|
 LONDON, England - The injury ravaged Three Lions have shot back to contention in the European Cup final next year then they demolished a lowly Israel side last Saturday afternoon at the Wembley in a qualifying match.
Michael Owen announced his comeback into top form when he scored from a scintillating `turn and drive' shot outside the penalty box to lead England past the Israelis 3-0. Earlier, Shaun Wright-Philips claimed that he is the right replacement for the injured superstar David Beckham at the right wing, when he volleyed Joe Cole's pass to score England's first goal.
Micah Richards, Manchester City's new wonder kid, then completed England's mastery over Israel with a strong header off the corner of Aston Villa's Gareth Barry.
Steve McClaren's boys are now back on track after a series of disappointing performances. They are now tied with Croatia and Israel with 17 points for the second spot behind Guus Hiddink's Russia which now lead Group E in the standings with 18 points.
England will try to grab the Group E leadership from Russia when they take on each other on Wednesday also at the Wembley.
Last week, Umbro, the makers of the popular England jersey have announced that there has been a slump on sales of the England jerseys and kits. It was reported by the local tabloids here that team England’s bad performance the past months must have caused the slump. The emphatic victory over Israel could kick the sales up again.
The performance against Israel was unexpected. The injuries that have ravaged the Three Lions could form a different and strong team that could even win over Andorra. The list was rather long, Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Sol Campbell, Ledley King, Darren Bent, Frank Lampard, and of course David Beckham.
Steve McClaren had a big smile on his face during the post match interview, `It was an excellent performance', he said.
Everything went right for England during that night and the victory might have saved McClaren's job for the time being. He made the right selection putting former Liverpool men Michael Owen and Emile Heskey up front and the pesky Shaun Wright-Philips at the right wing. Philips dad and Arsenal legend Ian Wright was a proud father as the pint size Chelsea player was named man of the match.
Right back Micah Richards, who was once again exceptional. He could do no wrong for the club and country, no wonder why Manchester city has put a £20 million prize tag on his forehead. Gary Neville now has a reason to retire from international duty as a successor to his position have already been found.
But the biggest story of the day was Michael Owen. After more than a year of haitus because of a knee injury suffered during the World Cup last year in Germany, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker had a rousing comeback scoring a wonder goal just outside the penalty box.
According to a report of the News of the World, Owen credited his performance to his boots. The Newcastle United striker believed that he has now found a sci-fi solution to his nagging injury problems.
Owen has been fitted with a special inserts in his Umbro boots following a three-day examination of a biomechanics expert. He has been using the tailor made insoles since the start of the season and he wore them during the match against Israel.
The 27-year-old Owen has suffered injuries the past 20 months and the inserts which is made by a Stoke based company Sub-4 have done wonders for his feet. The company has done four pairs of boots for Owen and the inserts are individually made for Owen like a pair of glasses, said Sub-4 founder Clifton Bradley according to the report of David Harrison.
McClaren however can not yet relax. On the first place, Israel is not a powerhouse team. Of course the Israelis have Premiership players in their line-up but they are not noted players.
The real test will be this Wednesday when they clash with an inspired Russian team of Guus Hiddink.
Ironically, the English FA wanted Hiddink to replace Sven Eriksson after the World Cup. But the FA let him escape to Russia. Now, supported by the billions of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Hiddink has uplifted Russian football. The Russians have not lost since he took over in Aug. 16, 2006.
The Dutch maestro is a master in international football. He led South Korea to the semis in the 2002 World Cup and helped Australia qualify last year in Germany where he guided the Aussies into knockout stages for the first time.
SAD NEWS FOR MAN UNITED
My wife Virma is right now sad, in fact she is very, very, very sad. Aside from her favourite player Cristiano Ronaldo still suspended, she read a report from the News of the World yesterday that Manchester United is in a financial mess. Since the American owner Malcolm Glazer took over in 2005, the report said Man United pilled up a staggering debt of £660 million and are paying at least $76.69 million annually on interest alone. The News of the World report was based also on the report of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Trust which Man U management have denied and described as wildly inaccurate.
The Glazer family insist that they will stay at the United for the very long time in spite of offers from investors from China and Dubai who are reportedly ready to buy United for $1 billion.
BEND IT SWEEPSTAKES
I apologize to my readers for not writing very lately. I am fixing some personal problems. We have picked in random our first winner of the Bend It sweepstakes. The lucky winner was picked from a total of 11 readers who made comments on my columns in August. I picked No. 7 and our administrator here Alain, informed me that the winner is Sophia Meza. Sophia please e-mail me so that I can send you your prize wherever you are in this world. God Bless
Email the author
| Comments () >> |
 |
 |
