England face Croatia, Argentina take on Paraguay
England face Croatia, Argentina take on Paraguay
England, Brazil and Argentina will be in action in World Cup qualifiers.

New Delhi: England, Brazil and Argentina will be in action in another round of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers will be played on Wednesday.

Fabio Capello's English team will take on Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday with a shot at booking their place in the World Cup if they win.

England already lead the European qualifying Group Six with the maximum possible 21 points while second-placed Croatia need a win to keep alive chances of an automatic birth in the main draw.

There will be a sense of deja vu for both the sides as two years ago they met in the famous tie at the Wembley where England lost to Croatia and failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

This time though the English will definitely be looking to avoid that.

"What Fabio Capello has brought into this squad, and also back into the nation is the belief. You know, because after the last qualifying campaign - when we didn't qualify - you know, the belief and the trust went from the fans, and that hurts the players more than anything," said David Beckham.

England midfielder Frank Lampard cautioned against being overconfident.

"We have been in positions before where we have probably been over-confident and we didn't qualify for a tournament. Last time, maybe we didn't go with quite the right attitude. Certainly the players won't and certainly the manager won't let us be over-confident. We understand it's going to be a tough game. But we want to win," said Lampard.

Meanwhile, five-time world champions Brazil will also be in action against Chile in Salvador on Wednesday. Kaka, Luis Fabiano, captain Lucio and midfielder Ramirez will all miss the game due to suspensions, while Robinho is out due to a thigh injury.

A victory in the game against Brazil will ensure that Chile qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Brazil are the first South American team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after they handed a 3-1 drubbing to Argentina on Saturday.

In the other match Diego Maradona's Argentina will take on Paraguay in Asuncion on Wednesday.

Argentina will be hurting from the 1-3 loss to Brazil over the weekend that now makes it tougher for them to qualify for the tournament next year.

Maradona's men need to win the tie against Paraguay to make sure they remain in contention for the four automatic spots from South America. They will, however, be missing striker Carlos Tevez who is out with a knee injury.

What's your reaction?

Comments

https://kapitoshka.info/assets/images/user-avatar-s.jpg

0 comment

Write the first comment for this!