Rob W 0 Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 England have qualified for the World Cup finals with a match to spare for the first time in 20 years, so it cannot all be bad. No, but it is all relative. Heaping praise on Eriksson and his squad for making it out of group six would be like slapping Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, on the back for securing a place in the Champions League. Add the Fifa world rankings of the top five teams in each European group together and a clearer picture emerges of England’s task. The higher the number, the weaker the group in depth. In reverse order: group two (Ukraine qualified) 171; group one (Holland qualified) 174; group four (one from Israel, Switzerland, France and Ireland) 212; group three (Portugal qualified) 228; group eight (Croatia and Sweden qualified) 237; group five (Italy qualified) 247; group six (Poland and England qualified) 290. More significantly, analyse the gap between the second and third-ranked teams to ascertain which nations had the best chance of qualifying in second place without having to go through the play-offs. Again, in reverse order: group seven (Belgium to Serbia and Montenegro) 1; group two (Denmark to Greece) 6; group three (Russia to Slovakia) 15; group four (Ireland to Switzerland) 17; group eight (Croatia to Bulgaria) 21; group one (Czech Republic to Romania) 28; group five (Norway to Slovenia) 35; group six (Poland to Austria) 62. In other words, on form, there was an outstanding chance that the runners-up in England’s group would qualify automatically, given the weakness of the opposition. Lucky us. Lucky Eriksson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 We still made hard work of it. Mind, we always do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sima Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 We still made hard work of it. Mind, we always do. 45231[/snapback] First time England have qualified for a major championship with one game to go in 20 years tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 (edited) We still made hard work of it. Mind, we always do. 45231[/snapback] First time England have qualified for a major championship with one game to go in 20 years tbh. 45255[/snapback] Given that we didn't perform well in most of the games and the fact that, on paper at least, it was arguably the easiest qualifying group of all, I reckon we did make hard work of it. Also, the fact that it's been 20 years since we qualified before the last game for a major tournament would back up my suggestion that we always (at least in recent times) make hard work of qualification tbqfh son. Remind me, how did Scotland do? Edited October 13, 2005 by alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 same as usual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sima Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 same as usual 45496[/snapback] At least we know we're shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 should calm the meeja frenzy a bit mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 same as usual 45496[/snapback] At least we know we're shite. 45711[/snapback] It's not often you're right Sima but I have to agree, Scotland are shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Carr's Gloves 3965 Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 England are terrible. And even worse when Eriksson plays his first team. Beckham shouldn't start any game ahead of SWP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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