Post by Taxigirl on Oct 11, 2005 8:46:36 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4326110.stm
By Dan Warren
So England have reached the 2006 World Cup finals. Time to open the champagne, hang the bunting and dust off the copies of 'World In Motion', then?
Maybe not. The reaction to the news of Sven-Goran Eriksson's side booking their tickets to Germany next summer has been muted to say the least.
The feel-good factor was not helped by the fact that England's mediocre showing in beating Austria on Saturday did not earn qualification - that came several hours later as the Dutch beat the Czech Republic 800 miles away.
Great drama - in the manner of David Beckham's last-minute free-kick against Greece in 2001 which secured the place in the 2002 World Cup - it was not. Plus, it was raining.
But there are millions of supporters across the world - including fans of big footballing nations - who would pay money to swap places with their English counterparts.
Compared to many of their illustrious peers in Europe, England are sitting pretty.
For example, the Czech Republic - ranked second in Europe by Fifa - have to win on Wednesday in a tricky trip to Finland just to grab a play-off spot. If they lose or draw, they do not go to Germany.
France, such impressive World Cup winners in 1998 and European champions two years later, are yet to qualify.
A win or draw against Cyprus at home on Wednesday guarantees at least a top-two finish - but second place, and a play-off, is a possibility even if they win.
In Group Two former World Cup semi-finalists Turkey, Euro 2004 champions Greece and Denmark, who thrashed England 4-1 in an August friendly, are all fighting for one play-off spot.
Even Spain, who should win on Wednesday in San Marino, know victory will only be enough for second place should Serbia and Montenegro win or draw at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Still, even those fans facing the prospect of a nail-biting play-off ought to be grateful.
POTENTIAL EURO PLAY-OFFS
Czech Rep v Norway
France v Russia
Spain v Turkey
Africa's qualification system is less forgiving.
We will not be seeing the likes of 1990's surprise package Cameroon or 2002's shining lights Senegal in Germany. They missed qualification in their respective groups by one and two points respectively.
Nigeria missed out by even less - they finished level on points with Angola, but are second by virtue of their inferior head-to-head record, despite a superior goal difference.
And pity Morocco, who did not even lose a game in Africa Group Five - yet finished one point behind Tunisia.
So it could be much worse for England. And was their qualifying campaign that bad anyway?
The performances were frequently drab, true. But the statistics compare very favourably with previous attempts.
THE LUCKY QUALIFIERS
Africa
Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana, Tunisia
Asia
Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea
Europe
Croatia, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Ukraine
CONCACAF
Costa Rica, Mexico, USA
South America
Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As at 11 October 2005
Sure, Beckham's last-gasp goal against Greece in 2001 was pure drama. But remember it only salvaged a 2-2 home draw against a team then ranked 52 places below England.
Qualification for 1998 in France was rather more impressive, although England did not secure their place until the final game as they earned an heroic 0-0 draw in Rome to pip Italy by a single point.
And the less said about the failed attempt to reach the 1994 finals in the USA the better - suffice to say that Graham Taylor did "not like that" one bit.
Even the semi-finalists of 1990 - the most successful World Cup campaign besides 1966 - hardly qualified in style. Three wins and three draws saw England stumble to qualification, finishing behind Sweden in their group.
So qualifying for Germany 2006 has been a breeze in comparison, Eriksson getting there with one game to go - the first time that has been done in 20 years.
And even if the performances have been less than scintillating, that in itself is no reason to panic.
Brazil have qualified comfortably this time. But rewind to the same stage four years ago and the world's most successful international team was under fire for poor results and woeful displays.
The Brazilians stumbled as they grabbed the third of the four automatic qualifying places in the South American qualifying group, losing six of 18 qualifiers.
Yes, it is too soon for the Football Association to "do an Ashes" and book Trafalgar Square for a 10 July celebration - the day after the World Cup final.
But surely there is still enough cause to raise a small glass of bubbly?
By Dan Warren
So England have reached the 2006 World Cup finals. Time to open the champagne, hang the bunting and dust off the copies of 'World In Motion', then?
Maybe not. The reaction to the news of Sven-Goran Eriksson's side booking their tickets to Germany next summer has been muted to say the least.
The feel-good factor was not helped by the fact that England's mediocre showing in beating Austria on Saturday did not earn qualification - that came several hours later as the Dutch beat the Czech Republic 800 miles away.
Great drama - in the manner of David Beckham's last-minute free-kick against Greece in 2001 which secured the place in the 2002 World Cup - it was not. Plus, it was raining.
But there are millions of supporters across the world - including fans of big footballing nations - who would pay money to swap places with their English counterparts.
Compared to many of their illustrious peers in Europe, England are sitting pretty.
For example, the Czech Republic - ranked second in Europe by Fifa - have to win on Wednesday in a tricky trip to Finland just to grab a play-off spot. If they lose or draw, they do not go to Germany.
France, such impressive World Cup winners in 1998 and European champions two years later, are yet to qualify.
A win or draw against Cyprus at home on Wednesday guarantees at least a top-two finish - but second place, and a play-off, is a possibility even if they win.
In Group Two former World Cup semi-finalists Turkey, Euro 2004 champions Greece and Denmark, who thrashed England 4-1 in an August friendly, are all fighting for one play-off spot.
Even Spain, who should win on Wednesday in San Marino, know victory will only be enough for second place should Serbia and Montenegro win or draw at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Still, even those fans facing the prospect of a nail-biting play-off ought to be grateful.
POTENTIAL EURO PLAY-OFFS
Czech Rep v Norway
France v Russia
Spain v Turkey
Africa's qualification system is less forgiving.
We will not be seeing the likes of 1990's surprise package Cameroon or 2002's shining lights Senegal in Germany. They missed qualification in their respective groups by one and two points respectively.
Nigeria missed out by even less - they finished level on points with Angola, but are second by virtue of their inferior head-to-head record, despite a superior goal difference.
And pity Morocco, who did not even lose a game in Africa Group Five - yet finished one point behind Tunisia.
So it could be much worse for England. And was their qualifying campaign that bad anyway?
The performances were frequently drab, true. But the statistics compare very favourably with previous attempts.
THE LUCKY QUALIFIERS
Africa
Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana, Tunisia
Asia
Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea
Europe
Croatia, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Ukraine
CONCACAF
Costa Rica, Mexico, USA
South America
Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As at 11 October 2005
Sure, Beckham's last-gasp goal against Greece in 2001 was pure drama. But remember it only salvaged a 2-2 home draw against a team then ranked 52 places below England.
Qualification for 1998 in France was rather more impressive, although England did not secure their place until the final game as they earned an heroic 0-0 draw in Rome to pip Italy by a single point.
And the less said about the failed attempt to reach the 1994 finals in the USA the better - suffice to say that Graham Taylor did "not like that" one bit.
Even the semi-finalists of 1990 - the most successful World Cup campaign besides 1966 - hardly qualified in style. Three wins and three draws saw England stumble to qualification, finishing behind Sweden in their group.
So qualifying for Germany 2006 has been a breeze in comparison, Eriksson getting there with one game to go - the first time that has been done in 20 years.
And even if the performances have been less than scintillating, that in itself is no reason to panic.
Brazil have qualified comfortably this time. But rewind to the same stage four years ago and the world's most successful international team was under fire for poor results and woeful displays.
The Brazilians stumbled as they grabbed the third of the four automatic qualifying places in the South American qualifying group, losing six of 18 qualifiers.
Yes, it is too soon for the Football Association to "do an Ashes" and book Trafalgar Square for a 10 July celebration - the day after the World Cup final.
But surely there is still enough cause to raise a small glass of bubbly?