England will qualify for next year’s World Cup finals if they beat Montenegro and Poland in their final two Group H qualifiers and manager Roy Hodgson knows there is no room for error as they seek to secure their place in Brazil.
Both matches are at Wembley and England go into them topping the group by one point from Montenegro, who are tomorrow’s visitors, and Ukraine, and three clear of Poland, who provide next Tuesday’s opposition.
Hodgson, appointed just before Euro 2012, is confident England will complete the task and avoid the doomsday scenario of failing to reach the finals — something that last happened under Graham Taylor 20 years ago.
Photo: Reuters
“My life at the moment is these two games,” Hodgson told reporters this week. “As for the doomsday scenarios put before me, I won’t have to confront them because I believe, and am confident, in that belief that the team will do it.”
“Of course, I am nervous, any coach worthy of the name is nervous when the whistle goes, but I believe we have the players to complete the task. I am certain as I can be that we will achieve our aim,” he said.
England are the only unbeaten team in the group and they will look to preserve that record against Montenegro without leftback Ashley Cole, who will miss the match with a rib injury.
Cole is likely to be replaced by Everton’s Leighton Baines, but he has not yet been ruled out of the match against Poland.
Baines will win his 20th cap if, as expected, he lines up alongside Everton teammate Phil Jagielka with the back four completed by Chelsea’s Gary Cahill and Tottenham Hotspur’s Kyle Walker.
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Jack Wilshere are expected to play in midfield, with Liverpool’s free-scoring Daniel Sturridge and the Manchester United pair of Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney up front.
Joe Hart will keep his place in goal, despite a recent loss of form.
Wilshere is confident England will qualify and he is delighted to be in the mix after publicly expressing his regret after being photographed smoking a cigarette outside a nightclub last week.
“I know what I did was wrong, it was a mistake, and I have learned from it and I have apologized,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Montenegro travel to Wembley hampered by injuries to four players who are all likely to miss the match, including captain Mirko Vucinic.
Goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic, centerback Marko Basa and midfielder Miodrag Pekovic have all been ruled out, while defender Miodrag Dzudovic is doubtful because he has back and hamstring injuries.
Two years ago, in a Euro 2012 qualifier, Dzudovic was the player kicked by Rooney which led to the England striker’s red card 17 minutes from the end of a 2-2 draw in Podgorica. That match is one of three the two countries have played against each other and all three have ended in draws.
Dzudovic believes another draw against England at Wembley and a win in their final match against Moldova could be enough to see Montenegro grab a playoff place.
“We will go for a win against England because we can’t just roll over and throw away all the good work we have done in the qualifiers so far,” Dzudovic said. “With the right attitude and self-belief we can finish in the top two and reach the playoffs.”
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS