England Satisfied With Group Draw

The gods were smiling this evening as England got the best draw they could possibly have hoped for in South Africa. They were placed in Group C along side USA, Algeria and Slovenia. Their first game will come against the Americans on June 12.

Looking at the possibilities before the draw was made, there were teams that England would have wanted to avoid, notably France and Portugal so they will be satisfied with their three opponents. To win the group now will be the expectation from fans and you would think England will. USA and Slovenia will be expected to fight it out for second, Slovenia who knocked out Russia in the play-offs, while I admit I don't know much about Algeria, though they won their qualifying group and also beat Egypt in a play-off, so maybe they shouldn't be written off completely.

But if England are serious contenders to win the tournament then they should not be too concerned about who lies in their group, though you don't want be too complacent either.

Looking further ahead England will be keen to avoid Germany in the last 16 who could lie in wait if either fail to win their groups. Otherwise it would be one from Australia, Serbia or Ghana.

Looking at the rest of the draw the group of death this time appears to be Group G which contains Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea. That's Ronaldo, Drogba and Kaka coming up against each other in the group stages. France got off the hook somewhat, avoiding the big seeds and being placed into Group A with hosts South Africa, while their toughest test are likely to be Mexico. The other top sides will be expected to progress with a minimum of fuss. The first game of the tournament will be hosts South Africa against Mexico in Johannesburg on June 11.

Though we all look forward to the draw for the group stages, like the Champions League, it gets really interesting in the knock out stages.

There is nothing like a World Cup to keep you going throughout the summer when the domestic action has ceased and with 188 days until the action begins I for one cannot wait.

Henry's Reputation Tarnished?

Likeable, genuine and probably the best player the Premier League has seen. These are the words I would have used to describe Thierry Henry before Wednesday night's crucial World Cup play-off between France and Republic Of Ireland.

Now he is been branded a cheat after blatantly handling the ball before teeing up William Gallas to score in extra time to send France to the World Cup and break Irish hearts.

Looking at the incident myself I would have to say it was deliberate, there was a definite move towards and then control of the ball by Henry's hand. It may have been instinctive though. The ball would have gone out for a goal kick and with time running out, this was a desperate move by a player desperate to appear at the World Cup, possibly his last.

I am not saying it was right, of course not, it was cheating because it's against the rules. If it had happened against England I'm sure I'd be outraged. The Irish have every right to feel aggrieved. I don't feel the referee can be blamed either. It happened so fast and nobody knew until they saw the replays afterwards. In fact the referee had earlier spotted Nicolas Anelka's dive although not deciding to book the player.

There have also been suggestions that Henry should have gone over to the ref to admit what he had done. Would this have not risked the wrath of the French, especially if they had gone on to lose? And would the referee even have changed his mind? I seem to remember Robbie Fowler once saying he hadn't been touched by David Seaman after a penalty had been given during a game at Highbury. The referee refused to admit he was wrong and Fowler went on to miss the penalty.

It looks like calls for a replay, which is the least Ireland deserve, have been turned away and in truth this was never going to happen. Every time there was an incident in a game that a referee didn't spot, teams would call for a replay because Ireland were given one. Indeed Birmingham could ask for a replay at Anfield after David N'Gog's dive (though I'm sure they would settle for a point).

Thierry Henry is still a very talented player and always will be remembered for what he did for Arsenal over the first half of this decade, but you sense that he won't be quite seen in the same light by many which is a great shame.

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Big Game For Both Clubs At Anfield

The Premier League makes a welcome return tomorrow after yet another international break, as eventful as it turned out to be. The biggest game of the weekend is first up, a Saturday lunch time duel between an out of sorts Liverpool and Manchester City.

For Liverpool a win is surely a must if any lingering title hopes are to be kept alive, especially with both Chelsea and Manchester United both playing at home and expected to take maximum points. Liverpool have won just one of their last five Premier League games and currently sit in seventh. Rafa Benitez may also have one eye on Tuesday night's must win Champions League match against Debrecen.

As for Manchester City, they need to prove they have what it takes to compete with the big boys. Of course, they don't have to win at Anfield to prove they are a good side. Current champions Manchester United lost twice against Liverpool last season and have already once this.

But after the feeling of injustice City felt at Old Trafford after that late, late Michael Owen winner, here is a chance for City to take advantage of Liverpool's uncharacteristically leaky defence. City themselves have gone off the boil of late, drawing their last five league games. If Mark Hughes' men are serious about finishing in the top four, here lies the perfect opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the reds.

It's a close one to call, but I would sit on the fence and call a draw. I think right now Hughes would take that.

England brought back down to earth

After nine wins from nine in World Cup qualification and their place at next summer's showpiece booked with two games to spare, expectations had heightened that Fabio Capello was the man to bring the coveted trophy back to England. However, two consecutive defeats against Ukraine and Brazil later and doubts are beginning to creep in about England's chances.

A poor performance yesterday by what was mainly England's second string in a 1-0 defeat which in truth flattered England following on from an equally disappointing showing in Dnipro last month.

