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World Cup 2010

Euro 2008 is now a distant memory for all but the Spanish, the transfer window has closed and the Champions League group stages have been decided.

Many may be thinking now would be a good time for football to take a break and reflect on a hectic few weeks. Top flight club football all across Europe is stopped this weekend but for the best players, life continues apace.

The European qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa kick off this week and a lot of people have points to prove and more importantly, points to win.

Every nation will be looking to their opening match with excitement and anticipation but two men in particular will be shouldering a lot of responsibility.

Vincente Del Bosque and Fabio Capello will be making a competitive debut with their current national squads and if results don’t go there way, both men will be feeling the heat.

Spain Still On High
Spanish football is evidently on a high at the moment as the national team finally shrugged off their underachiever tag as they triumphed convincingly at Euro 2008.

Luis Aragones was in charge for that tournament but he has left on a high and is now involved in club football in Turkey. The man now in charge of Spain knows a lot about winning trophies and dealing with ludicrously high expectations. Make no mistake, the pressure on the Spanish team is only going to rise after their summer exploits. You would think that finally clinching a trophy for the first time in over 40 years would be enough to satisfy the appetite of Spanish fans but no.

Football fans aren’t the most rational of beings and many in Spain are seriously talking about winning the World Cup in 2010. To win the World Cup, first you must get there and this is what Vincente Del Bosque must guarantee.

Having twice guided Real Madrid to the Champions League, there is no doubting the talents of Del Bosque and many still believe the club were wrong to let him go. This has been backed up by the dismal failure of Madrid in Europe since then. Real Madrid may have conquered Spain a few times since they let Del Bosque go but Europe should be the playground for the club and far too often in recent years they have been posted missing.

Turkish Heroics Not Forgotten
Standing in Spain’s way of qualification will be Turkey, another team who should be on a high after Euro 2008. Some of the heroics and late victories of the Turkish team were unbelievable and the match against Croatia will live long in the memory of those who saw it.

Any team that loses a goal virtually at the end of extra time would usually see their heads dip but Turkey regrouped quickly, launched a long ball and made their own luck to equalise. Their penalties victory was harsh on Croatia but fitting for a never say die attitude. Del Bosque will be relieved that he does not face Turkey in the opening match but they will be an opponent to come in the qualification process.

Spain start their campaign with two home matches, the first being against Bosnia-Herzegovina and the second being against Armenia. On paper, the Spanish side will win these convincingly but the players will need to guard against complacency and a Euro 2008 hangover.

Spain will find that opponents will have an added incentive to beat them and there may be one or two pitfalls along the way for Spain, although they should book their space in South Africa.

Capello Heads Also to Spain
Another manager making his competitive debut in Spain is Fabio Capello but the Spanish national team will not be present. Capello takes his English team to the home of Espanyol in Barcelona where they will face Andorra.

In March 2007, England triumphed by a 3-0 score line against Andorra but no one was impressed by the performance. This is the pressure that Capello is under with even a three goal margin of victory not being good for the press and fans back in England.

Yes, the English squad should be largely better than their Andorran opponents but a victory only gets three points and goal difference compiled against nations such as Andorra never really comes into the equation. Many English fans will be looking for a good confidence boost though as they face an extremely tricky opponent only a few days later.

Seen That Steve McLaren Interview?
Croatia were the reason that England were sat at home this summer and the reason why Steve McLaren in now talking in a ridiculous Dutch accent. England suffered a 2-0 defeat in Croatia but the real heartache came in the return at Wembley.

England needed only a draw to edge past Russia in the race to Euro 2008 but were soon 2-0 down to a rampant Croatia. In the second half, England battled back to 2-2 and most observers believed both teams would be happy with a draw but Croatia powered on and regained the lead and held onto it. At the same time, Russia were scraping a narrow 1-0 against Andorra which was enough to send them to Austria and Switzerland and Steve McLaren packing his bags and his umbrella.

Intense Scrutiny Awaits Italians
A defeat to Croatia would not end in disaster for Fabio Capello but it would place his reign under intense scrutiny. Many people are already debating the merits of not picking Michael Owen for the squad and the selection of Jimmy Bullard has also raised eyebrows. Bullard is an honest and hard working player but even he would probably admit to being surprised at receiving an international call-up. Mr Capello is clearly not someone who picks his team on reputation, which is not a bad thing for a manager.

England need to get at least four points from their opening two games to be given any amount of breathing space from their critical followers as any defeat will be pounced upon. Fabio Capello is not a man to back away from a challenge and having managed AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus before he became England’s manager he knows a lot about dealing with high expectations.

Millions of football lovers in Spain and England would give anything to be in the position of Vicente Del Bosque and Fabio Capello at the moment but if either of these two men suffer defeats in the next week, expect the criticism and boos to be heard loud and clear.

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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