It's actually our Minister Mentor's favourite song. Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be). Now I will not have imagined the day will come I will be talking about this. Being the patriotic Singaporean I am, I know! *laughs* But linking it to football...
But after reading whatever has happened (so much even before I can say 'Goal!') ahead of the Euro 2008, whatever will be, will be. One more loss, and France is out; the Scots not letting recent resuts get into their head when facing Ukraine; it's within reach for Germany now as a point is the least they need; England determined to show once again what they are originally made of despite injury concerns.
France has been caught with Rugby World Cup madness. The host nation is now in the semi-final against reigning champions England and suddenly for once, everyone in the country has almost forgotten what had happened to the famous footballing cousins last month when Scotland came to town. France national football coach Raymond Domenech is aware of that. It's interesting what he said about the current state of play for the national squad.
"We've a gun pointed at our head. That's good, it's going to motivate us," coach Raymond Domenech said this week. "It's like playing Cup matches -- we lose a game, we're out. We know that." (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-euro_preview&prov=reuters&type=lgns) And they are meeting Faroe Islands away. It doesn't mean their oppnents rank very lowly in the FIFA rankings and France will be complacent. The Faroes had known to produce almost near-upsets before.
Celtic had escaped being dropped from future Champions League matches. The UEFA ruling had stated that the club will be fined and AC Milan goalkeeper Dida will be banned from two UEFA matches after whatever happened in the Champions League group match between Celtic and AC Milan (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fbleurc1scoitacelticacmilan&prov=afp&type=lgns). Other than that, it has been almost near-good times again for Scottish football. But hang on. Two famous 1-0 scorelines against France are not going to make the Tartan Army think that they can rest easily for now. Whoever said Ukraine are easy opponents? Ukraine still have an outside chance of qualifying. Alex McLeish's counterpart Oleg Blokhin had said earlier in the week that if Ukraine don't qualify for next year, he will leave.
While major European footballing nations are still sweating on places to be in Austria and Switzerland (I have to admit England is part of that unless...I will talk about the team later), one nation is almost there now. All Germany need right now from Dublin on Saturday when they face Ireland is - a point. That is the minimum. But then, three points are always welcomed (though this will leave Ireland out of contention altgether). Like...duh! So, Michael Ballack is still not fit yet and Werder Bremen midfielder Torsten Frings (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fbleur2008gerirl&prov=afp&type=lgns) will be leading the squad at Croke Park.
And the goalkeeping war...looks like it has not ended. Just when I thought when my Wednesday's entry (Keeping the faith - http://littlemissdiana.blogspot.com/2007/10/keeping-faith.html) will be the end of the goalkeeping saga which started in Germany way before the football World Cup last year, Oliver Khan has hit back on what Jens Lehmann has said about him (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fblgerbayernkahnlehmann&prov=afp&type=lgns). And as if that is not enough for Lehmann to take, the national coach Joachim Loew has also warned about his current first-choice goalkeeper's future. Unless Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger still have Lehmann as his first-choice goalkeeper after the international break, now that Spaniard Manuel Alumina had performed well in Lehmann's absence, someone's future in the national squad could be in doubt ahead of next year in Austria and Switzerland. But for now, we will see Lehmann at goal against Ireland.
England could also be on their way there with Germany (which will make yours truly who support the both sides smiling broadly and forgetting about the friendly which happened in August for once) if they beat Estonia and Russia, with a game in hand in November against Croatia. But before the artificial pitch in Russia to deal with (anyhow, I had already learned that the English FA had identified like two places in the country to practice before the Russia trip), the Estonians are coming. So while England captain John Terry had been ruled out of the match against Estonia because of knee injury, I am not starting to see dread in the face. Another 3-0 scoreline on the cards...is this a sign? There has been four 3-0 scorelines so far, and England's back-to-back wins against Israel and Russia are among that.
Though I kind of joked last night in the car to my father that it's their 'favourite' scoreline (and he predicted something like that for the match on Saturday, and maybe even more), three points is still what the Three Lions need from the side who is already out of contention for next year. No complacency please.
I know I am sounding selfish right now but, I want to travel to China in December with the fact that both Germany and England had already qualified for Euro 2008. I want to visit the land of my grandparents with that frame of mind. No more worrying over this and that, when my life is like this in the beginning. I want to enjoy the scenery in China's countryside without worrying so much.
Is it asking a little too much? Is it really that demanding of a request?
