The road to South Africa has been uncannily smooth for a side that couldn’t make it to the Euro 2008 starting line, with spread punters who got with Don Fabio’s side generally happier than those who didn’t.
They gave Croatia double trouble with a 4-1 smash and grab in Zagreb and a good old-fashioned 5-1 hiding at home as spread buyers of Three Lions’ total goals spread were left thinking ‘with games like these, who needs friendlies?’. Sporting Index’s total goals spread buyers who keep the faith for the Belarus game will feel safe in the knowledge England have averaged over three goals-a-game in Group Six. And, if that wasn’t enough for spread sellers to be cautious, then they’ll remember that two from Wayne Rooney and another from fellow Scouser Steven Gerrard helped their side breach the Belarusian goalkeeper’s net three times in Minsk. Despite neither man set to feature tonight, their deputies should be more than capable of filling their shoes. Meanwhile,
You may not have much luck watching England’s World Cup Qualifier on Saturday, but our friends at Sporting Index would like to help you make some money from it…
Save for last-minute injuries, Fabio Capello is expected to field a full-strength side against Ukraine, giving spread bettors and armchair fans – not to mention Croatia manager Slaven Bilic – the hope of seeing a competitive game in England’s penultimate World Cup Qualifier. Although effectively a dead-rubber for the visitors, the partisan home following will ensure a lively encounter at the 31,000-capacity Dnipro Arena, in the country’s third-largest city, Dnipropetrovsk. The newly built stadium may not have the tradition of Ukraine’s regular home, the Olympic Stadium in Kiev – which fits over 80,000 and is currently being renovated to host the 2012 European Championships final – but it is sure to provide an intimidating atmosphere for the Three Lions’ first trip to the country, and a new challenge for Sporting Index’s football spread punters.
Watching the match will seem more like being at work than ever
As a gesture of support for online streaming, Shevchenko has changed his name to make it more ‘web’ friendly
After none of the major broadcasters could be bothered to buy the rights to England’s relatively meaningless trip to Dnipropetrovsk, the game will now be exclusively shown on the interwebnet. Sign up with one of the many sites showing the pay-per-view stream today, and you will pay £4.99, but (alcohol-fuelled) last minute subscribers will have to fork out a whopping £11.99.
Will you pay to watch the game online? Or will you watch one of the many international games available on normal TV (Russia/ Germany; Denmark; Sweden; Ireland/ Italy) instead? Let us know your opinions below…
England 5/ Croatia 1
We probably weren’t the only ones who cracked open a bottle of Santana DVX last night as England secured their place at the 2010 World Cup finals in emphatic style. Admittedly, Croatia didn’t put up a particularly strong fight - they were a shadow of the side who embarrassed England in 2007 - but Aaron Lennon was in rude health, Glen Johnson dealt with the pressure well and Emile Heskey even got a little bit close to scoring a goal.
England coach thanks Croatian for his inspiring team talk
When he isn’t belittling the opposition, Slaven Bilic likes to rock out with his band Rawbau. In the video, he’s the guy playing the guitar who looks like Slaven Bilic.
With the exception of the ongoing witch hunt of Premiership clubs who have poached young talent from elsewhere, it’s been a relatively quiet week in football so far. Hence, much prominence has been given to Slaven Bilic’s daily attempts to destabilise the England camp ahead of Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier with Croatia.
So far, he has highlighted team’s lack of ‘Englishness’ (not exactly a criticism when you consider the team’s recent form), claimed to have figured out a super secret way to ensure victory (he won’t tell us what it is) and he has berated John Terry for speaking out
Titi lays into his national manager in front of whole French squad
After helping France reach last place in their group at Euro 2008 - an embarrassment that was compounded by an awfully-timed post-match marriage proposal - it it highly surprising that Raymond Domenech has managed to cling onto his job. The pressure on the national team coach has intensified once more, as Les Bleus’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Romania on Saturday was preceded by a barrage of criticism from team captain Thierry Henry.
In a press conference last Friday, Henry raised a few eyebrows when he claimed the team have “always had problems” during Domenech’s reign. According to a report in French paper le Parisien, Domenech then gathered the players and staff into a meeting room, where he offered the following:
“I hope today you’ll be better in training. So far, I have not seen guys who wanted, who were fully prepared for the important meeting on Saturday.”
After an awkward silence, the tense atmosphere is said to have been broken by captain Thierry Henry, who replied:
“Coach, we too have something to say. I speak for the entire squad.
“We are getting bored during your training sessions.
Those who were hoping to watch England’s October 10th clash with Ukraine from the comfort of their sofa or the local public house will now find themselves crouched over a computer instead.
The Ukrainian FA appointed the rights to the game to an agency named Kentaro, who in turn did a deal with Setanta. Since their collapse, only one broadcaster has put in a bid for the rights, and it was deemed ‘very low’. In light of this, the match is set to become the first England game to be shown exclusively over the interweb for a one-off fee.
Kentaro head honcho Philipp Grothe says:
“We have spoken to every traditional UK broadcaster and currently have no offer on the table. We therefore feel the internet delivers the most viable option to deliver an important England game directly to the fans.
“It will be the first time in history that an England game has had an exclusive web broadcast.”
The game will be broadcast by internet TV specialists Perform, who happen to be the handsome devils who provide the banner adverts on this site. Just look at those lovely banner adverts promoting goods and services that will make your life better. They just look so damn clickable, don’t they?
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