England is in serious danger of missing Euro 2008 after a crushing 2-1 loss to Russia. Head coach Steve McClaren was furious over a decision made by Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo that may have cost England the game. England had a 1-0 lead when Cantalejo ruled Wayne Rooney tugged Konstantin Zyryanov's shirt inside the box. The foul was legitimate but it occurred outside the box, not inside the penalty area as the referee called. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored on the penalty shot to tie the game and he scored four minutes late to give Russia the huge win. “It is an absolute disgrace,” said McClaren. “We were comfortable, and they were running out of ideas. If that penalty had not been awarded, I am absolutely confident we would have won the game. We were in total control. I am not blaming anybody – but the penalty was given by a referee in a bad position because it was outside the box. I don't fault the players; I don't fault their attitude; I don't fault their endeavor – and I don't fault what they did in the game. Because of one decision, we went from being in a winning position to losing.”
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If Russia beats Israel in Tel Aviv next month and wins as expected against Andorra then Russia will qualify and England will be out. It would be the first time since 1994 that England would miss a major Championship. It would cost England millions of dollars and probably cost Steve McClaren his job.
What also hurt England is that Steven Gerrard missed an easy goal early in the second half that would have given England a two goal lead and put the game out of reach. Now England has to hope that Israel can somehow defeat Russia. “We were in control of the game, the game plan was working perfectly, we've gone 1-0 up and I've had a fantastic chance to make it 2-0 myself, Gerrard said, “Then we had a mad five to 10 minutes when the game has changed. The penalty for their first goal looked outside the box and has turned the whole game. It gave them a lot of confidence, put them on the front foot and they put us under a lot of pressure and managed to get a second. Even when they got the penalty, we should still have been strong and more together to see the game out.” England finishes up against group leader Croatia. RussiaEngland with a game in hand. Croatia are already virtually through so if Russia can win in Israel next month, with only part-time Andorra to play in their final match, it is Russia who would go on to the finals in Austria and Switzerland next year and England would be out.
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In other Euro 2008 qualifying action, France got a much needed 2-0 win over Lithuania behind two goals from Thierry Henry. France moved to the top of Group B with the win and can clinch a spot in next year’s Finals with a win over Ukraine in their next game. France has 25 points while Scotland has 24 and Italy 23. The Italians have a game in hand on both teams so it all could come down to the final game when ItalyScotland.
In Group D, Czech Republic shocked Germany 3-0 and advanced along with the Germans to next summer’s finals. Germany had become the first country to qualify for the finals with a draw in Ireland on Saturday and didn’t really bother to show up. The result left the two teams with 23 points from 10 games and ended the qualifying hopes of Ireland and Cyprus. Germany, who beat the Czech Republic in the final of the 1996 European Championship, was missing captain Michael Ballack and striker Miroslav Klose because of injuries.
European champions Greece also qualified as they took out Turkey 1-0.
They got a 79th-minute goal from Ioannis Amanatidis who put it past keeper Volkan Demirel after Georgios Samaras put him through clear on goal.
The win lifted Greece to 25 points in Group C, seven clear of Turkey with two games remaining. Turkey's defeat puts pressure on them, especially since Norway moved into 2nd place in the group with a 2-0 win in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Romania became the first Group G team to reach the finals with a 2-0 win in Luxembourg. Holland is close to clinching a spot as well after they beat Slovenia 2-0.
In Group A action it was Cristiano Ronaldo scoring for Portugal as they took out Kazakhstan. Portugal is three points clear of third-placed Finland with two games remaining.
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