Stars of Europe Forced to Face Their D-Night

Evening Standard - London › October 12, 2005

Linked as:

Summary

THE English are a demanding lot. Qualification for the World Cup finals on Saturday was greeted with rather more grumbling than glee. Yet it might have been more gratefully received had we spared a thought for what other major footballing nations across Europe will be enduring this "D-Night".

For while England and Poland can go through the motions and start using tonight's afterthought fixture at Old Trafford as the first preparatory steps on the road to Germany, teams of the stature of France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey and Denmark will still be scrapping under the utmost pressure simply to get to the party.

See the full content of this document

Extract

Stars of Europe Forced to Face Their D-Night

Basically, the most tension-filled night of football on the European calendar, with 15 countries still in the hunt for qualification, will pass us by for a change. Yet in matches like Serbia and Montenegro versus Bosnia-Herzegovina in Belgrade, Ireland versus Switzerland in Du...

See the full content of this document