inger-land inger-land inger-land

woah colourful !!! yer good win by england they finiding some form now!! Rooney finally scored after a long wait on the international stage and congrats to shaun w-p who scored too!!

bring on russia!

England cruised to a 3-0 success over Estonia at Wembley, but Steve McClaren's mood will have been tempered somewhat by an ankle injury suffered by Ashley Cole.

Cole fell awkwardly on his ankle shortly after half-time and after receiving treatment pitch side was stretchered off and would appear to be a major doubt for Russia on Wednesday.
England were always comfortable after Shaun Wright-Phillips fired through Mart Poom's legs in the 11th minute.
Rooney_79586.shtml'>Wayne Rooney scored his first competitive goal for England since Euro 2004 in the 32nd minute, with the help of a deflection off Raio Piiroja which diverted the ball into the corner.
Taavi Rahn then put through his own goal in extraordinary fashion a minute later as he headed Cole's cross past Poom from the edge of the Estonia area.
England seemed to take the foot off the gas after the break with the three points in the bag and McClaren gave a debut to Everton defender Joleon Lescott who came on for Rio Ferdinand at half-time.
They can now look forward to Wednesday's qualifier in Russia where a win will send them to the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.


Ahead early
England got the early goal they wanted when Wright-Phillips surged between Dmitri Kruglov and Rahn to catch Micah Richards's astute through ball.
Having successfully achieved his aim, the Chelsea winger let fly from an acute angle more in hope than expectation but his shot flew straight between Poom's legs and into the Estonia net.
England will have been desperate to get Rooney's name on the scoresheet, with the young striker still at Everton when he last found the net for his country in a competitive encounter.
Rooney landed one audacious chip on the roof of Poom's net before he eventually broke his duck, turning effortlessly onto Joe Cole's low cross and unleashing a powerful shot that flicked off Piiroja and nestled neatly in the corner.
Within a minute, England had a third, a most bizarre own-goal from Rahn, who stuck out his neck to intercept Ashley Cole's cross and from fully 20 yards beat Poom with firm header.



Cole blow
The comfort of his team's position at half-time will have pleased McClaren but it all seemed too good to be true, and so it proved in the 50th minute as Cole clutched his ankle in agony after getting injured trying to atone for an error of judgement by Lescott.
Cole's injury left many worried faces on the England bench and John Terry, who missed the game with a knee injury, appeared to offer Frank Lampard what seemed to be a bleak assessment about their Chelsea team-mate.
The serious nature of injury seemed to dampen spirits inside Wembley and England were much flatter in the second-half, although they should have added a fourth goal in the closing stages.
Stand-in captain Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole somehow contrived to waste an opportunity when both were clear through on Poom's goal, before Cole flashed a shot wide in stoppage time.

source: SkySports.com

Which post are you replying to as usual?

im guessing lampard

pommie#8

You should of then asked is he irish or a Scot.

John Terry is on course to play in England's crucial Euro 2008 clash with Russia.
The Chelsea defender was forced to miss Saturday's 3-0 win over Estonia after picking up a knee injury in training last week.
Terry took part in training on Monday and made the flight to Moscow with the rest of the England squad.
The Football Association have confirmed the England skipper came through training without any ill-effects and is contention to feature against Russia on Wednesday.

Trained
An England spokesman explained: "John trained today and came through the session with no problems.
"He will continue to be monitored by the England medical staff and assessed
for any reaction."
Steve McClaren will be keen to have Terry available in Moscow as England look to secure their place at Euro 2008 with a victory.
Ashley Cole is missing for England with an ankle injury with Phil Neville, Joleon Lescott and Nicky Shorey all battling to replace Cole at left-back.

