Euro 2008 - England v Israel

zocoss SG

European Championship Qualifying - Saturday, 08 September 2007

vs

England v Israel - Ch 24 - 12:00am - (Live) - (Sun Morning)

England
Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham), David James (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (Aston Villa).

Defenders: Micah Richards (Man City), Wes Brown (Man Utd), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), John Terry (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Neville (Everton), Nicky Shorey (Reading).

Midfielders: David Bentley (Blackburn), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Owen Hargreaves (Man Utd).

Forwards: Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Alan Smith (Newcastle), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Andrew Johnson (Everton), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Heskey (Wigan).

Israel : Aouate, Davidovitch, Strauber, Ben Haim, Benado, Gershon, Ziv, Sprungin, Saban, Strul, Antebi, Benayoun, Badier, Alberman, Tal, Zandberg, Yamuz, Itzhaki, Golan, Balili, Collauti, Barda, Katan.

Bentley & Young in England squad

Blackburn's David Bentley and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young are in England's squad to face Israel and Russia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Bentley and Young, both 22, have been drafted in after David Beckham and Kieron Dyer were ruled out by injury.

Chelsea star Frank Lampard is also a doubt after suffering a torn thigh. Coach Steve McClaren was more upbeat on Steven Gerrard's toe injury, saying he should recover to play on Saturday. John Terry and Owen Hargreaves missed training on Tuesday, but both are set to take part in Wednesday's session.

Other European Championship Qualifying matches

Belarus v Romania
Croatia v Estonia
Georgia v Ukraine
Hungary v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Iceland v Spain
Italy v France
Latvia v Northern Ireland
Luxembourg v Slovenia
Malta v Turkey
Moldova v Norway
Netherlands v Bulgaria
Portugal v Poland
Russia v FYR Macedonia
San Marino v Czech Republic
Scotland v Lithuania
Serbia v Finland
Slovakia v Rep of Ireland
Sweden v Denmark
Wales v Germany

zocoss SG

glacer SG

1-1 draw

The man who was death SG

pennant and green should be in the england squad

CKeer SG

Dull draw. Especially so when Heskey and Owen is up front, the long ball, Heskey-shield-and-pass-Owen-shoots tactic is really boring.

Cheers.
CK

sand king SG

Go Israel! Laughing

omgukilledkenny SG

x2 Razz

anhydrouscoppersulphate SG

Razz

anhydrouscoppersulphate SG

Heskey can provide England Plan B, says McClaren

Steve McClaren is convinced Emile Heskey can provide the aerial route to victory for England against Israel this weekend.

Heskey earned a surprise late call-up for Saturday's crucial Euro 2008 clash at Wembley, strangely as a direct replacement for midfielder Frank Lampard.

Having lost the Chelsea man's goalscoring prowess so soon after David Beckham was injured as well, McClaren felt he needed to find another way of attacking a notoriously obdurate Israel outfit, who have already held England to a goalless draw in Tel Aviv.

And, with Peter Crouch suspended, the answer appears be Heskey, whose strike partnership with Michael Owen has produced an impressive 14 goals in 12 England starts together.

'There are only three ways you can get at teams - you can either go through them, go round them or go over them,' observed McClaren.

'Emile gives us other options. He is a problem for defenders in the air and, in Israel, because Peter Crouch was not available, we did not have a Plan B.

'We have not got Peter for the Israel game this time either, which is one of the reasons I have brought Emile in.'

If the way McClaren organised his team at their first training session is any guide, Heskey is likely to find himself on the bench against Israel, with Andrew Johnson set to partner Owen.

Gareth Barry did himself no harm as a midfield stand-in for absent duo Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves, although the key move was to put David James behind a defence that included certain starters Rio Ferdinand, Micah Richards and Ashley Cole.

While McClaren insisted nothing should be read into the decision, it is difficult to see why he would want James working in tandem with his first-choice defenders - skipper John Terry was another training ground absentee - unless he was getting ready to axe under-fire Paul Robinson.

Yet no matter who eventually plays, McClaren knows it is time his team started getting results.

The honeymoon period he enjoyed after replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson has long since ended and unless England can find winning form fast, the former Middlesbrough coach will be looking for alternative employment.

'There are no excuses,' he declared.

'The players I have are good enough to win these games.

'I don't have to tell them, or anyone else, how important it is for us to win on Saturday.

'We know Israel will come to Wembley for a draw, defend until they get it and be delighted if that is what they achieve.

'But now is the time for us to deliver.'

a-Lost-9uY SG

y is the ENG logo so BIG Question Laughing

sand king SG

Laughing I dont even know one person from the Israel team.

anhydrouscoppersulphate SG

benayoun

stellazio SG

ben haim also.

used SG

england will just scrape through only bcos they are playing at home

trendz SG

2-1

micah richards, michael owen, ben sahar

omgukilledkenny SG

Ben Sahar's missing from the Isreal team.

no idea why though. Razz

dragg SG

draw!!!!

pervertboi SG

Israel can be a very strong team Shocked Shocked Shocked

stellazio SG

injured.

zocoss SG

Actually these are other nice matches besides this one... Like the... Italy v France / Netherlands v Bulgaria / Portugal v Poland . Smile