World Cup qual. - What the managers said

Eurosport - Sun, 07 Sep 17:57:00 2008

A brief look at how the managers reacted to their teams' performances on the opening day of World Cup qualifying action, with Fabio Capello hailing the contribution of Theo Walcott.

GETTY IMAGES - FOOTBALL World Cup qualifying Andorra-England Fabio Capello - 0

Andorra 0-2 England

Fabio Capello: "We had a lot of chances. I'm happy because it's a very important three points. In the first half we played well for the first 15 or 20 minutes and had two chances to score goals. I chose the first XI and at this moment, against this opposition, it was better to pick [Theo] Walcott [than David Beckham]. He is dangerous, he is fast, he played well. Croatia will be another game, not like this. We have to play to win, always."

Macedonia 1-0 Scotland

George Burley: "We are naturally disappointed, losing a goal so early was not what we wanted. It took a while to adjust to the conditions but I thought we were outstanding in the second half. We had chances and there was definitely a penalty that we didn't get. We dominated and there aren't many teams who will do that here. Overall, in those conditions, the players couldn't have done any more and deserved at least a point."

Wales 1-0 Azerbaijan

John Toshack: "I am satisfied with the result and the performance. Azerbaijan have improved considerably over the past two years and they provided a very serious test for us. We dominated the match and heads could easily have dropped after the penalty was missed. They were bouncing and our lot were deflated. But we kept going, refused to let it bother us for long, and fully deserved the winner. We were easily the better team."

Slovakia 2-1 Northern Ireland

Nigel Worthington: "It is a game we should have got something from. But through ill-discipline on set plays we have paid a heavy price and lost the game. That is the frustrating thing. To concede two goals like we did is very disappointing. In the last 15 to 20 minutes we showed more what we are about but the overall feeling is one of frustration - but we just have to get on with it."

Georgia 1-2 Republic of Ireland

Giovanni Trapattoni: "We are not sure, but we are convinced we can go and qualify. It's too early to think about qualification, but success in an away game like this, on Wednesday we now have high spirits. I must be happy because I saw some good things in our mentality. All the players worked for the result and they are happy in the dressing room. They were happy, because they now believe."

Eurosport

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  1. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ROONEY AS SOON AS PEOPLE TOOK AWAY­ HIS COMPETATIVE EDGE HE IS HALF THE PLAYER HE WAS. JOE­ COLE WAS ALWAYS ENGLANDS BEST YOUNG PROSPECT AND NOW HE­ HAS STOPPED DOING SILLY THINGS IN HIS OWN HALF HE IS­ THE BEST CREATIVE ENGLISH PLAYER DONT GIVE HIM A­ POSITION JUST TELL HIM TO GO AND PLAY

    From delboy, on Mon 8 Sep 1:03PM

  2. Ok this was Andorra that EGGLAND beat. Andorra is the­ third smallest country in Europe with very few­ professional footballers. In contrast, the Germans­ (without Ballack and Springs) put five goals in the net­ against a similar small country. So whats wrong with­ this picture (I was really expecting England to hammer­ Andorra by five goals too), and you have to wonder why?­ Firstly, Rooney needs to stick to being a striker (stay­ out of the mid-field). Secondly, the mid-field were­ playing too many square and backward passes instead of­ feeding the strikers. Barry needs to play more­ aggressive and positive balls, most balls he played­ were backwards, sideways, and square, nothing­ threatening. It really is frustrating and I can see why­ the strikers such as Rooney go into the Midfield to get­ the ball. Also, Please NO MORE DOWNING, he is a good­ solid winger, but not world class, Cole much better.

    From starman_123, on Mon 8 Sep 3:50AM

  3. Stop blaming the coach, Capello can only do so much­ with the useless sods he has at his disposal!
    Coaching­ Madrid, Juventus or Milan is quite different to­ coaching England who apart from J.Cole seem to lack any­ creativity!

    From ChooseLife, on Mon 8 Sep 1:27AM

  4. maybe capello try to build a team around j.cole

    From Abdul Aziz, on Sun 7 Sep 8:33PM

  5. give capello some time.................im sure he will­ deliver, its not time to criticise yet.......have a­ little faith in capello....

