Home / Sports / Soccer Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
England can edge closer to finals
Adjust font size:

England and Serbia can move within touching distance of World Cup qualification with wins on Wednesday but Sweden's chances of reaching South Africa next year hang by a thread.

Fabio Capello's England chalked up their sixth straight qualifying victory with a 4-0 triumph in Kazakhstan on Saturday and they should have little trouble managing another regulation win at home to Andorra.

England will be without central defender Rio Ferdinand and midfielder Gareth Barry for the visit of Andorra but coach Fabio Capello should not be losing any sleep over this lop-sided World Cup qualifier.

Coach and players alike have stressed the importance of avoiding complacency against the part-timers from the Pyrenees but whatever 11 English players take to the Wembley turf a seventh consecutive Group 6 victory should be a formality.

Ferdinand missed the 4-0 win in Kazakhstan on Saturday with a calf injury while Barry, one of the scorers, picked up a yellow card that rules him out for Wednesday.

Andorra will park 10 men behind the ball at Wembley in a bid to avoid a thrashing, a game plan they employed to some success in Barcelona last year when they conceded just two goals against the Premier League's finest.

"Everyone expects us to turn them over easily," he said. "Sometimes that is not the case. We went to Andorra last year and found it difficult, and teams are getting a lot wiser, knowing how to play against the bigger teams, and making it difficult for us."

Andorra coach David Rodrigo said after Saturday's 5-1 defeat in Belarus that the team's passing had been poor and a big improvement was needed against the "powerful" English.

Victory would give the Group 6 leaders a 10-point advantage at the top and mean they would only need three points from their last three games to qualify.

Andorra coach David Rodrigo, feeling Saturday's 5-1 loss to Belarus, said: "It'll take a lot of effort to put the defeat behind us and confront the match at Wembley. England have players who can cause a lot of damage at set pieces."

The group winners in the European qualification section will reach next June's finals directly while the best eight runners-up from the nine groups go through to a playoff.

Ukraine can go joint second with Croatia if they beat the Kazakhs at home in one of only seven European qualifiers taking place on Wednesday.

Group 7 leaders Serbia will surge eight points clear of second-placed France if they win in the Faroe Islands having beaten Austria 1-0 in Belgrade on Saturday.

Raymond Domenech's team will have two games in hand, the first in the Faroes in August, but matches are fast running out to overhaul the Serbs who have lost only once.

Fourth-placed Sweden are 10 points behind Group 1 leaders Denmark after Saturday's 1-0 loss to their Scandinavian rivals and Wednesday's game against Malta in Gothenburg is a must-win.

"Realistically, we're setting our sights on second place and qualifying," coach Lars Lagerback told reporters. "We still have all the possibilities of advancing."

In other matches, Macedonia host Iceland in the race for second spot in Group Nine after leaders the Netherlands secured qualification on Saturday with a 2-1 win in Reykjavik.

Bert van Marwijk's side can celebrate in their home clash with struggling Norway while third-placed Finland entertain second-placed Russia in Group Four.

World champions Italy are in friendly action against New Zealand in Pretoria on Wednesday in preparation for the Confederations Cup, which starts in South Africa next Sunday.

(Reuters via China Daily June 10, 2009)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read Bookmark and Share

Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
- Orange army S.Africa bound
- Heavyweight trio hunt for Confed Cup
- Japan first Asian team to qualify for 2010 World Cup
- Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in World Cup qualifier
Special Reports
Lakers take 2-0 lead over Magic in NBA finals

More >>

Upcoming Events

June 2009

- Tennis: French Open
- NBA Finals
- Soccer: FIFA Confederations Cup
- Tennis: Wimbledon Open
主站蜘蛛池模板: 两个人看的www免费视频中文| 中文字幕一精品亚洲无线一区| 欧美激情在线一区二区三区| 全彩漫画口工令人垂延三尺| 芬兰bbw搡bbbb搡bbbb| 国产手机精品一区二区| 91久久香蕉国产线看观看软件| 女人张开腿等男人桶免费视频| 中文字幕123区| 日本19禁啪啪无遮挡免费| 久久精品免费一区二区三区| 欧男同同性videos免费| 亚洲最大色视频| 欧美黑人又粗又大久久久| 亚洲网站在线播放| 男女搞基视频软件| 冲田杏梨在线精品二区| 美女航空一级毛片在线播放| 国产三级视频在线| 青青草视频偷拍| 国产在线视频一区二区三区| 精品一区二区视频在线观看| 国产精华av午夜在线观看| 手机在线视频你懂的| 国产精品无码久久久久久| 69天堂人成无码麻豆免费视频| 国内精品国语自产拍在线观看91| taoju.tv| 女人与zozo| www视频在线观看天堂| 少妇愉情理伦片高潮日本| 三年片在线观看免费观看大全中国 | 国产成A人亚洲精V品无码性色| 中文无线乱码二三四区| 国产精品宾馆在线| 2021日本三级理论影院| 国产精品欧美在线不卡| 3d动漫精品啪啪一区二区中文 | 97精品依人久久久大香线蕉97| 在线观看精品视频看看播放| eeuss影院www天堂免费|