England take on Moldova ahead of vital Kiev clash
Even without Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge, England should still overcome Moldova. But it is the test against the Ukraine that really matters, writes football commentator John Anderson.
Next summer, as we know, will be a carnival of sun, samba and soccer set to the inevitable soundtrack of Santana, as Brazil hosts the World Cup for the first time in the modern era.
In a very different age, at the turn of the 20th century, an Englishman named Charles Miller disembarked in Sao Paolo with a pair of boots slung around his neck, a ball under his arm, and gave the English game to the Brazilians.
But will his footballing successors be at the party when it kicks off on 12 June at Miller’s old stamping ground?
Each game as it comes
Say what you like about Fabio Capello (and plenty of people have) but he knew his way around a qualifying group. The route through to both the World Cup in 2010 and Euro 2012 was relatively comfortable even if, in the first instance, the ensuing tournament was anything but.
In his first taste of tournament pre-qualification, Roy Hodgson is still master of his own fate.
Any slip-ups could prove catastrophic
Victory in all four remaining group fixtures would see the job done, but he now faces what is likely to be a defining five days during which any slip-ups could prove catastrophic.
Moldova come to Wembley on Friday night followed by a somewhat more arduous assignment against Ukraine in Kiev on Tuesday but, to adopt the old maxim of “taking each game as it comes”, let us first consider Moldova.
The desperately poor former Soviet republic were thrashed in Chisinau a year ago, the latest of three previous meetings with England which they have successively lost 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0.
Respecting opponents
Even without Rooney, who is sidelined with a Boris Karloff-esque gash on his forehead and the in-form Sturridge, half a dozen goals as a continuation of that sequence would not represent over optimism.
Rickie Lambert (pictured above), who starts for the first time after his match-winning goal against Scotland, will licking his lips.
The England players have dutifully spoken of respecting opponents, patient play and the likelihood of the Moldovan bus being named in the starting XI, but they should leave Wembley three points better off.
I expect England to kick off tonight with a starting eleven of: Joe Hart; Kyle Walker, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Ashley Cole; Steven Gerrard, Jack Wilshere, Frank Lampard; Theo Walcott, Rickie Lambert and Danny Welbeck.
Death knell
It is when the plane touches down at Kiev airport on Sunday evening that the work really starts, and it is familiar territory. Rooney’s goal on his return from suspension beat the Ukrainians in Donetsk during Euro 2012 and secured a place in the knockout stages.
That game proved to be the swansong of Ukraine’s greatest ever player Andriy Shevchenko, and a whole era has gone with him.
A new-look side featuring the more youthful talents of Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Zozulya and Yevhen Konplyanka is gathering worrying momentum.
Anything less than a draw on Tuesday could prove to be a death knell
They were seconds away from beating England at Wembley last autumn, and a. recent 4-0 win at group leaders Montenegro in June, their third successive group victory, has catapulted them into qualification contention.
Two of Ukraine’s remaining four matches are against San Marino, which carries the guarantee of six points, so anything less than a draw for Hodgson’s men on Tuesday could prove to be a death knell, especially if Poland were to put themselves into the frame with a home win over Montenegro this evening.
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That would make it a four-horse race to claim the only automatic spot in Brazil, with the second-placed team facing a two legged play-off in November.
This week the new FA chairman Greg Dyke publicly described the English national team as “a tanker that needs turning” and set up a commission to look at what’s gone wrong and how it might be put right.
In the short term, though, in a world where money talks, non-qualification for the World Cup would be as much a commercial as a sporting calamity for English football.
Mr Hodgson has five days to make sure he doesn’t return from Kiev wearing a face as grim as the gash in the centre of his missing striker’s forehead.
You can follow John Anderson on Twitter via @GreatFaceRadio