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They don't come much bigger than this!!!

San Marino

Vs

England

No easy games in world football [:D].

ORIGINAL: warspite1

They don't come much bigger than this!!!

San Marino

Vs

England

No easy games in world football [:D].

They're a top top team with some top players. Except this match is on itv so we get to hear that they've passed the ball and you can't do that at this level. Plussome other cliches and probably some spiel on Wee Mickey's retirement.

Still, £1000 bet on England to win could net you as much as £10 profit.

What I want to know is why have San Marino changed their blue? That's rubbish.... Right I'll have to amend my post now... Have they not seen their flag recently??

San Marino

Vs

England

I hate it when people change things.... like England in that stupid shade of blue for their shorts a couple of years ago or in an all white strip with red trim.... rubbish....... or Spurs doing the same [:@][:@][:@]

Goodness! I'm turning into Terminus [X(]

Rant over .....and breathe......[8D]

Okay and now for the real biggy. A match that if we win should see us in Brazil next year.... but if we lose, then the automatic spot has pretty much gone and suddenly Poland and/or Ukraine are breathing down our necks for 2nd place..[X(]

Montenegro

vs

England

Hang onto your hats - watching England is never much fun [:(]

Half time 0-1 - we need a second please.....

Oh dear - we dont seem to have come out for the second half......

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Montenegro

vs

England

Is Jovetic playing?

Just for info, Italy actually wins 0-2 vs Malta...what a s**t game,
and not because of Malta.
[>:]

Fortunately there is a band playing in the stadium, at least you can
dance...paparapparapparapparapparara, Malta! papparapparapparapparapparaaaaa...

Yes he is. And it's 1-1. We never got started in the 2nd half [:@]

Qualification is now a problem.......[&:]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Yes he is. And it's 1-1. We never got started in the 2nd half [:@]

Qualification is now a problem.......[&:]

The second classified don't go to play-off? I see the classification,
and there aren't strong teams, except England & France. I don't think
your qualification is a big problem.

ORIGINAL: cohimbra

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Yes he is. And it's 1-1. We never got started in the 2nd half [:@]

Qualification is now a problem.......[&:]

The second classified don't go to play-off? I see the classification,
and there aren't strong teams, except England & France. I don't think
your qualification is a big problem.

warspite1

a) You assume we will make the play-off - Ukraine and Poland have a game in hand - Ukraine look a real threat.
b) Have you seen some of the potential teams that will finish 2nd?

Portugal. Belgium or Croatia, Spain or France!!!, Sweden, Bulgaria...... Oh dear.....

ORIGINAL: cohimbra

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Yes he is. And it's 1-1. We never got started in the 2nd half [:@]

Qualification is now a problem.......[&:]

The second classified don't go to play-off? I see the classification,
and there aren't strong teams, except England & France. I don't think
your qualification is a big problem.

The best eight go to the playoffs. I wouldn't class England as a strong team either, we're far too inconsistent (and average) to reach that category. Lets face it, a top team would have beaten Montenegro tonight but far too often England fall short.

Roy Keane is not impressed either.

ORIGINAL: warspite1
b) Have you seen some of the potential teams that will finish 2nd?

Portugal. Belgium or Croatia, Spain or France!!!, Sweden, Bulgaria...... Oh dear.....

Well...yes, there's some good teams, but also England is a good team.
I'm not saying it will be easy, but the other teams will think: oh dear,
there is Spain or France, or England...you surely know the condition of
your team better than me, but playing versus England is always a problem.

ORIGINAL: Dixie
The best eight go to the playoffs.

You're right but there are 9 groups, only the worst don't play the play-off.

ORIGINAL: cohimbra

ORIGINAL: warspite1
b) Have you seen some of the potential teams that will finish 2nd?

Portugal. Belgium or Croatia, Spain or France!!!, Sweden, Bulgaria...... Oh dear.....

Well...yes, there's some good teams, but also England is a good team.
I'm not saying it will be easy, but the other teams will think: oh dear,
there is Spain or France, or England...you surely know the condition of
your team better than me, but playing versus England is always a problem.

warspite1

Thank you for saying so but a good team? really?

Surely you remember Italy vs England at the Euros? Our two players who passed the ball to each other the most?..... Hart to Carroll's head..... Good......Grief.....

