All England had to do last night in Moscow was to win and they would have qualified to the Finals of Euro 2008 , joining the likes of Germany , Czech Republic on board the plane to Austria and Switzerland next summer , end of story . But now , what seemed to be within their grasps has all but lost in that four minutes of second half madness in Russia that would change the fate of Steve McClaren's managerial job and his England team's chances of qualifying for next summer's soccer biggest showpiece Event in June .
Following the crucial defeat in last night's match in Moscow , England are staring in the face of elimination of a major soccer tournament for the first time since 1994 . Can u just imagine what's it's like to be watching a big tournament without England ? Already , next year's tournament from how the standings are right now , we may not be get to see World Champions Italy or even Denmark making an appearance in the Euro Finals , traditional European big names teams in major soccer tournaments , and now we are hit by a real possibility of not seeing the likes of Michael Owen , David Beckham , Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard joining that list too !
Really , England had no one but only themselves to blame for the current situation that they are in . They had to fail just when it mattered most yet again - Big Time ! No one , certainly no one had expected them to lose to Russia yesterday despite all the talk of playing on a plastic pitch . They entered the game as favourites as so did most bookmakers too , placed them as favourities to overcome all the odds and beat Russia . After all , they were so magnificant and in such fine form as they chalked up a successive of five 3-0 victories ahead of this showdown that would confirm their place in Austria- Switzerland with a win . They looked so full of confidence and seemed so powerless for any team that is playing against them .
Steve McClaren's own managerial career looked to be back from the brink of death as their passage to Euro 2008 Finals looked bright yet again with those 3-0 wins over Andorra (Away ) , Estonia (Away ) , Israel ( Home ) , Russia ( Home ) and the return fixture against Estonia at home , scoring a massive total of 15 goals in their last 5 qualification game and keeping five clean sheets too , before this potentially crucial match in Russia that would have all but ended all the hard work done previously , making their journey to qualification looked bleak and situation much more complex and confusing .
Now their hopes and dreams of an appearance in Euro 2008 Finals rests entirely NOT in their own hands but ironically - Russia's . They have to hope that Guus Hiddink's men don't win against Israel next month to stand any chance at all of a shot at Euro's grand showpiece Event next June . Now , what once seemed so near for England is now so so far away for Steve McClaren and his big names stars in a mission that is looking so impossible to accomplish !
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