Founded 1863 Fifa 1905 (1946)
I am going to stick my neck out. England will win the European football Championship in Portugal. Their form is above average, for example they played well in the 2002 World Cup. Combining logic with emotion, my view is ‘ every dog has its day’, and England have to be the best team never to have won this cup. Guy says it’s England’s turn in 2004 for another football cup.
Which ever team you support, do not worry about results in friendly football matches. Subsequent winners seem to specialize in poor results in the warm-ups. Focus on the quality of the present players and consider if they are comfortable with the managers ‘ system’.
Everyone, even the Italians, need a great striker and England now have Wayne Rooney to play alongside Michael Owen. Let us hope that Wayne Rooney will improve further, rather than being a one season wonder. Watching George Weah playing soccer for Liberia, brought home to me that no team can be one-man-band. Rooney and Owen have great support from Gerrard, Beckham and Scholes.
Previous qualifications: 1968 (3rd), 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000
| Group B | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France (2) Q | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
| England (6) Q | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 6 | |
| Croatia (20) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| Switzerland (45) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| (Fifa Ranking) |
| Group 7 | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | PTS | |
| England | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 20 | |
| Turkey | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 19 | |
| Slovakia | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 10 | |
| Macedonia | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 6 | |
| Liechtenstein | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | 1 |
Coach: Sven Goran-Eriksson
Men to watch: Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham.
Which of these countries lost at least one game in their qualifying matches?
England
France
Italy
Czech Republic
Portugal
Ξ
