With two rounds
of qualifying to go, both Italy
and England, two of Europe's Soccer powers are in danger of failing to
reach next year's tournament, and their fates will become clearer after this
weekend's games.
Italy will qualify with a victory over Scotland in Glasgow, which would knock the Scots out. But
a loss in Glasgow
will put the Scots through and mean that the Italians will be fighting over the
other qualification spot with France, the team they beat in a penalty shootout
in last year's World Cup final.
The Italians will
subsequently have a comparatively easy final game against the Faeroe Islands
while the French, currently leading the group by one point, have to go to Ukraine.
The
standings in Group B as of today ...France 25, Scotland 24 points, Italy 23,,with only the top
2 going forward in the Qualifiers !!!!!
[The Group also includes Ukraine
(16) , Lithuania
(10), Georgia
(10), Faroe (0)]
These
standings are based on 11 games played by Scotland
and France, while Italy has
played only 10 games.
Therefore, France
is put in the strange position of rooting for Italy,
and knocking Scotland out of
contention, and sending Italy
and France
to the Qualifiers. !! :) :)
World Cup champion Italy,
England
in Danger of Missing Euro 2008
Canadian Press
November 15, 2007
LONDON - It's hard to imagine a
European Championship without England
and Italy.
It could happen, though.
With two rounds
of qualifying to go, both teams are in danger of failing to reach next year's
tournament, and their fates will become clearer after this weekend's games.
So far four teams
- defending champion Greece,
Germany, the Czech Republic and Romania
- have advanced to join co-hosts Austria
and Switzerland.
That means 10 more spots are open and not all the big teams may make it to the
Dec. 2 draw in Lucerne, Switzerland.
England is in more danger than World Cup champion Italy.
Steve McClaren and his team have only one qualifying game to play
next Wednesday against visiting Croatia
and, by then, its chances could be just about gone.
Croatia will qualify by beating Macedonia on Saturday, while Russia aims to move ahead of England and into second place by winning at Israel. The
Russians are then expected to win their remaining game against last-place Andorra on the same night England hosts
the Croats.
"It will be
a massive disappointment sitting at home in the summer," said England
captain Steven Gerrard, who will lead the team in
Friday's friendly against Austria and the Group E match against Croatia at Wembley.
Russia beat England 2-1 on Oct. 17, coming from
behind with two late goals when the English looked set to capture a qualifying
spot with a victory.
If the Russians
beat Israel
in Tel Aviv they will be a point ahead of the English going into the final
round of games, and Gerrard knows the home fans are
likely to give his players a rough ride at Wembley.
"It's going
to be difficult," he said. "We are going to be heroes or villains.
"The fans
are entitled to their opinion. If we don't get there then it will be a
difficult night on Wednesday. They are the best supporters and they want to go
to Austria and Switzerland."
Italy will qualify with a victory over Scotland in Glasgow, which would knock the Scots out. But
a loss in Glasgow
will put the Scots through and mean that the Italians will be fighting over the
other qualification spot with France, the team they beat in a penalty shootout
in last year's World Cup final.
"I don't
even want to think about the idea of not going to the Euros," said striker
Luca Toni, who could lead the attack in the absence of Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero.
The Italians have
a comparatively easy final game against the Faeroe Islands while the French, currently
leading the group by one point, have to go to Ukraine.
If Italy fails to
make it to Euro 2008, it would be another blow at a time when last weekend's
violence has left the Italian game in crisis.
A Lazio fan was
accidentally killed by a policeman's bullet when police went to break up
fighting between rival fans at a freeway service area. The incident prompted
violence in Bergamo and Rome and three Serie
A matches were either postponed or abandoned...
By coincidence,
when Italy previously won
the World Cup in 1982, it failed to qualify for the 1984 European Championship
in France.
England
didn't make it either.
Group A leader Poland
will qualify by beating visiting Belgium on Saturday. Portugal can also advance at home with a victory
over Armenia, but that's
only if Serbia and Finland both fail to win their games against Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
Norway can qualify to join Greece from Group C with a victory over visiting
Turkey, and the winner of
Saturday's Group F game between Spain
and Sweden in Madrid will qualify.
Both will advance if Northern Ireland
and Denmark
draw.
The Netherlands will join Romania
from Group G by beating visiting Luxembourg.
In other friendly
games, France hosts Morocco and South
Africa hosts the United States