England now 1.14 to reach Euro 2008 after shock Israel victory

Internationals / Editor / 17 November 2007 / 2 Comments

Last-minute winner puts McLaren's men just a draw away from finals...

It was supposed to be a dark day for English football but suddenly Steve McClaren's men are rated just a [1.14] chance to reach Euro 2008 after Israel upset the odds in dramatic fashion to beat Russia tonight.

The Israelis scored in the 90th minute to land a 2-1 win, having drifted to odds of [24.0] to win the match on Betfair.

With talk of a conspiracy in the air the Russians had been trading at [1.4] earlier in the week.

The task now facing England is to draw with Croatia on Wednesday night to guarantee qualification for the finals. Pre tonight's Israel-Russia match they were [3.4] to reach Euro 2008, but now they are [1.14], having been backed at [1.04] earlier in the campaign.

Russia were a [1.36] shot to be at the Austria-Switzerland showpiece next summer but can now be backed at [7.6].

England are [1.6] to beat Croatia on Wednesday, while that all-important draw is [3.4]. Croatia are [8.0] to spoil the English party.

At the beginning of the day Scotland were the team with most to play for, with a place at the Euro2008 table up for grabs if they could only pull off a famous victory over Italy.

But it was not to be.

A brave effort from the Scots saw them come back from 1-0 down to level against the world champions.

However, a Christian Panucci header in the 90th minute killed their qualification hopes dead. Alex McLeish's men were matched at [1.61] to reach the Euro2008 finals.

Italy drifted to [10.0] to win on Betfair while the draw traded at [1.17].

Wales and the Rep of Ireland fought out a spirited battle at the Millennium Stadium which ended level at 2-2. The home side opened the scoring through Jason Koumas, but were pegged back and then eclipsed by the visitors.

The Republic Of Ireland were matched at [1.09] when still 2-1 with two minutes of the game left.

But a dubious penalty late on allowed the home team to level matters - delighting backers of the draw who took odds of [13.0].

The correct score of 2-2 was matched at 25.

Comments (2)

1. Betfair Blogger | 18 November 2007

   I think the odds on a Croatia win are very tempting, as I have a feeling England might crack under the pressure.

   All our thanks go out to Israel though. Cannot believe that result!

   I thought Scotland played with real pride and would have liked them to progress through to the finals. They must be devastated after that ludicrous decision for a free-kick, but that's the way things go sometimes.

2. apal | 19 November 2007

   It's Croatia who will crack under the pressure. With the Wembley crowd behind them (hopefully) I can't see any other score than an England win.

   I just hope he does not play Lampard.