Owen Hargreaves remains optimistic about England's prospects of qualifying
for Euro 2008.
England hardly covered themselves with glory in their last
two qualifiers in October - a tame home draw against FYR Macedonia and
defeat in Croatia. Those two results saw them slide to third place in
Group E, and they cannot afford a further set-back in the imminent double-header
against Israel and Andorra. That would seriously jeopardise their chances
of reaching next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland.
Manager Steve McClaren, at least, is convinced he can take England to
the finals. You would expect him to be as his job probably depends on
it. But midfielder Hargreaves is equally confident.
He explained: "Obviously we are not in the position we expected to
be but we've got eight games left and we are not thinking about not qualifying,"
said the Bayern Munich star who recently recovered from a broken leg.
"Nobody has ever qualified for a tournament in March and nobody has
been knocked out of one either.
"There is a lot of football left to play and this is just a stepping
stone leading to the European Championships."
Hargreaves is something of a talisman for McClaren, having been ever-present
during the start of the manager's reign when England played three and
won three. He hasn't played since because of the leg injury - and England
have gone four games without a victory. His availability now can theregfore
give the squad a lift.
He was one of very few Englishmen who emerged from the World Cup last
summer with his reputation a lot stronger than it was before the tournament,
and his performances turned a sceptical English public - largely ignorant
of his abilities because he plays his club football in the Bundesliga
which is rarely seen on English TV - firmly in his favour.
McClaren sees the 26-year-old Canadian-born star as a sort of English
Roy Keane in terms of his role in and influence on the team, though Hargreaves
himself begs to differ.
"Roy Keane was one of the most influential Premiership players of
the last 10 years in the Premiership and was a crucial player for Manchester
United," he said.
"He was one of the reasons they had so much success and to be compared
to someone of that nature is fantastic.
"We play in the same position, but I'm obviously very different.
"At times, I'm relatively easy going and relaxed, but on the pitch
it comes down to your team wanting to win and sometimes it does get aggressive."
,
22/03/2007.
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