them for being willing to screen the match given the circumstances(even if they first forgot the password and then their net connection went down). In the meantime, it was Terry and Rio in central defence, with Carrick and Lampard centre mid.

When the guys finally got things running the sound was dodgy and some Ukranian morons had thrown flares on to the pitch. As far as the actual actual action was concerned, things didn't go so well for the Three Lions and we lost our goalie early on. We initially seemed to survive that blow but then Artem Milevsky set up Serhiy Nazarenko in the 29th minute and a moment of weakness from our defence gave the Ukranians the lead. The oldies in the pub freaked out when the laptop went to screen save, and as the half went on England looked in need of the halftime whistle. It was pretty obvious that the guys weren't taking the game seriously.

The sound went out at half time and then the pub's ISP started fouling up, resulting in a jerky picture that some of the regulars compared to watching a computer game! England certainly had their chances in the second half though but the Ukraine could have also got a second - vintage England this was certainly not. Generally we pressed the home side hard in the latter stages but despite a string of corners we couldn't put the ball in the net. Wayne had our best chance of the game right at the end but even the United assasin was left dissapointed. It was our first competitive defeat of the Capello era and hopefully the first and last time for a while that English football fans have to rely on online streaming for an international.

Scotland's campaign was over but they still were put into action, facing Japan in a friendly at the Yokohama International Stadium. Neither side played their best team but the Scots certainly gave Japan a headache in the early stages of the game. Japan brought some high quality subs on in the second half though and gradually forced the Scots more on to the defensive. It looked as though George Burley's men would hold out but then Christophe Berra put the ball into his own net before Keisuke Honda finished the Scots off. Burley still didn't feel he had anything to complain about particularly as it gave him a better idea of what his team's strength in depth was like.

In UEFA qualifying Group 4, Wales faced Finland at the Olympic Stadium. Finland opened the scoring early on through Roni Porokara but it didn't take long for Craig Bellamy to grab an equaliser though Finland definately had the better of the game overall. That state of affairs continued into the second half where a poor Welsh performance was finally punished by Niklas Moisander hitting the winner for Finland and though Wales came close to another equaliser, it wasn't to be. That leaves Wales 4th in the group with their chances of qualification long gone. With one game to go, they can only hope to see out the campaign with a win and then it's back to square one again.

In UEFA qualifying Group 3, Northern Ireland were given the day off but that just meant that Slovenia and Slovakia had a chance to knock them out of contention and the two sides met at Tehelne Pole. The Slovakian goalie in particular was given plenty of headaches in the first half but neither side could hit the net. That changed in the second half when Valter Birsa opened the scoring for Slovenia before Njec Pecnik finished the hope side off. In the meantime Northern Ireland dropped to 4th in the group, three points behind Sloevenia and the playoff mixer. NI still have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs but it's only a slim one.

In UEFA qualifying Group 8, the Republic of Ireland faced Italy at Croke Park. Glenn Whelan opened the scoring for the Irish early on only for Italy to reply through Mauro Germain Cameronesi and the Azzurri certainly seemed to have the edge at half time. The Irish had the better of the play in the second half though the Italians put the ball in the net for a second time only for it to be ruled offside. The Irish then retook the lead through Middlesborough defender Sean St Ledger only for Alberto Gilardino to level right at the end. Still that means that the ROI remain 2nd in the group and half secured a spot in the playoff mixer. They lie four points behind Italy who are heading for South Africa and six points ahead of Bulgaria and non-qualification.

So that leaves us with the playoff mixer and the teams currently on course for that are: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia, Ukraine, France, Republic of Ireland and Norway. The main team of interest in that bunch is the Republic of Ireland. After point deductions they lie 8th in the mixer, one point ahead of 9th placed Norway and therefore on course for the playoffs. The Irish are grumbling that the playoff draw is due to be seeded which would put them at a disadvantage but that still makes this their best qualifying campaign since they made it to the '02 World Cup.

England have qualified and Republic of Ireland are in the playoffs. Impressive.

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