England - Probably the most over-hyped team in the world

Internationals / Mike Norman / 11 September 2007 / Leave a Comment

"Mystical" Mike Norman looks into his crystal ball to discover who will be qualifying from England's Group to Euro 2008

After Saturday's impressive performance against Israel, few will be forgiven for picturing John Terry lifting the European Champions Cup at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna on 29th June next summer. This is England remember, where after a defeat we like to put a picture of our manager on the front page of the tabloids, displayed as a vegetable. But after a win the dream suddenly becomes a reality and our national football team is talked about as champions. Carlsberg don't do 'over hyped teams', but if they did, then surely our current England team would 'probably' be the best in the world. So what next for our three lions? Can we beat Russia, how many points do we need, can we win the tournament, and just why do we make things so difficult?

The harsh truth is that England are far too inconsistent, and probably not as good as most people think. Too many of our so called 'stars' don't seem to understand what an honour it is to wear an England shirt. On Saturday, I sat proudly as I watched our 15 Rugby players belt out our National Anthem, exuberating pride and passion - while in contrast I was embarrassed to watch the 11 football players either murmur or stay silent while God Save The Queen was played at Wembley. Few will care how loud our boys sing the national anthem if they can perform like they did against Israel, but just how many times have we seen a good performance followed by a very average performance? Let's hope Wednesday does not offer that scenario.

The two games against Russia will go a long way to deciding who qualifies from the group alongside Croatia, and if England are in the same form on Wednesday as they were against Israel then I can only see one outcome. I am very confident that Steve McClaren, barring injuries, will start with the same team as at the weekend and England have to be the selection to win the game at a trading price of 1.58. A victory will take England to 20 points and put them 2nd in the group, though by the time they travel to Moscow next month, that points tally will be 23 after a home victory over Estonia. Russia will now be a massive 5 points adrift of England when the two teams kick off on October 17th, and the pressure will be well and truly on Gus Hiddink's men to get the win. This will be the crucial game in the group, a game where the three lions must roar at their loudest, knowing a draw will be a momentous achievement, and an achievement that will book their tickets to Austria and Switzerland next year.

Croatia look certain to reach 26 points at the very least, with a trip to Andorra and a home tie against Israel offering excellent opportunities for maximum points. So perhaps a crucial game for all concerned will be Croatia's trip to Macedonia on November 17th. If the Croat's can take all three points then that will put them on the 29 point mark and almost certainly win the group. They look a solid selection at this stage to achieve this and they can be backed at 1.58 to do so, while backing England at 1.57 to qualify from the group looks another incredibly strong selection. With Russia having a difficult tie away at Israel before the group is decided, it's quite possible that when England entertain Croatia at Wembley on November 21st, they will do so knowing that the two teams on the lush turf will have already qualified for Euro 2008.

Having talked England into qualifying for the final stages quite easily, is it possible that they could go on and win the tournament outright? They can be backed at 11.5 currently in a market where in which there isn't an outstanding team. England certainly have the ability to win a major tournament, but I have serious doubts whether they have the passion and the mental toughness to achieve such a feat. My heart obviously says they can win it, but my head tells me to oppose them with confidence. Remember, this is England - capable of beating anybody on their day, more likely to be beaten by anybody on a bad day, and probably the most 'over hyped' team in the world.