There's Nothing Rotten In Denmark
I always love an England loss if for no other reason than there is no group of fickler fans on the Earth. Before England got handed a 1-4 loss to Denmark in Copenhagen, everyone was talking about how this team could win the World Cup. Now, the reaction is that there needs to be a reshuffle of the highest order and that no one in the starting XI for England cares about the team.
The majority of English boast that friendlies don't matter but give them one loss in a non-tournament sanctioned match and suddenly the sky is falling.
Most of the blame is falling on Manchester City keeper David James. If there were still the carrying of heads through streets on pikes, he'd be a prime candidate. But from the commentary, it would appear that only one of the goals was directly his fault.
Though I think he banged his own nails into his England coffin with the following brilliant quote:
There are a lot of people coming to James' defense including the opposition keeper Thomas Sorensen of Aston Villa, and his manager at Manchester City Stuart Pearce.
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What I want to really rant about, however, in the match is actually the fan's reaction. Everyone is blaming an England collapse but no one is crediting the fact that Denmark is actually a good team!
The latest FIFA rankings (surprisingly uncontroversial since everyone seems to have burned themselves out after the July tally) have them at #18 in the world.
Beyond the constantly in question list, person for person the Danes match up with any team in Europe. This is especially the case with the scariest, if not best, defensive midfielder in Europe Thomas Gravesen. Practically their entire team plays in England, Spain, or Germany and of those who don't, the remainder are all concentrated at Brondby and FC Copenhagen. In short, they've got a dangerous formula.
They probably won't make the World Cup being in UEFA Group One (it would take a small miracle to leapfrog both Turkey and Greece). Though their run-in leaves their World Cup fate completely in their own hands. Their remaining matches are: 9/3/05 @ Turkey, 9/7/05 Georgia, 10/8/05 Greece, 10/12/05 @ Kazakhstan.
So it's the two bottom dwellers and the two teams they need to beat. Even if they don't make the World Cup, they're a team to watch for Euro 2008.
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There were two other major events in yesterday's World Cup qualifying. The first was that Jared Borgetti (now of Bolton and that still sounds nice to say) is now Mexico's all-time leading goal scorer.
Also, Uzbekistan shocked Kuwait 3-2 to clinch a spot in the AFC playoffs against Bahrain and eliminate Kuwait from World Cup qualifying.
Kuwait, unlike Denmark, will not do anything in Euro 2008 barring a shocking merger between the two confederations. :)
The majority of English boast that friendlies don't matter but give them one loss in a non-tournament sanctioned match and suddenly the sky is falling.
Most of the blame is falling on Manchester City keeper David James. If there were still the carrying of heads through streets on pikes, he'd be a prime candidate. But from the commentary, it would appear that only one of the goals was directly his fault.
Though I think he banged his own nails into his England coffin with the following brilliant quote:
"Because I knew I wasn't going to start, for once I didn't do my starting preparations. You should prepare to play. The watchwords are practice, practice, practice. For once I didn't adhere to that and everyone saw the result."
There are a lot of people coming to James' defense including the opposition keeper Thomas Sorensen of Aston Villa, and his manager at Manchester City Stuart Pearce.
---
What I want to really rant about, however, in the match is actually the fan's reaction. Everyone is blaming an England collapse but no one is crediting the fact that Denmark is actually a good team!
The latest FIFA rankings (surprisingly uncontroversial since everyone seems to have burned themselves out after the July tally) have them at #18 in the world.
Beyond the constantly in question list, person for person the Danes match up with any team in Europe. This is especially the case with the scariest, if not best, defensive midfielder in Europe Thomas Gravesen. Practically their entire team plays in England, Spain, or Germany and of those who don't, the remainder are all concentrated at Brondby and FC Copenhagen. In short, they've got a dangerous formula.
They probably won't make the World Cup being in UEFA Group One (it would take a small miracle to leapfrog both Turkey and Greece). Though their run-in leaves their World Cup fate completely in their own hands. Their remaining matches are: 9/3/05 @ Turkey, 9/7/05 Georgia, 10/8/05 Greece, 10/12/05 @ Kazakhstan.
So it's the two bottom dwellers and the two teams they need to beat. Even if they don't make the World Cup, they're a team to watch for Euro 2008.
---
There were two other major events in yesterday's World Cup qualifying. The first was that Jared Borgetti (now of Bolton and that still sounds nice to say) is now Mexico's all-time leading goal scorer.
Also, Uzbekistan shocked Kuwait 3-2 to clinch a spot in the AFC playoffs against Bahrain and eliminate Kuwait from World Cup qualifying.
Kuwait, unlike Denmark, will not do anything in Euro 2008 barring a shocking merger between the two confederations. :)
posted by incendiarymind at 10:55 AM
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