Wow, it was all over the soccer websites like Guardian Football and SoccerNet yesterday, and the subject of lunch time talk for English soccer fans all over Malaysia.
Yes, England lost to Northern Ireland. Yes, Northen Ireland, probably the weakest Home International team in the British Isles. Sure, some may argue Scotland is worse, but it doesn’t really matter. England lost.
England, with their galaxy of millionaire stars. Like Rooney. Beckham. Ferdinand. Lampard. Cole. Cole. Gerrard.
This is tantamount to Man United losing to Exeter City. No really, it is.
Northern Ireland won by 1-0, with a goal scored by David Healy. He plays for Leeds, a Championship side. Look, I’m not dissing the Irish, I back the (southern) Republic team to reach Germany 2006. And I think the Northern Irish should have the greatest respect, having to scour the lower leagues of English football to make a decent national team year after year.
The Northern Irish, just like their Celtic brothers in Scotland and cousins in Wales, have for since before 1966, lived in the shadow of England. The depth of talent and money in the English game far outstrips its neighbours, and this problem has multiplied exponentially since the EPL kicked off.
On a side note, what the hell is Eriksson doing? Why can’t he just stick to the tested formula? Beckham on the right, Joe Cole on the left. Stevie G and Lamps in the middle. Rooney and whoever he wants upfront. Back four, Ash Cole and another 3 defenders who aren’t injured. If Stevie G or Lamps aren’t moving, send in Hargreaves. If Becks isn’t performing, send in Shaun. Screw the Becks-must-play policy. How difficult can it be?!
OK, fine. I’m over-simplifying it and know nothing of being a manager (except on CM4), but you just lost to Northern Ireland, Sven. The English media can be a bloody pain in the arse.
(P.S. Hey, Pat, I bet you’d give anything in the world to be back in the halls of Queen’s University down in Belfast last night, eh?)
8 Comments
Sashi
Northern Ireland is ranked 116th in the FIFA rankings – Malaysia’s ranked 111th.
Maybe this is a good time for M’sia to play England, eh? 😉
Inevitable
Sashi – I was telling my friend that too … hehe
BTW, that goal by Henry is a classic!
Pat
Yeah, that would have been something 🙂
I remember watching an England-Rep. Of Ireland match at Queen’s back in the 1995, it was abandoned due to crowd trouble after 27 minutes.
My respect for Mr. Ericksson has dropped to zero, I think any one of the current EPL managers would have done better than him. This really reminded me of the nightmarish Graham Taylor years in the early 90’s (of turnips and headless chickens fame 🙂 )
Boone
Actually, I wonder what the big deal was. The guy is allowed to lose a game or two, right? Of course, if England misses out on qualification, then he should be hung from his left nut.
However, I do agree with everyone that the tactics employed was shocking. Coming from one of the shrewdest tacticians of the game, this is unacceptable. Deserve the criticism for sure, but not quite the sack yet. This is not the Sven we know, or has his philandering days with Faria left him with a few cards short of a full deck, tactically speaking.
__earth
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
now, if only Italy losses too.
mahagurusia
my instinct told me to bet against England but the odds were against N.Ireland. So I went ahead and bet according to factual information and guess what? I lo$t #$%^*&# Next time, I am gonna go with my hunch!
twinsmom
twinsdad said England players doing cat walk on the field, lead by DB, how to win?
simon
sashi – i wonder if that means thailand can also beat england…?
inevitable – yeah, i bet FAM has written in to Sven already…
pat – ok, but i think sven’s record is much better than taylor. unfortunately both managers didn’t / hasn’t won anything.
boone – sven’s first priority is auto qualification. failing that, via playoff. if not he should resign.
earth – eh, you also dun like italy aa?
mahagurusia – yeah lar. if you had bet the payout would have been big, man…
twinsmom – twinsdad quite funny guy also hor? 🙂