England needs another improved performance at Estonia when
European Championship qualifying continues tomorrow or its chances
of reaching next year's tournament could fade further.
France has no such concerns when it hosts Georgia in another of
the day's 19 games, but Italy is at Lithuania having already drawn
against its lowly opponent in qualifying.
Most of the continent's major teams are in action, four days
after the last round.
England could be as much as eight points off the lead if it
slips in Tallinn. Croatia hosts Russia, and Israel is at Andorra in
Group E's other games.
It should be confident though after recalled former captain
David Beckham and a standout performance by Steven Gerrard helped
England draw 1-1 on Friday in a friendly against Brazil. It
improved upon its recent lackluster showings and was only denied
victory when the five-time world champion equalized in the last
minute.
Beckham should start on the right of midfield again at Estonia,
with England needing a victory to stay in touch with the three
teams above it.
Croatia leads after Saturday's 1-0 win over Estonia, which has
lost all six of its matches without scoring, with Israel and Russia
two points off the top.
England coach Steve McClaren was jeered at England's last three
qualifying matches - a 2-0 loss at Croatia, a 0-0 draw at Israel,
and an uninspiring 3-0 win at Andorra - and desperately wants a
victory.
"We can go there on Wednesday, play well and end up drawing or
even losing the game," captain John Terry said. "We need to win.
Whatever kind of win it is, we will take it.
"We have not played well or got decent results in the last few
qualifying games away from home, so we owe the traveling fans a
good result."
McClaren may play Gerrard in a more attacking role against
Estonia even though the Liverpool midfielder was man of the match
against Brazil in a holding position. Peter Crouch is likely to
replace Alan Smith up front, while Terry should recover from a
tight hamstring to take his place in central defense.
Beckham set up Terry for his headed goal against Brazil, and his
crosses and free kicks could prove crucial against a defense that
has conceded 11 goals in six matches.
Ruthless Russia
Russia stayed within two points of Croatia on Saturday with an
easy 4-0 win over Andorra, but coach Guus Hiddink wants his team to
be more ruthless.
"We could have scored more goals,"Hiddink said. "I didn't like
that we have created so many scoring chances but failed to convert
them."
Russia and Croatia played to a 0-0 draw in their opening
qualifier in September and Hiddink said a repeat in Zagreb would be
a good result.
"They have been unbeatable at home for a long time," Hiddink
said. "We are not going to Croatia to play for a draw, but to win
there we'll have to play our best in attack."
Midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who strained his leg in
practice for the match against Andorra, will travel to Croatia in
case he recovers.
Alexandr Kerzhakov is fit after his three-goal performance on
Saturday, with his 54th-minute substitution an attempt to rest
him.
With the top two teams from each group qualifying for the
tournament in Austria and Switzerland, Italy is on course in Group
B even after a disappointing 2-1 win at the Faeroe Islands on
Saturday.
Italian job
"We should have had more ball possession but the field was in
bad shape and that didn't help us," midfielder Aimo Diana. "We
thought it was going to be a romp and instead we risked a
draw."
Italy's qualifying campaign started with a 1-1 home draw against
Lithuania, and the World Cup champion - second behind France -
knows it needs to improve for the rematch.
Defender Gianluca Zambrotta and Massimo Ambrosini, who missed
Saturday's game with minor injuries, trained on Sunday and are set
to return.
France, which has 15 points to Italy's 13, likely will play
Mickael Landreau instead of injured goalkeeper Gregory Coupet and
may be without defender William Gallas because of a thigh
strain.
Scotland, which is tied for third place with Ukraine on 12
points, is at the Faeroe Islands after a confidence-boosting 1-0
friendly win at Austria.
Three-time European champion Germany could make itself an
overwhelming favorite to qualify from Group D if it beats Slovakia
to go five points clear of the Czech Republic.
Germany has several players injured - including Michael Ballack
and Lukas Podolski - but should still field nine players from last
year's World Cup squad, as it did in Saturday's 6-0 win over San
Marino.
Miroslav Klose, who was the leading scorer at the World Cup,
will be retained ahead of Mario Gomez even though he hasn't scored
for the team in six months. The 21-year-old Gomez scored twice
against San Marino in a half of play.
"We're not closing our eyes to the fact that Miro isn't in form,
but we stand by him and give him absolute support," Germany coach
Joachim Loew said.
(China Daily via Agencies June 5, 2007)