A Big Day In UEFA Tomorrow, Just Not In Belfast
A poster on bigsoccer.com who unfortunately wasn't me summed up the England way of justifying everything pretty succintly when after an England supporter started going off on how difficult England's group was (he would later deny that was what he meant by saying Poland and Austria are amazing teams), "talk about turning ********** cats into tigers."
That's the England mentality and I'm really sick of it. So, rather than let my righteous indignation get the best of me, I'll just post the second in my unwritten rules of footcer (the first is somewhere back in June):
UNWRITTEN FOOTCER RULE #2: "Any team that England plays will instantly be hyped as infinitely better than they actually are. Any team the United States plays will instantly be hyped as infinitely worse than they actually are (unless they're Scotland and then see clause #1)."
And David Beckham is the worst of the bunch saying, "nothing's unthinkable in football - sometimes these games go wrong." Please, yes we all know that Northern Ireland can pull an upset (and shouldn't be underestimated) because any team can. But if England can't beat one of the worst teams in Europe that England won't do anything in the World Cup. Strip the favorites marker off them right now because they are t-o-a-s-t.
Michael Owen similarly has come back at Wales manager John Toshack hard for stating that England is not one of the top teams in the world.
Toshack summed his feelings (he obviously kept going when the reporter said, "tell me how you really feel") with the following statement about England's inflated egos:
But what really set the English media aflutter from across the hills (er mountains) was the fact that Toshack stated, flat out, that Poland is "the best team in group four and deserve their position in the table."
With that, he might as well have cussed out one of England's respective mothers. To dare say that England is inferior to any team, especially an eastern European one is a cardinal sin.
---
So in this roundup of tomorrow's most important World Cup qualifiers, I am not even going to mention any from UEFA Group Six. You know why? Because there are only two real teams in UEFA Group Six and unless they're playing each other, the game shouldn't register on the footcer richter scale!
There are, however, some absoulte "big ones" taking place in UEFA tomorrow. But truly, there's only one match that should bring the footcer world to a dead standstill to actually care. Even the BBC realizes this because they knocked the Scotland and Wales games off the broadcast spectrum for it. Hence, of course, they're not real England fans. :)
The biggest match of World Cup Qualfying that's taken place in 2004 or 2005 is:
FRANCE AT IRELAND: Even before UEFA Group Four became a four team battle royale stalemate, the footcer punditocracy was circling the date of September 7 on their calendars. The brain trust of the footcer world figured it would be France in the driver's seat with Ireland needing the points to get second over Switzerland. Well, that was before the wheels fell off of the French machine (and that's not a reference to the debacle at the Formula One United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis a couple of months ago). The match truly is a winner take all in Dublin. If the two teams tie, they need only look behind them at the Swiss and the Israelis to realize they could both be eliminated. Israel actually plays a home and home with Faroe Islands in their last two matches (the first of which is tomorrow) and are next to guaranteed to finish on 18 points. France, Switzerland, and Ireland all play each other one more time. France and Ireland have the advantage of playing Cyprus once more over the Swiss, but the three teams could (and it wouldn't be surprising since this is the way Group Four has gone) draw each other out of the tournament. So, in these desperate times, France and Ireland are both going in with guns blazing tomorrow looking to get all three point at Landsdowne Road. France has much better guns (but they haven't really shown it scoring three goals against teams not named Faroe Islands) but Ireland has the home pitch advantage. Shay Given and Fabrien Barthez are both going to have their hands full. If they're lucky and the catch the bombardment being vollied at them. :) This game may, however, come down to injuries and with Djibril Cisse probably out for France and Damien Duff probably in for Ireland this could make the difference. Or it could come down to Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira getting into a huge fist fight at midfield (Vieira called out Keane wrestling style in pre-match interviews). It's that intense.
Sweden at Hungary: There are a couple of other important matches as well. The biggest match in this group is actually October 8th as second place Sweden take on first place Croatia in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. But without a victory over the Hungarians in Budapest first (assuming a Croatian win over bottom feeders Cyprus), that game may be meaningless.
Scotland at Norway: Another second place team, but this time at home, attempts to avoid a land mine (or perhaps a water mine if you're talking about what separates Scotland from Norway). Norway's got an easier run in (home against Moldova and then at Belarus) than first place Italy but they're still trying to hold off a Slovenian challenge from behind. Slovenia plays at Italy on October 8. Norway holds their destiny in their hands but can't drop points to a resurgant Scotland (who are that really annoying ghost still trying for second from way behind). A loss by Scotland means the Tartan Army can finally be put out of their annoying misery.
Turkey at Ukraine: The match that could actually still decide second place in UEFA Group Two. Ukraine showed a little bit of weakness against Georgia and Turks have been historically known to exploit weakness. A loss for Turkey (who lost to Ukraine 0-3 in Istambul on November 14, 2004) and Greece, playing at minnow Kazakhstan could leapfrog them. Denmark similary plays at home to Georgia and would pull within one point of Turkey with a win in Copenhagen and a Turkish loss. In short, this is a must win game for Turkey and it's uncertain what kind of lineup the Ukrainians will throw out now being the first team from UEFA to qualify so it's possible they can actually do it.
