World Cup debate

Will Ukraine loss affect England, can Germany lift World Cup?

By Steve Pass   Last updated: 11th October 2009  

World Cup debate

Capello: Will defeat have dented his side's confidence?

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The World Cup qualification picture is nearing its conclusion and we want to hear your opinions on the latest round of action.

Ten-men England slumped to their first competitive defeat under Fabio Capello in Ukraine. The England boss remained upbeat despite the defeat but has the Fab factor now ended and will this loss dent the Three Lions' confidence for next summer's finals?

Also, should David James reclaim the Number One jersey for the finals after Robert Green's sending-off, or would you keep faith with the West Ham stopper?

Germany also went down to ten-men but still managed to pull off a great victory in Russia to seal qualification from Group Four. Can Joachim Low's unbeaten side prove a force in South Africa?

Spain maintained their 100 per cent record in Group Five with victory at bottom side Armenia. Will the European champions do the double and also lift the world crown, just like France did back in 1998 and 2000?

Talking of the Blues, Raymond Domenech's side beat minnows Faroe Islands to guarantee second spot in Group Seven and keep their qualification hopes alive. Is the criticism of Domenech justified or is he the right man to push the French on to go one better than their 2006 runners-up spot?

The Republic of Ireland drew with world champions Italy to guarantee a play-off berth. Can Giovanni Trapattoni's side make the finals for the first time since 2002 and if so, how will they fare in South Africa?

The draw at Croke Park means Italy have qualified for South Africa as Group Eight winners. Can Marcello Lippi lead the unbeaten Azzurri to back-to-back wins?

Over in Africa, Chelsea ace Didier Drogba was once again on target to fire Ivory Coast into the finals. Can the in-form striker help his side to become the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final and even beyond?

New Zealand drew in Bahrain to take the advantage in their World Cup play-off. The All Whites have only had to see-off New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu so far to sit on the verge of qualification. Is this qualification path from the Oceania section too easy compared to the competition European sides have to face to reach the finals?

Argentina kept their automatic qualification dreams alive with a last-gasp victory over Peru. Will Diego Maradona's side make it to South Africa? If they do, will they be a force to be reckoned with despite their recent wobble?

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Comments (48)

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Antony Brannon (Chelsea fan) says...

Rio is one horrendous defender, he used to be a great player always looked up for it and always used to play well. But last season and this season he has be dreadful, he looks lazy and his mind looks like its else where, against holland he was shocking and could have made it back for one of his mistakes but just couldnt be bothered. personally i dont think there is another good english centre half apart from JT, i mean ledley king would be my replacement but as we all know he has a dodgy leg. But defo Rio OUT!

Posted 08:02 13th October 2009

Niall Drumm (Liverpool fan) says...

In my opinion the Republic Of Ireland can beat any of the teams in the play off. Any team that comes within minutes of beating the world champions should be regarded as a quality team Look out France or Portugal or Greece or Germany Croke Park is a hard place to come on a big match day!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 20:47 12th October 2009

Reggie Stenson (Aston Villa fan) says...

I do not believe Rio should be starting for England. Obviously after a mistake by any footballer everyone gets on their back, but I don't believe he is the player he used to be. I cant even remember him playing a game for United since he set up Bellamy for City's 3rd goal, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I just cant remember an outstanding performance of which he used to produce. Lescott should be partnering Terry at the heart of defence, or, if he can prove his critics wrong, Micah Richards?

Posted 18:37 12th October 2009

Mark Fraser (Newcastle United fan) says...

ferdinand has made loads of mistakes, look at the recent manchester derby against bellamy and the friendly against holland. i would pick carragher above ferdinand any day, shame he has retired from international football.

Posted 18:35 12th October 2009

Josh Marinaro (Chesterfield fan) says...

Rio Ferdinand is a quality defender. He wouldnt be at Manchester United if he wasnt. And people calling for michael turner and Gary Cahill , anyone with quick or clever forwards would smash them e.g Spain ( Villa and Torres ) , Rio ferdinand gives England calmness at the back that every side needs otherwise the ball would be in the air all game! Thats just my views.

