By Myles Palmer
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ENGLAND banged in four goals in 16 minutes in the second half to beat Northern Ireland.
4-0 was what we all expected.
ROONEY was their best player but didn’t score.
Joe Cole got the first, Owen the second, then 2 own-goals,
Owen has zero confidence these days.
A phone call told me that Clinton Morrison had scored for Ireland in Tel Aviv and that the game was on C5.
I switched on to see a workmanlike effort by the Irish.
With sparky forwards like Duff and Keane maybe they should have gone for the second goal when the Israeli boys started to get ratty with each other, rather than playing keep-ball.
The win look safe until Abbas Suan rifled a 25-yard shot into the bottom corner in stoppage time. Looked as if Shay Given was unsighted.
VIEIRA captained France for the sixth time and Senderos played for Switzerland in Paris.
Senderos is very constructive. But he doesn’t get distance on his headers.
It was 0-0 with many chances missed.
France, Switzerland and Israel all have nine points.
Israel host France on Wednesday.
Will Thierry be fit for that one?
FREDDIE LJUNGBERG scored twice as Sweden won 3-0 in Bulgaria.
SOME CONCLUSIONS from all this :
1. The atmosphere round Engerland is rabid. The hacks know Sven is going in 15 months, so they want to tear him to pieces. I doubt if he will ever come back to England again.
Sven is a compromiser who refuses to make hard choices.
He deploys his resources quite well, but he cannot balance a team or drop a star
So he won’t get us to the semi-final.He doesn’t have the balls to drop a star and he can’t change a game from the bench.
The four words I just hate to hear are…win the World Cup.
We WON’T win the World Cup in 2006, got that ? Don’t buy into that fantasy. It ain’t gonna happen with Sven in charge.
Yes, there is an opportunity there. Some big countries will be under-performing in Germany next summer.
Somebody could seize the moment. But it won’t be England because Sven isn’t a seize-the-day kinda guy, is he?
2. FRANCE should have made Vieira captain years ago.
And they should have rebuilt the team after Euro 2000 and done it intelligently. Trezeguet is a plonker. He has been garbage for two years.
France need Rooney. But, of course, every country I’ve seen needs Rooney, including Brazil.
3. England need Fernando Torres to play with Rooney.
He is young, fast, tough, skilful, consistent, mature, scores goals.
France need Torres. Ireland need Torres.
4. Bottom line? A great team needs at least six great players. Six adult players, usually.
Thuram was awesome. Zidane was awesome.Desailly was awesome. Deschamps was a huge influence. Blanc was a leader. Djorkaeff was world class. So were Lizarazu and Barthez.
If any country has those guys, and can call on Vieira, Petit, Karembeu – then they will be formidable.
They can stop goals and score goals and beat anybody.
But you need a group of players in their prime and hungry for international success. France will never have so many great talents together in a tournament again.
March 26th 2005.