    From Abdul Aziz, on Sun 7 Sep 8:29PM

  6. Macedonia is a big trouble for ENGLAND,and now also­ for Scotland.............Northern Ireland are next,or­ maybe Wales

    From sonja_nikolova, on Sun 7 Sep 7:14PM

  7. england need more firepower to beat the croats

    From abraham_12, on Sun 7 Sep 6:22PM

  8. Congrats Theo!!!! great showing...hmm..he's really­ coming on..Joe Cole needs to be in the starting eleven­ though..honestly..someone needs to realize that..and­ also..Lampard is just not cutting it for England..he­ can't seem to replicate his Chelsea form for the­ Three Lions...is it the system? i mean..THREE managers­ couldn't do it...maybe slot in Joe Cole..younger­ faster creative and gets important goals...and why not­ replace downing with bentley..bentley and walcott on­ the flanks...supreme pace..and switch rooney with a­ better targetman..owen needs to return..why not Ashton?

    From akash.maniam, on Sun 7 Sep 1:26PM

  9. How dumb can you be?.....Beckham...awesome....he was­ never even close.....a reasonably good player with a v.­ good right peg but buggerall else! a second braincell­ & he would have been dangerous!
    He's been hyped­ to the extreme and good luck to him for milking it but­ guys, he was never AWESOME!!!!!

    From TomH, on Sun 7 Sep 11:35AM

  10. I am amazed - there 50 something members of UEFA which­ played yesterday WC qualifications and Yahoo Eurosport­ offers only the comments of managers of GB+Ireland­ trainers. It would have been funny if it was not­ pathetic when you consider when for example was the­ last time N Ireland played on WC and/or not a single­ British/Irish team was present on Euro 2008.

    From karl_sebastian, on Sun 7 Sep 11:11AM

  11. I am amazed. The number of foul-mouthed­ near-illiterates on this site seems to be growing by­ the day. "dhersigny s": what year are you­ currently living in? 1999? 2000? 2001? or 2002? Yes­ Beckham was one of the best these days, but NOT ANY­ MORE.

    From astfgl, on Sun 7 Sep 10:30AM

  12. The language on this site is absolutely disgusting I­ hope it can be stopped.

    From drifter, on Sun 7 Sep 10:20AM

  13. Beckam was awesome. He is now a has-been. If you­ can't see that it means you got no brain..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 7 Sep 10:12AM

  14. lessons from the andorra game:

    1) when we play with­ defoe we are playing with one man less
    2) when we are­ playing with downing we are playing with one man­ less
    3) when we play both of them in the same team we­ are playing with nine men and we are no better than­ andorra

    capello please take note and NEVER pick those­ two again

    From bucklemeshoes, on Sun 7 Sep 9:46AM

  15. bloody hell a win is a win. 3 points in the bag and we­ can only improve.Linda you need to get out more

    From mapbradleyau, on Sun 7 Sep 9:25AM

  16. erm . . . what's to remember about EURO 96? A good­ game with a fractured holland, a good game with­ germany, but we still went out on penalties . . .

    and­ a whole lot of abject displays: a draw againt­ switzerland, with mcmanam, the best player on the­ pitch, substituted tactically mid way through the­ game

    an abject display against scotland who missed a­ penalty and where it took a gazza masterstoke to secure­ the points

    an abject display against a toothless spain­ who we needed penalties to beat

    From bucklemeshoes, on Sun 7 Sep 9:23AM

  17. Am I correct in thinking that these sites are meant­ only as a pressure-valve for foul-mouthed illiterate­ no-hopers? If you can't express yourself like a­ normal human in the public domain then keep it in the­ family who I'm sure just think it's normal.

    From Andrew, on Sun 7 Sep 9:17AM

  18. Any of you normal contributors to this site got even a­ 'fail' in your school English exams. What a­ bunch of illiterates!

    From Gerry, on Sun 7 Sep 12:06AM

  19. capello didnt choose beck coz last international game­ he play like @#$%

    From Fahmi, on Sat 6 Sep 11:17PM

  20. milner , wright phillips, bentley , lennon, walcott,­ pennant = rubbish

    David Beckham = the BEST in the­ world

    From dhersigny s, on Sat 6 Sep 11:11PM
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