Steve McClaren has admitted England's goalless draw with Israel
was tantamount to a defeat after wins for group rivals Croatia and
Russia inflicted further damage on his side's chances of reaching
next year's Euro 2008 finals.
"We have drawn a game of football we should have won -- it feels
like a defeat," McClaren admitted at the end of a night that left
England in serious danger of failing to qualify for a major
tournament for the first time since the 1994 World Cup.?
England had arrived in Israel badly needing a win to get their
qualifying campaign back on track and boost the flagging morale of
their increasingly disillusioned supporters.
Instead, they left with their collective psyche further scarred
by the ignominy of being jeered off the pitch by their own fans for
the third time in four matches.
McClaren flirted with outright criticism of his own players as
he lamented the failure to convert any of the chances his side
generated as Israel's energy levels dropped off towards the end of
the match.
"It's not good enough. We had enough chances but it either
didn't fall for us or poor quality, poor decisions or poor
finishing cost us. It's two points dropped."
England have now scored just one goal in their last five matches
- their worst run for 26 years.
"They packed their defence so it was always going to be hard,"
McClaren added in a claim that was not totally justified. "But we
have got to have better quality in front of goal when we get the
opportunities.
"We weren't ruthless enough. It's a concern and a worry, but I
would be more worried if we weren't creating chances and the
goalkeeper wasn't making saves."
The draw leaves England five points behind Croatia and three
adrift of Russia with only the top two in the seven-team group
advancing to the finals in Austria and Switzerland.
"We knew Israel would be difficult and a lot of people said a
draw would be a fair result," McClaren added. "We have still have
got seven games to go and we have to make sure we win (against
Andorra) on Wednesday and take four points from these two away
games.
"My job is to ensure we qualify and I'm still confident of
getting there. There are still enough games to play."
Israeli coach Dror Kashtan was pleased with the way his side had
neutralised England's big guns, with Wayne Rooney particularly
anonymous as half of a new-look strike partnership with Andy
Johnson that failed to sparkle.
"It was part of our preparations to make sure that their main
players did not have any chances or influence on the outcome of the
game," Kashtan said.
Elsewhere, Turkey stunned arch-rivals and European champions
Greece 4-1 in Athens on Saturday and took a huge step towards
qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.
The top of the table clash in Group C left Turkey three points
clear of Greece with 12 points from four matches as the visitors
maintained their 100 percent start to the campaign.
Greece lost for the first time and conceded their first goals as
Tuncay Sanli (26th), Gokhan Unal (55th), Metin Tumer (70th) and
Gokdeniz Karadeniz (80th) gave Turkey victory after Sotiris
Kyrgiakos put the home side in the fifth minute.
There was another upset in the group for all the wrong reasons
as the Norway-Bosnia game in Oslo was halted shortly after it began
when fans threw flares on to the field, some hitting players, while
one set an advertising hoarding ablaze.
The match resumed 30 minutes later after English referee Mike
Riley took the players off the field but the Norwegian and Bosnian
FAs are likely to face stiff penalties from UEFA, European soccer's
governing body.
Bosnia eventually won 2-1 to move above Norway into third place
behind Greece.
The top two met in Group D with Germany winning 2-1 in the Czech
Republic, taking Joachim Loew's men to 13 points from five games
and leaving them three points clear of the Czechs who were joined
on 10 points by Ireland who have played a game more.
The Irish beat Wales 1-0 in an historic match at Croke Park,
Dublin, the home of Gaelic sports. The only goal of the first
soccer match played there was scored by the aptly-named Stephen
Ireland shortly before halftime.
(China Daily via AFP and Agencies March 26, 2007)