Soccer Blog|Football News, Reviews, Quizzes

Eight months after succeeding Steve McLaren as England manager, Fabio Capello has announced that Chelsea defender John Terry will retain the captain’s armband. Capello took his time to make the decision, having given Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Terry, David Beckham and Gareth Barry the chance to impress him in previous international friendlies. Manchester United’s Ferdinand, Terry’s partner in central defence, has been named vice captain of the squad. England take on the Czech Republic tonight at Wembley.

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This isn’t a review, but a list of the major facts. Also check how other English managers did in their first game ( at the bottom of this post).
Game- England vs Switzerland

Venue- Wembley

Date- February 6, 2008

Score - 2-1 to England

Goalscorers - Jermaine Jenas, Eren Derdiyok, Shaun Wright Phillips  ( in that order)

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The English Football Association have announced that they have selected former Real Madrid and A.C. Milan coach Fabio Capello as their new manager. Capello succeeds Steve McLaren, who was shown the door after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Capello has signed a four year deal worth six and a half million pounds a year, and will officially start his job on January 7.

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To track the last time that England failed to qualify for a major international event, we need to turn the clock a decade and a half back to USA ‘94. England finished third behind Norway and Netherlands in their group, and as a result never made the trip across the Atlantic. This time around, Steve McLaren’s boys went into the last round of games needing just a single point to go through. That point would not have been necessary had Andorra managed to hold Russia or even beat them. Andorra were the weakest team in the group, and nothing much could be expected from them. And therefore England had all to play for against Croatia, and the game was at the Mecca of English football- Wembley.

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Here are the results from European qualifying on Saturday, 17th November.

The teams which have confirmed their place in next summer’s European Championships are

Group B - Italy and France.

Group D- Germany and Czech Republic.

Group E- Croatia through. Battle between England and Russia for the other spot.

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Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard has said that he would not be against a rule that imposes quotas in the Premiership.

This comes a short while after both Steve Coppell and Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly said that they were in favour of a rule that would limit the number of foreigners taking the pitch.

Even the English Prime Minister has something to say on the issue.

So the big question is- Do we need a quota system ?

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A loss to Russia away means that England’s dreams of European qualification are now hanging by a thread. The race in Group E has come down to three teams- Croatia, England and Russia, out of which only two can qualify. Four minutes of madness at the Luzhniki Stadium made what seemed to be three points sealed into nothing at all. And if Russia and Croatia have anything to say, Steve McLaren could become the first English manager since Graham Taylor to fail to qualify for a major international event.
Result : Russia 2-1 England ( Roman Pavyluchenko*2/ Wayne Rooney)

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Chelsea and England left back Ashley Cole might miss his country’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia on the 17th of October in Moscow. The former Arsenal defender suffered an ankle injury in yesterday night’s game against Estonia, which the Three Lions won 3-0 thanks to goals from Shaun Wright Philips and Wayne Rooney and an own goal from Taavi Rahn

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England have announced their squad for their two European Championship qualifying games against Russia and Estonia. The game against Estonia is at Wembley on October 13 and the game against the Russians is in Moscow on October 17. Michael Carrick misses out due to hs injury in the Roma game. Other absentees due to one reason or the other include Man United’s Owen Hargreaves, Tottenham’s Darren Bent and Wigan’s Emile Heskey. The squad for the two games is given below

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Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is expected to be out for close to six weeks after fracturing his right elbow in the Old Trafford club’s 1-0 win over AS Roma in the Champions League. The ex West Ham and Tottenham star now joins fellow midfielders Owen Hargreaves and Darren Fletcher on the injury list, leaving veteran Paul Scholes as the only fit midfielder available for selection ahead of the game against the Latics on Saturday.

Carrick will miss the following games

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Micah Richards in his column at the BBC, has said that team mate Michael Johnson has the capability to play for England one day.

Yours truly agrees with the nineteen year old Manchester City and England defender. Both Richards and Johnson are 88 born- Richards in June, while Johnson entered this world in February. (more…)

England 1-2 Germany ( Frank Lampard/ Kevin Kuranyi, Christian Pander)

First loss for England at the new Wembley stadium. Not the best of evenings for Paul Robinson, whose fumbling of Bernd Schneider’s cross paved the way for Germany’s first goal.

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Here are the results from the Euro 2008 qualifiers held on the 28th of March

Group A :

Serbia 1-1 Portugal ( Bosko Jankovic/ Tiago) 

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England have big defensive problems to sort out ahead of their crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel on Saturday.

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Here is the England squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra. England are currently third in Group E, behind Croatia and Russia.

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Steve Mclaren’s first game in charge of the Young Lions didn’t start on a winning note-but at the end of the day, the Manchester City coach would have been pretty happy with the 2-2 full time scoreline.

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Tottenham skipper Ledley King is expected to be out for anywhere between 6 and 8 weeks after suffering a stress fracture in the fourth metatarsal of his left foot.

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Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has been named by the English FA as their new U-21 coach. Pearce replaces current Crystal Palace boss Peter Taylor, who quit in January after three years at the top.

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