England vs Kazakhstan

Can England expect?

This is it folks! England are one step nearer to the 2010 World Cup finals and dare we think about searching out our St George’s flags and dusting down our car banners?

If there’s one thing guaranteed to lift the nation, it’s success in football and moods would certainly be lifted once we know our team is guaranteed a place in next year’s tournament.

It’s certainly looking good. England have now won six straight victories in six successive World Cup qualifiers. Just who would have thought it? Just a year ago, fans were turning off the television in droves because of the dire state of English football. Why put ourselves through such torture, we were asking ourselves.

Then along came a magic wand, courtesy of Fabio Capello. Seems the Italian maestro can do no wrong and England are once again flying high. Talk is even turning to England actually winning the 2010 World Cup. Now that is ambitious!

As usual, England put us through the grinder as they got off to a shaky start against Kazakhstan in Almaty. Striker Sergey Ostapenko nearly gave supporters a heart attack as he missed a clear chance on 19 seconds and then had a goal ruled off-side.

But Gareth Barry answered his critics after a week of controversy over his move from Aston Villa to Manchester City. Ironically, his opening goal on 41 minutes followed a link-up with Steven Gerrard, the man he might well have partnered if he had gone to Liverpool last year.

Stalwart Emile Heskey showed that his resurgence in the squad was no fluke when he made it 2-0 on 45 minutes, giving England fans the chance to get out their 2010 diaries and book their holidays from work.

Rooney got on the score sheet again on 73 minutes with a spectacular overhead kick after a rebound. This was his eighth goal in six internationals, surely one of the keys to Capello’s success. Frank Lampard then slotted home goal number four with a penalty on 78 minutes to secure a convincing win for England and a competent second half performance.

England now top the Group 6 table with a straight 18 points from six matches and an impressive 20 goals scored and just four away. One of their biggest rivals, Spain also top their Group 5 table, having netted 13 goals and conceded just two.
England are playing down qualification hopes by saying they are taking it a game at a time and Capello refuses to get carried away. Obtaining 21 points by mid-week would, he says, be good but not conclusive.

Captain John Terry shares the view and believes there is still plenty of improvement to come. He is concerned about hitting form a year too early but surely England need to send out a clear signal to their competitors ie watch out for us, we are a force to be reckoned with. Certainly, Terry believes England can match Spain for performance and few would disagree, provided we can get over our wobbly starts and not concede any silly early goals.

In any event, a 100 per cent World Cup qualification record is something to be proud of and to shout about. It’s a long time since England could boast such a feat and the achievement shouldn’t be under-estimated or played down. For once, it’s a great feeling to be able to put on an England shirt and wear it with pride rather than out of duty.