Euro 2008 draw

I know I'm late, but its always better late than never.

Netherlands
Italy
France
Romania

The whole point to have pots is to avoid situations like this. You will be considered lucky if you are not placed in Pot 1 before the draw. And believe it or not, the best qualifiers gets to be in pot 1.

Does this mean do what Germany probably did, not do so well when they already qualified and make sure they end up in pot 2 to avoid groups like these?

This group will be one for the fans, and I would love to see Romania topping it. I expect a lot of draws so 1 win and not losing is crucial for further advancement.

Truthfully, Italy and France have not been at their best, and this Dutch squad I would classify as weak compared to their seniors from the past. Romania is on good form lately, so don't count them out just yet.

We'll see what happens next summer.

England Vs Croatia

With so many injuries and a possible change of Goalkeeper, 1 point is all England need after the weirdest week of football where the Unfairness of football gods got it right for the Universe, giving England a donno how many chances and kicking out Scotland for doing too well. Taking 6 points out of 6 against France is really something.

Another ironic moment is where, by right, England does not need to score tonight. The job is as simple as keeping a clean sheet and thats it. With injuries to Owen and Rooney, maybe this is a smart move. Why risk a partnership that would most likely not work (Crouch, Defoe, Bent, Smith??) than to let Crouch go solo up front and have a pack of midfield to feed him high balls and ensure that their defenders got the simplest of jobs.

Besides, England boast a talented midfield that consist of flair, drive, consistency, and strength. On paper, this is a good combination of doing what a midfield does best, taking the ball from the opponent and feeding it upwards(supposedly where if should belong)

After all that talk, they are going to just make it. Thats what I feel anyways.

Euro 2008 qualifiers

While everyone was waiting to see how England will do against Russia and betting on them to either lose momentum or winning impressively again, Scotland beats France... again.

Remember a couple of months ago, France went to Scotland to play an Euro 2008 qualifier and lost 1-0 to a Steve Caldweld goal?

This time they lose 1-0 in Paris to a James Mcfadden 30 yard strike.

Here are some stats

Match Stats
	France	Scotland
Shots (on Goal)	15(7)	2(2)
Fouls	11	14
Corner Kicks	16	3
Offsides	0	1
Time of Possession	72%	28%
Yellow Cards	2	2
Red Cards	0	0
Saves	3	9

Remember, this is not a weak French squad, and in the modern world, does Scotland ever had a strong squad? We are looking at a team that only had 2 shots, against 15, a team that only had 28% of the possession, and that's probably from Craig Gordon's time wasting goal kicks... haha.

Check out the goal here

Moving along, we see how the Owen Heskey Partnership blossom. In the past, we took for granted that this partnership can be the funniest thing to watch as everyone is betting on how Heskey would not score, how Owen is running too fast and not stopping, how much of a disaster this would be. 3 years later, they came back and this would be one of McClaren's smartest moves.

England beats Russia 3-0. Check out the goals. Owen's scoring good goals again

Euro 2008 qualifiers

All eyes will be on England and whether they can overcome a supposedly easy opponent, Israel, and it is about how the small fries can shock the world. England behind in points are desperate for 2 wins from tonight and Wednesday, to have any realistic hope of qualifying for the Euro 2008.

Its supposed to be Michael Owen's night. With Wayne Rooney out and Peter Crouch suspended, its up to Owen and who ever partners him to represent England in the best way possible. Looks like Gerrard is playing through pain to help out, I do hope nothing happens to him. My guess is England wins by a small margin.

Other big games includes Italy vs France, World cup finalists. Italy is not the team they used to be and neither is France. I think the French will take this game, whether a draw or a victory. It would be worth the trip.

Other games worth mentioning includes Sweden vs Denmark, a fixture that didn't finish the last time due to the fact that a drunk Danish fan attacked the referee.

Portugal vs Poland should be another interesting fixture.

The fixture list for international week is as follows.

Saturday, September 8, 2007
TIME	HOME		AWAY	STAGE	VENUE
19:15 UK	Serbia	v	Finland	Group A	Stadion Crvena Zvezda
21:00 UK	Portugal	v	Poland	Group A
15:00 UK	Scotland	v	Lithuania	Group B	Hampden Park
16:00 UK	Georgia	v	Ukraine	Group B	Lokomotivi Stadium
19:50 UK	Italy	v	France	Group B
15:00 UK	Hungary	v	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Group C	Ferenc Puskas Stadium
18:30 UK	Malta	v	Turkey	Group C	Ta'Qali National Stadium
19:00 UK	Moldova	v	Norway	Group C	Republican Stadium
19:15 UK	San Marino	v	Czech Republic	Group D	Stadio Olimpico Serravalle
19:30 UK	Slovakia	v	Ireland	Group D
19:30 UK	Wales	v	Germany	Group D	Millennium Stadium
16:00 UK	Russia	v	Macedonia	Group E
17:00 UK	England	v	Israel	Group E
19:30 UK	Croatia	v	Estonia	Group E	Stadion Maksimir
17:15 UK	Latvia	v	Northern Ireland	Group F	Stadionas Skonto
19:30 UK	Sweden	v	Denmark	Group F	Nya Ullevi Stadion
21:00 UK	Iceland	v	Spain	Group F	Laugardalsvollur Stadium
16:00 UK	Luxembourg	v	Slovenia	Group G	Josy Barthel Stadium
17:00 UK	Belarus	v	Romania	Group G	Dinamo Stadion
19:30 UK	Netherlands	v	Bulgaria	Group G

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
TIME	HOME		AWAY	STAGE	VENUE
16:00 UK	Kazakhstan	v	Belgium	Group A	Ortalyk Tsentralnyi Stadium
17:00 UK	Finland	v	Poland	Group A	Olympiastadion
21:00 UK	Portugal	v	Serbia	Group A
18:00 UK	Lithuania	v	Faroe Islands	Group B	Zalgiris Stadium
19:45 UK	Ukraine	v	Italy	Group B	Olympic Stadium
20:00 UK	France	v	Scotland	Group B	Stade de France
18:00 UK	Norway	v	Greece	Group C	Ullevaal Stadium
18:30 UK	Turkey	v	Hungary	Group C	Ataturk Olympic Stadium
19:00 UK	Bosnia-Herzegovina	v	Moldova	Group C
17:30 UK	Slovakia	v	Wales	Group D
19:00 UK	Cyprus	v	San Marino	Group D	Ramat Gan Stadium
19:30 UK	Czech Republic	v	Ireland	Group D
17:00 UK	Andorra	v	Croatia	Group E	Estadio Comunal de Aixovall
19:30 UK	Macedonia	v	Estonia	Group E	City Stadium Skopje
20:00 UK	England	v	Russia	Group E
19:00 UK	Denmark	v	Liechtenstein	Group F	Lia Manoilu
19:05 UK	Iceland	v	Northern Ireland	Group F	Laugardalsvollur Stadium
21:00 UK	Spain	v	Latvia	Group F
18:30 UK	Bulgaria	v	Luxembourg	Group G	Vassil Levski Stadion
18:45 UK	Slovenia	v	Belarus	Group G	Petrol Arena
19:45 UK	Albania	v	Netherlands	Group G	Qemal Stafa Stadium