England's prayers for a miracle in the Holy Land that would resurrect their Euro 2008 qualifying hopes were answered in spectacular style last night. Indignant and hurt by all the conspiracy theories, of which there were more swirling around in the Tel Aviv night than in the Paris courtroom where the inquest into Princess Diana's death drags on, Israel raised themselves to post a historic win against Russia in the Ramat Gan Stadium that handed England a reprieve.
It means qualification for next summer's jamboree in the Austrian and Swiss mountains is not only back in England hands but also, having stared at elimination only 24 hours earlier, they can now confirm their safe passage with just a draw against group leaders Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday. Croatia, with their qualification guaranteed by Russia's defeat, lost 2-0 in Macedonia.
England manager Steve McClaren expressed his gratitude to Israel for their battling performance, and said he was confident England would grab the opportunity to confirm their place in the Euro 2008 finals.
"It will be difficult, but I am convinced we will get the result we need and we will qualify," he said.
"I have said several times in the last few weeks, the campaign was not over until it was over. I always believed it would come down to the Croatia game, and thankfully it has.
"I watched the match with my family at the team hotel in Watford. All the coaching staff were also in the hotel and, as you can imagine, we are all delighted qualification is back in our own hands.
"It is fantastic news for us all and I would like to pay tribute to Israel for the professional way they went about their job. They showed what a proud nation they are, and they deserve a lot of praise for their efforts."
Israel, whose own dreams of making the finals had already evaporated, may have had nothing to play for in competitive terms but their pride was wounded by all the stories that they would lie down like lambs. Their performances shamed all who believed that a Russia victory here was pre-ordained, however it was achieved.
After England's 2-1 defeat in Moscow last month, it looked as though the Russian Bear, not the Three Lions, would be heading to next summer's finals. Now McClaren, who had been ridiculed for his team selection and tactics and seemed certain to be sacked this week, can become a hero with a result against Croatia.
As usual with England, it may not be straightforward, especially now that they will be without Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, the latter injured in that meaningless friendly against Austria in Vienna on Friday.
Without the team's leading strike pair it could still go wrong, though England have won all three of their competitive matches at the new Wembley without conceding a goal.Last night's result in Tel Aviv was a remarkable stroke of good fortune for McClaren, just as it proved a painful night for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who had reportedly offered the Russian players £40,000 in bonuses to qualify.
For much of the night their young team froze like England had done so many times in qualifying, struggling to find any cohesion and to impose any dominance on an Israel team who played without any inhibitions or fear. Had Russia won, McClaren would have faced 90 minutes of abuse in what would have been a meaningless final fixture at Wembley. While he may still not find the supporters chanting his name, he will settle for them cheering his team to therafters.McClaren had not dared to believe that Israel could beat Guus Hiddink's Russia side, hoping only that they could hold out for a courageous point. But Russia's defence had already been left dangerously exposed before Israel's 10th-minute opening goal, with Barak Itzhaki providing an opportunity which Elyaniv Barda put away with the outside of his boot.
Russia finally roused themselves to find an equaliser on the hour from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. But, despite dominating from then on, they left themselves open to Omer Golan's breakaway winner.
No comments:
Post a Comment