Rio Ferdinand has revealed his determination to finally appear in a European Championship tournament.
The Manchester United star has participated in the latter stages of three World Cup finals in 1998, 2002 and 2006 but has missed out on playing in a European Championship tournament.
England can book their place at Euro 2008 with victory over Russia on Wednesday, but Ferdinand concedes they face a tougher test from last month's 3-0 win at Wembley.
Gareth Barry, operating at that time as a central defender for Aston Villa, pipped him for the final spot in Kevin Keegan's squad for Euro 2000 in Belgium and Holland.
Then in 2004 Ferdinand was half-way through a ban after he had failed to attend a routine drugs test at Manchester United's Carrington training ground and was unable to participate in Portugal.
He is keen to end that sequence as England prepare for the crucial clash in Moscow.


Target
Ferdinand said: "I'd like to get to a European Championship finals. I've been to three World Cups now but I've not been to a Euro finals.
"It is something I'd really like to tick off on my 'to do' list but with this one hopefully I can go one better than in the World Cups and win it.
"Every game is massive but, when there is stuff at risk and at the end of it there is silverware or a qualification campaign to be sown up, hopefully you will see the best of our players.
"If you look around the squad, a lot of them are big game players and, when it matters, they normally come up trumps and it is about us doing the job collectively, not as individuals on Wednesday.
"England have got the result when it really matters such as in Rome against Italy and Istanbul against Turkey. We've got the result in those games before and why not now?
"I couldn't play in Istanbul (because of suspension). You got a sense beforehand looking at the lads that they were up for it and they went out there and got the result that was needed."
Ferdinand is aware the Russians will be out to avenge the defeat at Wembley but insists England are confident of booking their place at the finals.


Confident
"We beat Russia 3-0 last time quite convincingly, we are in a good vein of form at the moment, scoring goals, not conceding so we couldn't go into the game in any better shape so we are quietly confident," added Ferdinand.
"But we are under no illusions. It will be a tough game when we get out there. I expect them to be more at us. I think they are going to ask us more questions this time.
"I think at the beginning of the second half at our place, they asked us a few questions. Maybe it was down to us not starting the second half in the right manner but there were signals at different times in that game that they are quality.
"If we give them time and space to play, they will be able to hurt us. They got behind us a few times and they are things we will be thinking about.
"We came in after that game speaking amongst ourselves knowing it would be a different game out there. They are going to ask more questions than any team since Croatia did to be honest."

source: SkySports.com

Paul Robinson has admitted he was at fault for Russia's winning goal as England saw their Euro 2008 qualification hopes taken out of their hands with defeat in Moscow.
The Tottenham goalkeeper, whose position in the national side has been under scrutiny for some time, could only push Alexey Berezutskiy's shot into the path of two-goal substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Defeat for Steve McClaren's side means they now need Russia to slip up against Israel or Andorra, or hope Croatia are stunned by Macedonia, prior to their final fixture against Slaven Bilic's men.

Kick in the teeth
Robinson said: "For the second goal, I just didn't get enough on the ball.
"I got a hand on it but not a strong enough hand and the ball fell in the middle of the area. But we had chances as well to have gone further ahead at 1-0.
"It seems like we have had a kick in the teeth. We were confident going into the Russia game. We showed that in the first half. We were in total control.
"We couldn't believe afterwards that we hadn't won the game. But the penalty for their first goal gave them a lift and the crowd got behind them and, when a team has got momentum, it is difficult to stop."
Despite England's perilous position, Robinson is refusing to give up hope on reaching the finals in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

Difficult to take
Robinson added: "It was a low dressing room afterwards. We had come off the back of some very good results and we were quite optimistic. It is out of our hands but we've got a game against Croatia still to play.
"We've got to get a result and we've got to remain positive and hope the other results go our way. We've got to hope Israel are as resolute against Russia as they were against us. They put a lot of men behind the ball and fought hard.
"It is difficult when you are depending on other teams. It will be difficult to take if we don't qualify.
"We have to stay focused and still believe because, as we saw in our game, five minutes can change a football match.
"Russia have got a difficult place to go to still in Israel and they've got to get the results now."

source:SkySports.com

Why?

