England vs. Israel preview

Posted on | September 7, 2007 | No Comments

It is unthinkable that a giant European team like England will fail to make it to the European Championships. But given their indifferent form over the last one year and their inability to break open defences, it might just happen that England fail to make it to Euro 2008. In order to avoid disappointment, one thing they should do is to put the ball in the back of the opposition net. And they could start off when they play Israel at Wembley this Saturday.

Israel held England to a goal-less draw when the English went to Tel Aviv. And the Israelis, who are three points above England at this stage will be delighted if they can steal a point  under England’s noses at Wembley.

England have a host of injuries. Their injury list is so long that they might as well make a full eleven among the people currently on the injury table. The notable absentees due to injury are : Gary Neville, Sol Campbell, Jamie Carragher (retired), Ledley King, Michael Dawson, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Kieron Dyer, Aaron Lennon and Wayne Bridge. Peter Crouch is suspended for the game while there are serious doubts around Owen Hargreaves’ participation in the tie. Gareth Barry has been kept as a stand-by. Paul Robinson and Steven Gerrard are set to start in the eleven while it is to be dramatic return to the England fold for the former Liverpool hit-man Emile Heskey.

Israel have two players in their squad who ply their trade in England – namely Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun and Chelsea’s Tal Ben Haim. Most other players are pretty much alien to the British audiences and they would be looking to strangulate England for space and then hit hard on the counter. Veteran defenders Ygal Antebi and Klemi Saban return to the national fold after a lengthy absence. Israel coach Dror Kashtan has also recalled Yaniv Katan who had a spell at West Ham last season. The most important player on the pitch will be Dudu Aouate, the Deportivo goalkeeper, who will have to extremely careful between the sticks. Chelsea starlet Ben Sahar is not a part of the touring team‘s squad.

Verdict : I think that England would rise to the challenge and go on to register a nice 2-0 win. Goals from Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen.

Related posts:

1. Euro 2008 Qualifier Israel vs England
2. Croatia vs England preview
3. Netherlands vs England preview
4. England vs Estonia Euro 2008 Qualifier
5. England vs Russia preview

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