(bbc.co.uk)
So, England made a liar out of me. Israel went down to an injury stricken England team. It will be interesting to see if England will stay in the number two spot in their group or if they will loose to Russia on Wednesday. Steve McClaren, the skipper for England, will have an interesting time at Wembley against a rather strong Russian side. There is also fruitless speculation that England will be playing against a Russian side that may be in line to receive an added bonus if they pull a win against the mighty lions. The BBC website has reported, and it doesn't give its source, that Chelsea have released a statement on a rumor that its owner, the Russian oil magnate, Roman Abramovich has offered the members of the Russian team each a cash reward if they win at Wembley.
Chelsea have went on record saying that while Abramovich supports grass roots football back in Russia, that the back room deals that make the Russian business world what it is have no place in the football world.
Can we believe this? Abramovich is a big name in Russia. He owns one of the largest yachts in the world, according to VH-1, so in theory, he could afford to pay off the players if they win. I think the money would be better spent to pay off Chelsea skipper, Jose Muriniho, who has been on rocky terms with his boss since loosing the Premiership to Manchester United this past season. It would be a nice bit of hush money to get the "special one" to quiet down about the squad not being at peak strength and how the teams in the lower positions on the table will challenge Chelsea this season.
So, my call for the game, I look for Russia and England to have a close match, depending on who the starting elevens are but, I don't, however, look for England to make it past qualifying. I do look for McClaren to go the way of Man City skipper, Erikson. That's all for my take on the current standing of Euro 08. Happy footie all.
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