England vs. Spain: Match Preview

Attention England fans! Do we have a treat for you. Through the power of science, A More Splendid Life has managed to access the Guardian Football website from an alternate universe exactly the same as our own, save for the fact that Petric's shot went over the bar in the 77th minute at Wembley meaning England qualified (barely) for Euro 2008 after a hard-fought 2-2 draw in November.

It took me a long time to find; along the way I discovered some pretty weird alternate universes including one that seemed fairly utopic until I found out Barry Goldwater won in '64 and Russia was "a place people don't talk about much anymore," but I finally found the right one, even though in it I'm still a wannabe journo working a soul-destroying desk job.

Some notes: Steve McClaren kept his job, but England have not played well up in the preceding friendlies against Belarus and Norway earning draws in both. Sean Ingle reports on the pre-match build-up. A post-game report will follow later this evening.

(AU) Sean Ingle The Guardian, Tuesday June 10 2008
Here we go again.

Eighty thousand England fans have descended on Innsbruck in full St. George regalia and, outside of a few minor skirmishes with police last night, they have been largely peaceful. Optimists will point to good organization and an overall change in attitude among England fans who may have heeded the terse warnings from UEFA officials last week about zero tolerance for fan violence, but the reality is that England supporters are likely subdued ahead of what could be an embarrassing match against a vibrant Spanish side.

It is now widely-accepted in the European press that this is one of the least impressive England squads ever to show up at a major tournament. Yesterday McClaren tried to brighten the mood by offering his now all-too familiar folksy plea to an increasingly vicious English media, referring to the confidence of "Lamps, Stevie G, Ashley." McClaren went on:

"They're going to play with the sort of pride that England fans have rightly expected up until now. The results in the past few weeks have been unnacceptable. I know it, the players know, but look, this is Euro 2008, it's England, we're here to play and to play well."

While he refused to answer questions about Peter Crouch's remarks reported earlier in the Daily Star that England likely to have trouble getting out of the group, McClaren agreed that confidence was not exactly running high in the England camp.

"I know it's been hard. But we've been here before. We did great in the qualifiers before '88 and look what happened then. Denmark didn't even qualify for '92 and they won it. So, you know, anything could happen."

The mood among attendant England supporters was not so positive. Many are still bitter at the FA for keeping McClaren after the decidedly lack-lustre qualifiers and England's dismal performance in the run-up. Some drunken fans were heard in the townsquare last night chanting "Raul for England!", and several Scottish fans in Spanish shirts were reportedly detained after unfurling a giant banner that read "Congratulations Agent McClaren: Mission (Almost) Accomplished" outside of the Vienna hotel where the England players are staying.

Spain are maintaining publicly at least that England will not be such a pushover. Aragones warned of the "sleeping lion" and Fabregas spoke of the individual quality of the English players, but these remarks can only be viewed as an attempt to downplay Spain's status as favourites. Whatever the result, the best that England fans may be able to hope for in these Euros is a dignified end to the McClaren era and a bright new start for South Africa 2010.