Posted 18:32 12th October 2009

Adam Newman (Norwich City fan) says...

rio ferdinand shouldnt of been in the team the other night because of his mistake we lost the game. Time to give fringe players the chance to impress the manager. rooney is a legend keep up the good work.

Posted 18:11 12th October 2009

Alan Crawford (Sunderland fan) says...

The trouble with Rio is that he thinks he can play his way out of tight situations,the sooner he realises he is a defender and not a footballer the better. As for Ashley Cole, there lass could do better.

Posted 17:59 12th October 2009

Darren Mallory says...

I don't think England are playing to their strengths at the moment. We have possibly the 2 best attacking fullbacks in the world at the moment and we need to use them more. The 4-4-2 formation is really not that good for the type of football we could play. I think England can now adopt a 4-1-3-2 formation. Back four are from left to right:: Cole Ferdinand Terry Johnson In the middle I would have: Gerrard Lampard Barry (OR) Hargreaves if he gets fit and plays I would allow Rooney to go wherever he likes and give him a floating role behing the front two strikers. Two strikes are: Carlton Cole :- excellent first touch for a big guy, can strike a ball really well and is big and strong, potentially Englands Drogba Agbonlahor :- extremely quick, can also win headers and is strong upfront. Defenders will sit off him for fear of him getting around the back. The team setup is to allow the fullbacks to go forward at every opportunity and get crosses into the box for Cole, Aggy, Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard to get on the end of. Hargreaves / Barry would have to do a very disciplined defensive midfielder role, never going up and acting as cover for the fullbacks. The most important part of the role is breaking up attacks before they happen, i.e. getting into the player / ball before an attack can really start. For me Carrick does not do this as hes sits off to much. Giving Rooney the floating role will allow him to become unmarkable - something which I have seen happen to him against the top clubs and he goes missing for large periods. Both Gerrard and Lampard are then free to attack knowing that Barry / Hargreaves will ALWAYS be in a defensive frame of mind allowing our two best midfielders to get forward and help attack. That for me is how England COULD win the world cup.

Posted 17:54 12th October 2009

Ashley Gordon (West Ham United fan) says...

Owen Hargreaves will be back soon so carrick can go back to the bench! Everyone gave Hargreaves so much stick but when he plays he is a great player who works so hard! I think he is a better player than Barry, i dont rate Barry he just seems to get through games and doesnt have much effect in anything. Rio is class so all this talk about him being dropped, i dont think so. Capello is clever enough to realise he is a good defender, Johnson is always caught out at right back thats the defensive weakness!

Posted 17:12 12th October 2009

Nick Baker (Manchester United fan) says...

This is not, unfortunately, a blip. Rio has always and will always drop the occasional clanger. However who doesn't? You can't tell me Lescott or Upson or Terry have enjoyed unblemished seasons. For me, a little biased of course, Rio is still the classiest defender in the country. England have shown us though, that they will not win the world cup, because they won't score enough goals. No way will Heskey get on the score sheet against any of the top sides. As for Carlton Cole, his only contribution is to emphasise the awful shortage of quality strikers in the land. I mean, is he really the best we can do? This is England, land of Lineker, Shearer, Wright, Sheringham, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand and others. Complete joke.

Posted 16:58 12th October 2009

Nick Mugford (Derby County fan) says...

Remember when JT made that error against the Germans in the friendly earlier in the season, but we won the game and all was forgotten. If we had gone on and won the game in the Ukraine we would not be talking about Rio's error. As a nation all England fans and the media must get behind our team and support them. Look at Argentina and there problems, there fans are always supportive no matter what. Our fans lack passion.

Posted 16:53 12th October 2009

Rob Tomlinson says...

You got to keep Rio in the England defence because he has the pace the other defenders dont have. He better technically and he has a good football brain. Remember when Capello took over he looked most likely to become England captain and now because hes a bit rusty because hes been injured and made a mistake you lot want to get rid off him hypocrites. Not like JT has been playing well at all last couple of years since Mourinho left hes not really performed for his club or England. Rio and JT shouldnt of played last night he should of gave the fringe players and chance and see what Agbonlahor and Bent were like upfront together glad to see Lennon playing even though it was briefly. It would of been intresting to see how Cahill did hes been in brillant form towards the backend of last season and this season. I hope he doesnt play any of the players from the Big Four on wednesday see what the rest have got to offer.

