Maybe this is what the national team need; a healthy dose of realism. After all, England haven’t been world-beaters for quite some time, forty-two years to be exact, and it’s time that the nation stopped living the lie that the Three Lions should triumph every time that they play. This team have no more of a right to be in the World Cup than Azerbaijan, and one of their strikers is not bigging up their chances ahead of Wednesday night’s clash in Zagreb.
The Sun report that Jermain Defoe would be happy with a draw in Croatia, surely he’s not the only one? After all, it would be a marked improvement on their last two results against the same opponents, which ultimately led to their failure to qualify for Euro 2008. But does this mean that Capello will be instructing his players to sit deep from the kick-off?
Defoe said: “A draw would be a great result in Croatia.
“We have to be strong and believe we are going to win because it is a massive game. But the most important thing is to get a result.”
What will England do if it’s 0-0 and there is ten minutes to play? Shut up shop and go for the point, or risk men forward in an attempt to snare all three? At this stage of the campaign, a draw would be a decent result, arguably putting them in the driving seat with the Croatians to visit Wembley. What do you think will be the outcome of Wednesday night’s match?