David Beckham has been recalled to the England squad for the friendly with Austria and final Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia, but skipper John Terry misses out.



Former captain Beckham has sat out England's last four qualifiers due to a knee injury, but is back in Steve McClaren's plans for the upcoming games.


But while the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder is included in the squad, Chelsea centre-half Terry has yet to recover from his own knee problem.


McClaren, therefore, will be without his first-choice central defensive pairing for the 21st November qualifier with Croatia at Wembley as Rio Ferdinand is suspended.


Gary Neville is still missing for England after suffering a setback in his recovery from a calf problem, but Ashley Cole is back in the squad after injury.


Owen Hargreaves returns to boost McClaren's midfield options after proving his fitness for Manchester United in recent weeks.


Up front, Michael Owen and Peter Crouch are likely to lead the line for the game against Croatia, with Emile Heskey still sidelined with a metatarsal injury and Rooney_79586.shtml'>Wayne Rooney picking up an ankle injury.


England's qualification hopes for next summer's tournament in Austria and Switzerland hinge on Russia slipping up against Israel on 17th November.


If Russia win in Israel, then England are likely to miss out on a place in a major finals for the first time since watching the 1994 World Cup from afar.


Prior to the qualifier with Croatia at Wembley, England face Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria in Vienna on Friday 16th November.


England squad: Robinson (Tottenham), Carson (Aston Villa), James (Portsmouth); P Neville, Lescott (Everton), Campbell (Portsmouth), A Cole, Bridge (Chelsea), Richards (Manchester City), Brown (Manchester United), Shorey (Reading); Beckham (LA Galaxy), Wright-Phillips, J Cole, Lampard (Chelsea), Bentley (Blackburn), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Manchester United), Barry, Young (Aston Villa), Downing (Middlesbrough); Smith, Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United)

im not 2 surprised england may not qualify, look at the coach, what the hell has he done to get that job, i cant beleive he got that job. and the he drops Beckham to stamp his authority on the team, then re calls him, its a joke. even being from scotland i do hope england qualify, and if they do i hope they sack the coach either way.

yer who in their right mind wud drop such a player .. just stupid, i was devistated wen he was dropped!

its because he can't always be flying between Europe and America, he can't perform at the same standard.

no1 can fly what are u on mate .. but seriously u just dont do that sorta thing

it's hard to imagine that england won't make their way through to the final ~ and seems like impossible for israel to beat russia ~ phew
the last match's awful and i even stopped watching in the middle of second half ~ some refs can really be killing with their wrong decisions ~ stuff them! lol

Referees can kill a match, but the russian victory was totally legitimate (sp)

The Newcastle striker has become the latest member of the England squad to give his backing to the under-fire manager, with qualification for Euro 2008 now out of their own hands.

Defeat in Russia last month means that McClaren's men now need Israel to prevent Guus Hiddink's men claiming all three points when the two teams meet on Saturday.

Owen accepts that failure to qualify for the finals of a major tournament for the first time since the 1994 World Cup is not acceptable, but insists McClaren should be given more time at the helm.

Steven Gerrard has reiterated his support for under-fire England manager Steve McClaren.

The midfielder is set to skipper England for Friday's friendly with Austria and next Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia in the absence of injured captain John Terry.

England's hopes of Euro 2008 qualification rests in the hands of others following defeat to Russia in Moscow last month and McClaren has received heavy criticism.

McClaren's side must hope Israel can record a positive result against Russia on Saturday and then target a win against Croatia at Wembley.



WHAT DOES EVERYONE ELSE THINK???? SHOULD MCLAREN BE STAYING OR NOT??

lies! the ref hated england! that's why T.T

i'm not sure if a coach should be counted on the records of coaching ~ but mcclaren's brought england to the level of what we call 'dying' ~ as we're like hoping for a team to beat another team to assist in making england go through >.<
i prefer ericsson better ~ no offence ^^