Serbia & Montenegro at Spain: This game between the top two teams in Group Seven (and not in the order you'd think if you'd been living away from footcer this cycle) just got a lot more interesting as Liverpool striker (at least sometimes) Fernando Morientes is out with a calf injury. Serbia can virtually clinch second place knocking off the favored Spaniards. Spain's coach Luis Aragones has created some expectations by stating Spain would win this match 3-1. Serbia has been intense defensively, holding opponents to 0, that's right 0, goals through seven games. When these teams met in Belgrade on March 30, 2005 it ended in a 0-0 draw. So to answer the question, it appears as though Serbia can shut down Spain - though I'm not thinking it will happen to Spain in Madrid. Something's got to give and it will probably be Serbia's defense rather than Spain's offense.
Portugal at Russia: I saved the second best for last. :) Earlier this qualifying campaign, the Russians made a little trip to Lisbon to play the opposite leg of this matchup. You can't start a land war in Russia but you can, it would seem, whoop on the Russians at the other end of the continent. Portugal won 7-1. So on paper this match doesn't look very appetizing. But Russia have turned things around since that match going 4-0-2 and now find themselves tied for second in Group Three with Slovakia (who they play away at Braitslava on October 12). The Slovaks play at Latvia tomorrow. Latvia is barely - BARELY - still alive so the little Baltic republic (leaving its golden generation) should put up a fight but the end result will probably be Slovakian victory there. Russia will be looking for revenge and World Cup redemption when Portugal tries to battle them at home.
Any of these matches should prove about eight times more enteraining that England v. Northern Ireland. You know, that great team that just won its first home match in four years on Saturday (and probably won't win another for quite some time).
That's the England mentality and I'm really sick of it. So, rather than let my righteous indignation get the best of me, I'll just post the second in my unwritten rules of footcer (the first is somewhere back in June):
UNWRITTEN FOOTCER RULE #2: "Any team that England plays will instantly be hyped as infinitely better than they actually are. Any team the United States plays will instantly be hyped as infinitely worse than they actually are (unless they're Scotland and then see clause #1)."
And David Beckham is the worst of the bunch saying, "nothing's unthinkable in football - sometimes these games go wrong." Please, yes we all know that Northern Ireland can pull an upset (and shouldn't be underestimated) because any team can. But if England can't beat one of the worst teams in Europe that England won't do anything in the World Cup. Strip the favorites marker off them right now because they are t-o-a-s-t.
Michael Owen similarly has come back at Wales manager John Toshack hard for stating that England is not one of the top teams in the world.
Toshack summed his feelings (he obviously kept going when the reporter said, "tell me how you really feel") with the following statement about England's inflated egos:
"They still have to prove they can be one of the top six in the world. Against 60% of the sides some of the things they did against us they will be OK with, but against the top four or five in the world they may just need a rethink."
But what really set the English media aflutter from across the hills (er mountains) was the fact that Toshack stated, flat out, that Poland is "the best team in group four and deserve their position in the table."
With that, he might as well have cussed out one of England's respective mothers. To dare say that England is inferior to any team, especially an eastern European one is a cardinal sin.
---
So in this roundup of tomorrow's most important World Cup qualifiers, I am not even going to mention any from UEFA Group Six. You know why? Because there are only two real teams in UEFA Group Six and unless they're playing each other, the game shouldn't register on the footcer richter scale!
There are, however, some absoulte "big ones" taking place in UEFA tomorrow. But truly, there's only one match that should bring the footcer world to a dead standstill to actually care. Even the BBC realizes this because they knocked the Scotland and Wales games off the broadcast spectrum for it. Hence, of course, they're not real England fans. :)
The biggest match of World Cup Qualfying that's taken place in 2004 or 2005 is:
FRANCE AT IRELAND: Even before UEFA Group Four became a four team battle royale stalemate, the footcer punditocracy was circling the date of September 7 on their calendars. The brain trust of the footcer world figured it would be France in the driver's seat with Ireland needing the points to get second over Switzerland. Well, that was before the wheels fell off of the French machine (and that's not a reference to the debacle at the Formula One United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis a couple of months ago). The match truly is a winner take all in Dublin. If the two teams tie, they need only look behind them at the Swiss and the Israelis to realize they could both be eliminated. Israel actually plays a home and home with Faroe Islands in their last two matches (the first of which is tomorrow) and are next to guaranteed to finish on 18 points. France, Switzerland, and Ireland all play each other one more time. France and Ireland have the advantage of playing Cyprus once more over the Swiss, but the three teams could (and it wouldn't be surprising since this is the way Group Four has gone) draw each other out of the tournament. So, in these desperate times, France and Ireland are both going in with guns blazing tomorrow looking to get all three point at Landsdowne Road. France has much better guns (but they haven't really shown it scoring three goals against teams not named Faroe Islands) but Ireland has the home pitch advantage. Shay Given and Fabrien Barthez are both going to have their hands full. If they're lucky and the catch the bombardment being vollied at them. :) This game may, however, come down to injuries and with Djibril Cisse probably out for France and Damien Duff probably in for Ireland this could make the difference. Or it could come down to Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira getting into a huge fist fight at midfield (Vieira called out Keane wrestling style in pre-match interviews). It's that intense.