Of course, it could be argued that England took their foot off the gas in both games as they had already qualified when meeting Ukraine and yesterday's game was just a friendly with many key players missing. There was no sign of the Brazilians doing the same though, they oozed class, goalscorer Nilmar particularly catching the eye and one sensed that they could have played better if they'd needed to.

Looking at England's record under Capello, four defeats from 21 games may not seem so bad. Three of those teams though were France, Spain and Brazil. If we are to win the World Cup next summer it's likely we are going to come across one of these teams, Spain and Brazil being the best in the world at the moment.

I am not saying Capello hasn't done well, there has been definite progression and at least we have qualified for World Cup 2010 after the disaster of missing out on Euro 2008. I just urge fans not to expect too much as there are some quality teams around in the world at the moment getting to the semi-finals would be a success. For me at the moment though you can look no further than Brazil and Spain.

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There was disappointment also over in Dublin as The Republic Of Ireland's chances of qualification hang by a thread as they lost the home leg of their World Cup play-off against France 1-0.

It is a huge ask of the Irish now to go to Paris and win by two goals (or do it on penalties). I said on Friday that I felt The Republic had to win last night's game and I stand by that. You never know what can happen in football though and all is not yet lost.

If indeed qualification failure is confirmed on Wednesday, this should not mask what strides Ireland have made under Giovanni Trapattoni. Drawn into a group also containing world champions Italy it was always likely that their only chance of qualification would come through the play-offs.

Ireland actually remained unbeaten in the group, though it was too many draws that ultimately denied them challenging the Italians for top spot in group 8. Then lady luck didn't smile on them again as they were drawn against France, thanks partly to FIFA's decision to seed the play-offs after noticing the possibility of two big nations meeting each other.

Trapattoni has indeed done a fabulous job and The Republic Of Ireland are in with a great shout of reaching Euro 2012. They just need to hope for a bit more luck when the draw is made.

Irish Seek Home Comfort

The Republic Of Ireland go into their biggest game for seven years tomorrow night when they take on France at Croke Park. While it is only the first leg of the play-off for the World Cup finals, I feel that here is where the game will be won and lost for Ireland.

Despite the best efforts of FIFA to try and ensure that France safely qualify by seeding the play-offs, there is no doubt that they won't be taking the Irish easily. The Republic need to use this to their advantage though, the fans should feel that they have been treated harshly make a huge noise and be the twelfth man for their team. This will give them extra motivation and determination and maybe intimidate the French a little.

In my opinion the Irish simply must win tomorrows game to stand any chance of going to South Africa next summer, even a 1-0 win may not be enough. Ok, so the French aren't anywhere as near as good as they were ten years ago, and had a disastrous Euro 2008 campaign, going out in the group stages (although at least they were there), but if they need to get a result in the 2nd leg, I would expect them to turn up for the big occasion. These French players will not want to miss out on Football's biggest event.


The fans have grown tired of Raymond Domenech, and will be disappointed to be in the position they are, having finished runners up to Serbia in their qualifying group. In contrast, The Republic Of Ireland finished just behind current world champions Italy.

So a huge night is ahead in Dublin, and if the Irish don't win all is not completely lost, but I feel it probably will be.

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Of course, our very own England are also in action tomorrow in a glamorous friendly against Brazil. At least the setting is glamorous; Qatar, though unfortunately many of England's stars won't be on show.

There's a list as long as your arm of missing men including Lampard, Gerrard, Cole, Ferdinand and Johnson. This was supposed to be a chance for England to test themselves against the cream of the crop ahead of the World Cup next summer, but it will be a half strength team at best. Just a chance for The FA to make some money then, not what was their main thought of course...

Of course, these players are injured, so there's nothing you can really do. However you get the feeling if this was England v Brazil, World Cup Final, a few more of these players might be available.

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This column yesterday reported on the refreshing exploits in Peterborough United in their attempts to find a new manager. There is also the opposite side to the coin though with foreign managers being given the chance to start their careers in management in The Football League after Gus Poyet was appointed as the new manager of League One strugglers Brighton this week.

Of course with so many foreign players coming to these shores in the last twenty years it is only natural that there will be a growth in foreign managers too. This may not be such a bad thing though.

Eyebrows were raised at the beginning of last season when Roberto Di Matteo was appointed manager of Milton Keynes Dons, but he did a fine job and took them to the brink of The Championship losing out in the play-offs. This was recognised by West Bromwich Albion as they chose him to replace departing Tony Mowbray in the summer.

There are other examples too. Roberto Martinez was successful with Swansea and has since moved on too Wigan to have a crack at The Premier League. Paulo Souza is now finding his feet at The Liberty Stadium as Martinez's replacement after a not so successful spell at Queens Park Rangers.

Many people may look at these foreign managers as taking an opportunity from a young Brit. There is often a criticism aimed at foreigners saying they don't care and are just here for the money so fair play to them and Poyet in particular for being prepared to get his hands dirty in the muck and nettles of a League One relegation battle which he's likely to be involved in.

Of course I am not contradicting what was said yesterday, I would not want the leagues to be overrun with foreign managers, but a few here and there doesn't do any harm and as I've shown, like them or not, they're doing remarkably well!