No, when it comes to European football Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland are the mutts nutts. England? Third tier - second tier at our very, very best.

I'm not saying this to please you (I've no reason for that), but I assure you that
when we must play against England there's always a bit of fear over the exaltation
of encounter a real 'big match'. And ultimately we're 'only' talking about playoffs,
not about the final of the world cup. I don't want to seem inappropriate and I'll stop
here (for us it's more than a religion, and talk too much about other people's teams is
a mortal sin), but that's what I think.
[8D]

You are not being inappropriate - its good to have some football banter.

Remember though - Italy have won the World Cup 4 times. Whereas for us, a World Cup play-off match IS our World Cup final [;)]

Warspite remember, most playoffs don't have penalties at the end so there is always hope.

But I already feel sick about not going to Brazil, esp having to work with a group of Germans, that feel a 4:1 tonight is like a defeat.

Mat

ORIGINAL: warspite1
warspite1

Thank you for saying so but a good team? really?

Surely you remember Italy vs England at the Euros? Our two players who passed the ball to each other the most?..... Hart to Carroll's head..... Good......Grief.....

No, when it comes to European football Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland are the mutts nutts. England? Third tier - second tier at our very, very best.

I have to agree with Warspite on this one. There is no way that England are realistically a big team. Sweden (iirc) have a better record at tournaments then we do in the past 40 years.

If you choose a big team (Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands) then how many of the England players would you actually choose over the players in that team? Even in the case of a 'smaller' team (Sweden, Croatia, Portugal) you wouldn't pick many.

P.S. If you said Wayne Rooney you're wrong, he's the perfect example of the English player for me. Brilliant on occasion but given the talent available those occasions are too infrequent.

England are pants and have been for ages. Last time we played well was Euro '96 (we should have won that), time before then was Italia'90.

The players have no fire or passion for their country and wearing the shirt seems to mean nothing to them. I have to laugh at the start of every competition you hear people talking as if we will win it..I wonder why they fool themselves so much.

England are up there on the Fifa rankings, but as usually they flatter to deceive.

They have had good tournaments in my lifetime, but not many.
I still think Mexico '86 should have been Germany - England in the final (but for the Hand of God)

Of course if they could kick their goddamn penalties it would make our tournament results so much better for the last 20 years.

ORIGINAL: wodin

England are pants and have been for ages. Last time we played well was Euro '96 (we should have won that), time before then was Italia'90.

The players have no fire or passion for their country and wearing the shirt seems to mean nothing to them. I have to laugh at the start of every competition you hear people talking as if we will win it..I wonder why they fool themselves so much.

warspite1

Funny how the memory plays tricks. We played "well" because we got to the semi-finals, but in reality:

Italia 90 - Almost didn't get out of the group stages - average against the Irish and Egyptians - although again played well against the Dutch even though we only drew. Incredibly lucky to beat the Belgians who mullered us in the first half, lucky to beat Cameroon after going a goal up and then almost blowing it. Unlucky against the Germans.....

Euro 96 - Average against the Swiss, Good against the Scots, Magnificent against the Dutch. BUT Just. Plain. Lucky against the Spanish. Desperately unlucky against the Germans....

So if we weren't always great why did we do well? We had two great strikers (that never let us down) in Lineker and Shearer* (both of whom could score against the best - not just against Andorra [8|]), oh and we also had a certain Mr Gascoigne. Coincidence that they were the only two tournaments he played in and we got to the semis both times? I don't think so.

That's the difference between great, world class players and Wayne Rooney....

*Michael Owen belongs with those two as well. England were so lucky to have those three, one after the other. Sadly their talents were wasted....

We were unlucky to go out of the 1982 competition unbeaten. Again we had a midfield dynamo (in Bryan Robson) and if Keegan and Brooking were fit, maybe, just maybe we would have made the semis.

1986 we were absolutely appalling against Portugal and Morocco - until Ray Wilkins (the crab) did everyone a favour and got sent off, meaning a shake up in personnel for the final, decisive group game against Poland.....enter Sir Gary of Lineker and Peter Beardsley [&o]. Excellent, easy victory against Paraguay followed before you know who cheated us out of a place in the semis.

Its a funny ol' game.