England Andorra Provides No Answers

England pummeled Andorra as expected Saturday afternoon 5 – 0.

And of course, England looked in fine form. All of Steve McClaren’s choices and formations are working perfectly.

Unfortunately, with no real tests on the horizon, we won’t truly know if this system works until England is trailing Portugal in Vienna or Zurich, or wherever, in the summer of 2008. And then it will be too late.

But I guess that’s just the way it is.

Let’s face it. England beat Argentina 3 – 2 in November and embarrassed Jamaica 6 – 0 in June before putting on a World Cup performance that was, to say the least, uninspired.

So we know no more today than we did yesterday.

Gerrard and Lennon both looked brilliant on the wing. And, of course Jermain Defoe proved he belonged at the World Cup, so he could have been sitting where Walcott sat; being the one pondering “why won’t Sven put me in? He liked me when he picked the squad.”

So the same questions persist: Is there a right-back in England not named Neville*? And can Defoe score against Portugal? And of course, if Rooney and Owen are well, will Defoe even be picked ahead of an English Christian Ceballos?

*No disrespect to Gary or Phil. Just an honest question to a coach bent on a “new-look” England.

Related:
The Independent – Interesting article of everything you want to know about Andorra.
Wikipedia – Andorra
England Balls and Merchandise

Where is Lithuania?

If Google has a football Zeitgiest, “where is Lithuania” would have to be peaking tonight and early tomorrow.

The small country along the Baltic Sea drew World Champions Italy tonight 1 – 1.

It was a fantastic result in a well-played game that saw the underdogs scoring first on 21 minutes via Tomas Danilevicius.

The Azzurri nearly answered back within seconds as recalled striker Antonio Cassano chested down in the box, and with the keeper beaten, fired just wide of the post.

However the Italians would only be denied so long. And nine minutes later Cassano again found himself open in the penalty area, chested down, and deftly touched across to a hard-charging Filippo Inzaghi who tapped in from a few yards out.

It was mostly the Italians pressing the rest of the way, although Lithuania did have their chances. Cassano was dangerous all night and only sterling goalkeeping kept him off the score sheet.

For a national about one fifth the size of Italy, with approximately 55 million less people, and having only being a country for about 16 years, it’s a result Lithuanians will surely be proud of.

Justifiably so. A brilliant performance.

Related:
Lithuania – Wikipedia
Italy – Wikipedia
Italy Merchandise