Anything more than a point (which means, all the three points) on Russia's artificial pitch will see England through. Together with Croatia in Group E and be part of the Euro 2008 party. On this coming Wednesday, Croatia coach Slaven Bilic will be looking at the developments from Moscow with great interest. Croatia is not playing on that day, but still...
The day after his side beat Israel 1-0, the UEFA website reported that he would be "a bigger England fan than anyone in England" on Wednesday as his Croatia side hope a Group E result goes their way in Moscow. (http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=602887.html) Steve McClaren has even more pressure to deliver in Moscow. Whatever has been said about the artificial pitch...I don't want to hear it! Especially the negatives, that is. The Three Lions had been given a rough idea of what they may expect in Moscow on Arsenal's training ground which has an almost similar pitch. Chelsea and England captain John Terry is back, and it's certainly good news for the England camp.
But with Ashley Cole out after suffering an injury while playing for England against Estonia over the weekend, Steve McClaren has called in reinforcements (all the news and more - http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fbleur2008ruseng&prov=afp&type=lgns). Other than that, it's the midfield puzzle all over again. Word has it from the England training camp before the squad left for Moscow that it will be a 4-4-2 formation and not 4-3-3 as earlier apparently reported. Frank Lampard replacing Gareth Barry's place in the midfield? I'm going to go into howls of protest if it happens. I actually almost wanted to jump up and down when on last Saturday, the England line-up in the midfield department is what I wanted. Lampard on the bench and it was Barry and Gerrard in the midfield. I almost screamed - Yes!
It has better be that way again in Russia. I was initially worried on Saturday that Steve McClaren will not have the guts to dare drop Lampard off to the bench. Until Lampard's past injuries, he has always been the choice and how so many are not fans of the Gerrard-Lampard midfield partnership. I think I can start to see clearly over the last weekend.
Come this Wednesday, it's not only England having a date with destiny. England's other opponent in their qualifying group (Group E) Croatia will be joining Germany as well, provided the results in Moscow go their way and England not losing to the Russians. Which is of what I said in the first paragraph. Few other nations will also potentially see themselves earn the Euro 2008 ticket at the same time as well. The developments until then means even more are joining the early birds - Germany. Sweden, Czech Republic are also among the ones (http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=616276.html#hopefuls+join+germany).
Aha. Czech Republic. How many times have I said that it will be a cracker of a match when they face the Germans in Munich? Maybe not so much, or I have forgotten already. No time to slip up, just because Germany have qualified. That is certainly the mood in the German squad as the Czechs will use the match before they earn their Euro 2008 ticket as well.
As I was updating my entry last night, something happened almost half a world away. Before that, this is what I wrote yesterday: Ever since Loew's coaching stock had risen, there has always been questions of whether he will continue after his contract expires after the end of Euro 2008. No more repeat of those days after the World Cup last year where everyone wondered whether Klinsmann wanted to continue or not. Now that with Germany is the first one to be part of the Euro 2008 party (the draw for the group matches will be made in early December), it has become more intensified. Extending till 2012 sounds a little premature, given not many will know how things will be like by then. 2010 is the target (in view of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa), as far as what I had been reading up till yesterday. It does make sense. (http://littlemissdiana.blogspot.com/2007/10/coaching-mentality.html) Now...is this the reason why someone was so coy with the media yesterday? Or is it me?
Look over here and scroll down - http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=76898244 Someone is looking so coy, I say. All the talk of extending the contract up till 2010, Germany national coach Joachim Loew had replied that he will not be talking about it in the days to come. All he wants to concentrate is the qualifying match against the Czech Republic. Complacency will be thrown out of the window on Wednesday. It will be business as usual.
One thing's for sure: after getting a yellow card in Ireland over time-wasting, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will not be featured in Munich. He has gotten a yellow card in a previous match before the Ireland one. The original second-choice keeper Timo Hildebrand will be at the goal.
Someone in the house was actually a little surprised that the England match against Russia that it will be shown at 11pm on Wednesday. My father. I had told him that from I found on the BBC website, it stated that it will be on at 1600 BST (British Standard Time, an hour ahead of GMT). I can understand, given he argued that it's on a Wednesday. In the past, midweek qualifiers are often in the wee hours of the morning over here when it's still night in Europe. By the time when I went to check the listings, it showed that it will begin on SuperSports at 10.55pm. About the same timing.
Say it once, say it again. She has finally arrived! I am still feeling so smug over the fact that our national carrier, our pride and joy, our national darling (I can go on forever), the Singapore Airlines is the first customer to receive the new Airbus A380. Yeah! Oh, how I was so tempting to say this to the other major airlines - Take that. We have done it, again. From the day I first learned that SIA (our national carrier name in short) will be the first customer to receive it, I was estastic. I was aware of the problems surrounding Airbus. But I wondered if the manufacturer is aware of the hype it has been building up over here in leading to the launch. Bidding to be on that flight from Singapore to Sydney. It has created lots of buzz.
Oh! Say it once, say it again!