Sweden at Hungary: There are a couple of other important matches as well. The biggest match in this group is actually October 8th as second place Sweden take on first place Croatia in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. But without a victory over the Hungarians in Budapest first (assuming a Croatian win over bottom feeders Cyprus), that game may be meaningless.
Scotland at Norway: Another second place team, but this time at home, attempts to avoid a land mine (or perhaps a water mine if you're talking about what separates Scotland from Norway). Norway's got an easier run in (home against Moldova and then at Belarus) than first place Italy but they're still trying to hold off a Slovenian challenge from behind. Slovenia plays at Italy on October 8. Norway holds their destiny in their hands but can't drop points to a resurgant Scotland (who are that really annoying ghost still trying for second from way behind). A loss by Scotland means the Tartan Army can finally be put out of their annoying misery.
Turkey at Ukraine: The match that could actually still decide second place in UEFA Group Two. Ukraine showed a little bit of weakness against Georgia and Turks have been historically known to exploit weakness. A loss for Turkey (who lost to Ukraine 0-3 in Istambul on November 14, 2004) and Greece, playing at minnow Kazakhstan could leapfrog them. Denmark similary plays at home to Georgia and would pull within one point of Turkey with a win in Copenhagen and a Turkish loss. In short, this is a must win game for Turkey and it's uncertain what kind of lineup the Ukrainians will throw out now being the first team from UEFA to qualify so it's possible they can actually do it.
Serbia & Montenegro at Spain: This game between the top two teams in Group Seven (and not in the order you'd think if you'd been living away from footcer this cycle) just got a lot more interesting as Liverpool striker (at least sometimes) Fernando Morientes is out with a calf injury. Serbia can virtually clinch second place knocking off the favored Spaniards. Spain's coach Luis Aragones has created some expectations by stating Spain would win this match 3-1. Serbia has been intense defensively, holding opponents to 0, that's right 0, goals through seven games. When these teams met in Belgrade on March 30, 2005 it ended in a 0-0 draw. So to answer the question, it appears as though Serbia can shut down Spain - though I'm not thinking it will happen to Spain in Madrid. Something's got to give and it will probably be Serbia's defense rather than Spain's offense.
Portugal at Russia: I saved the second best for last. :) Earlier this qualifying campaign, the Russians made a little trip to Lisbon to play the opposite leg of this matchup. You can't start a land war in Russia but you can, it would seem, whoop on the Russians at the other end of the continent. Portugal won 7-1. So on paper this match doesn't look very appetizing. But Russia have turned things around since that match going 4-0-2 and now find themselves tied for second in Group Three with Slovakia (who they play away at Braitslava on October 12). The Slovaks play at Latvia tomorrow. Latvia is barely - BARELY - still alive so the little Baltic republic (leaving its golden generation) should put up a fight but the end result will probably be Slovakian victory there. Russia will be looking for revenge and World Cup redemption when Portugal tries to battle them at home.
Any of these matches should prove about eight times more enteraining that England v. Northern Ireland. You know, that great team that just won its first home match in four years on Saturday (and probably won't win another for quite some time).
posted by incendiarymind at 3:23 PM
5 Comments:
I agree about England. Why they're so high on themselves I don't know. But for a team so talented, they're awfully disappointing, especially in midfield where they lack real bite (perhaps due to the lack of a true holding/defensive midfielder). All I get from English friends are complaints about FIFA rankings and how they're superior to the United States (which, talent-wise, I'm happy to concede). Oh well, I'm ready to see them fail to live up to expectations in a major tournament (again).
Hands up, we do big ourselves up, it's the English way about football, not just our nation, but our league teams and even our players/explayers.
England are a good team, we're just the most inconsistant team ever, I was pretty gutted to see US above us, but we have a hell of a lot to prove tbh.
England are a bit like Notre Dame football. They were once great, but are no longer the power they once were. Thing is, the fans still expect them to win everything and get disappointed when they fall short every time.
Just wait for all of the "Can Sven NOW!" talk that the boards will be wanking to for the next couple of days. They lost to a veritable minnow (and a Kingdom minnow, at that) 1-0! What an embarrassment!
Eric. I agree with you to a point, but I'd amend your analogy by saying this is like a Notre Dame team that's ranked pre-season so people expect them to end up #1 like in the glory days. This is hardly a piecemeal England team, just one in pieces.
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