Now that England will have plenty of time next summer (since they will not be joining EURO 2008), there will be enough time to prepare for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The draw in Durban, revealed who will be playing who at the European qualifiers. England, in group 6, will have to face Croatia once again (the people who took them move away from EURO 08) and as sad as it may be to be thinking of a revenge so many months from now, we hope that whomever the Three Lions manager may be, he (or she.. who knows!) will be playing for his own job. But the matter, for the fans, is becoming not solely about the English manager but also about England’s place on world football.

The draw took place yesterday in Durban and revealed the tough roads some teams will face until the World Cup in South Africa. Matches start in August 08 and out of the 53 teams, only 13 qualify.

Now back to England, if they fail to qualify once again it will be complete disaster (which I believe will not happen). Group 6 is composed by Croatia, Andorra, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, so they better play well and win against Croatia, home and away. And although I still see England as a very capable football squad, some are saying English football has not been top in a long time.

Words from the fans (from BBC 606)

“England should stroll through that group with ease. Belarus, Kazahkstan, Andorra are all home and away wins. Ukraine and Croatia should be home wins but will be tricky away. I still expext them to win away though. If they don’t get maximum points from those games, i woud sack the manager.”

“We can’t expect to beat Croatia, after the last debacle, the Ukraine could also be a possible stumbling block.
We should beat the rest home and away with relative ease, but then again we were held to a home draw by the “mighty” Macedonia !!
Still now that idiot Maclown has been sacked, I just hope we appoint a decent manager, that actually has an understanding of the game, and restores hope for the future”

“Unlike the article which says Croatia will be the main challenge to England’s top spot I believe it will be England who will be challengers to Croatia’s top spot and if anyone doubts this I will refer you to the recently finished Euro 2008 qualifying section!”