Ah yes, a 3-0 win over Israel with Wigan, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City providing star performers. Not a scapegoat in sight with Paul Robinson surely getting a bit of confidence from a clean sheet, the first in approximately 837,198 matches for him.
England dominated the game and after going into half-time just 1-0 up, it seemed obvious that Israel would equalise to make them pay for their poor finishing and generally cause pain and stress across the country. But somehow McClaren’s team talk didn’t cause the team to fold like a cheap accordian, and goals from Michael Owen and Micah Richards wrapped things up.
Emile Heskey starred, putting in the kind of performance he usually does but ends up getting criticised for anyway. Gareth Barry also played like he usually does but ends up getting overlooked by England manager’s anyway. Shaun Wright-Philips showed the kind of end product that will probably see him getting in ahead of Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon as Beckham’s replacement on the right wing.
So it’s official, England are once again the Greatest Football Team In The Universe and you may as well bet the house on the Euro 2008 trophy. Because there is no chance in hell that Russia will easily brush them aside 2-1 when McClaren puts the old boys back into the starting eleven, resulting in a lacklustre and uninspired performance.