Posted 13:44 12th October 2009

Mihir Hombalkar (Manchester United fan) says...

For all those people saying rooney is not world class ,to remind you he was the best English player by a mile on Saturday.AS for rio,well he is strangely out of form but we must remember that he is coming back after injuries and will need time to get back to his best.It is just a dip in form every player has.he is a class act and will get back to his best soon.

Posted 13:18 12th October 2009

Sandy Dance (Arsenal fan) says...

Rio Ferdinand should not be picked to play for England unless he is totally match fit. Fabio Capello would not pick David Beckham if he was not match fit and the same should apply to Ferdinand. I personally do not think Rio should even be in the squad, he is a very lazy player who makes far too many mistake. Fabio Capello has plenty of other options. I just hope that he realises that well before he finalises his team for South Africa. Have to say as well, that I do feel very optimistic for England's chances this year! Come on England!

Posted 13:10 12th October 2009

Matt Kland says...

If it was Rooney who beat the defender like that and went on to win the penalty, the comments here would be praising good attacking play.

Posted 12:42 12th October 2009

Darren Bergin says...

England as usual have no chance of winning the world cup next year,we have a bad centre half in ferdinand,we have to put stevie gerrard on the left because we cant find a decent left sided winger and heskey cant score goals,how capello can pick him when he cant even catch aston villa is beyond me.dont look any further than spain with the likes of torres and villa up front we have no chance,they will have our centre halves in their pockets

Posted 12:40 12th October 2009

Swaraj Chikyala (Manchester United fan) says...

I cant understand why people are so critical of Rio. Yes he had couple of bad games in this season for both Man Utd and England but you just cant undermine his skills or talent. And people never realise playing EPL weekin,weekout and playing for major tournaments representing England are two different things. We have carson , robinson and James , who play very good at club level but really dissappoint you at the national level. The same goes with other players who doesnot have european game experience. That is the reason why England managers prefer players who played at the european level because atleast they know how they handle pressure. And as far as England chances are concerned, they wont go farther than Qf if they dont get a good Defensive Midfielder. Carrick and Barry are just not good enough. Hargo return is more imp to England than to Man Utd.

Posted 10:01 12th October 2009

John Clarke (Chelsea fan) says...

Funny how after this defeat people are having a go at Ferdinand! It's usually JT or Frank Lampard who get the blame. We should not be too disappointed by the result only one or two performances ie Rio and Gerrard. Was Gerrard playing in the first half? Lets see if we get any problems and blame if Croatia don't qualify.

Posted 09:01 12th October 2009

David Woodcock (Stoke City fan) says...

I will admit to feeling disappointed after Saturday evening's game. Why I was I am not really sure. We have qualified for the World Cup and we did it with great style. I feel that in losing that unbeaten qualifying record we may have lost the invincible mental edge that opponents were fearing. It also must be mentioned that players and their managers must not have been as committed as maybe they would have been in a more important game. Nobody wants to get injured and miss out on the big Premier League games (see Rooney and his calf). I hope Capello galvanises the boys for Wednesday and finishes the campaign off with a convincing victory!

Posted 08:05 12th October 2009

Ryan James (liverpool fan) (Liverpool fan) says...

Obviously Ferdinand had a poor game and as a unit Englands back line was average, although Johnson was one of Englands best and most progressive attacking players he still got caught a couple of times, but so did Cole. It was a decent display 2nd half and in the big scheme things it means nothing. I'm still wondering how England expect to beat the Worlds best with the current strike force, they have also conceeded goals against every half decent team we've played. Heskey, yeah he works hard and causes problem buthe isn;t clinical enough. Rooney likes to get involved and play off a striker, on his day he is world class, but again he isn't and out and out scorer. We lack and Alan Shearer, Defoe should be given a chance, ad should Carlton Cole and if fit and playing for Utd, the best finisher is still Michael Owen. I just think unless Gerrard, Lampard, Lennon, etc contribute with goals, we are'nt going to score enough, we are set-up not to lose, but have we got enough in the locker to beat the likes of Spain, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Holland, Argentina (if they Qualify)

Posted 22:28 11th October 2009
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