While it is largely disappointing that England could not complete a clean sweep of wins in their qualifying group, with the defeat in Ukraine, the default compensation is revenge. Barring the greatets ever result in Andorran football's history, when they play the Ukrainians in a few days, Croatia are eliminated from particpating at the World Cup of 2010. As you do unto us, so we do unto you (no matter how unintended the scoreline in Dnipropetrosk). Then again, we've done you a favour. With the global recession's damage still very much with us, you wouldn't have wanted to pay for an expensive plane ticket to South Africa. Nor would you have wanted to spend part of the summer with eyes glued to a TV screen culminating in eventual disappointment. We'll send you a postcard (or not).
But to qualifying, it is a bit irritating that not just Spain, but also a very moderate (but very disciplined) Germany will finish with more points, while The Netherlands also have a 100% record. Still, England should finish top scorers in Europe. And you would hope that the Englsih defence will not be so complacent when the matches do count. In Sir Bobby's last full season in charge, Newcastle United played for 80 minutes with ten men (like England) at Villa Park against a vibrant home side and emerged with a 0-0 draw. Even with the Little Russians (as they were known in Tsarist times) missing a penalty, that was beyond England. Matthew Upson needs to partner John Terry against Belarus, in what essentially is a friendly, to give Rio Ferdinand something to think about without shredding the Manchester United defender's confidence. Let's have soemthing to shout about ahead of prestige friendlies in November.