Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Here in the UK, the TV companies who fought bitterly for the rights to screen the European Championships are now desperately trying to find a way of making them appeal to a sulking nation. One station leads its advertising campaign with footage of people in the street being asked who they'll support, and then mysteriously backing Sweden. A chocolate bar advertises itself on another channel with the far more realistic images of depressed England fans hurling their TV sets out the window. That's how we feel right now and that's why most people are ignoring Fabio Capello's end of season friendly against the USA at Wembley.
Not that it seems to have bothered the new man in town. Capello has been notably bullish this week, carrying out his first press conference in English and using it to assure people that he wants to be the most successful coach of the Three Lions since Bobby Robson. The wonderful old Geordie led us to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1990, but in the eight years prior to that he was spat on by England fans at Wembley and hounded mercilessly by the tabloids. I wonder which stage he'll reach first.
Capello is still refusing to name a permanent England captain until the start of the qualifying campaign and it's causing the players no end of concern. John Terry, or 'England's Brave John Terry', as one newspaper has mockingly nicknamed him, still hasn't managed to regain his armband and with controversy surrounding an alleged spit on Carlos Tevez last week, he may have to wait a while longer yet. Rio Ferdinand, defender and party-organiser-in-chief, could get the nod again after an impressive end of season run-in.
With a squad of tired players, many of who are still recovering from 120 minutes in the Moscow rain, the friendly will be a chance for Capello to try put a few new faces. Dean Ashton, having missed his intended debut by tripping over little Shaun-Wright Phillips and snapping his ankle, may finally get his chance to play for his country. Ashton was fairly atrocious for most of the season, but scored some spectacular goals in the final weeks and earned himself a place in the squad. Ashton is a rarity in the England frontline in that, with Peter Crouch, he is one of the few strikers taller than a garden gnome. Entertainingly, Capello is now so certain that Ashton's team-mate, Rob Green, is unsuitable for the international team, that he has over-looked him in favour of Joe Lewis, who won promotion from League Two with Peterborough. Yep, that's League Two. One division below Southend United.
For the Americans, it will be a night of celebration as Landon Donavan makes his 100th appearance for the national side. This is the first of three high-profile friendlies for Bob Bradley's team as they prepare for World Cup qualification. Spain and Argentina follow in the next fortnight, but this is the big one for the USA. A chance to beat the old empire at their own game is not to be sniffed at and if England's pampered, perpetual disappointments are dreaming about their summer holidays when they trot out at Wembley, they could find themselves on the receiving end of yet another humiliation. England fans, however, with diaries that are upsettingly clear throughout June, have had plenty of experience of that.
Not that it seems to have bothered the new man in town. Capello has been notably bullish this week, carrying out his first press conference in English and using it to assure people that he wants to be the most successful coach of the Three Lions since Bobby Robson. The wonderful old Geordie led us to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1990, but in the eight years prior to that he was spat on by England fans at Wembley and hounded mercilessly by the tabloids. I wonder which stage he'll reach first.
Capello is still refusing to name a permanent England captain until the start of the qualifying campaign and it's causing the players no end of concern. John Terry, or 'England's Brave John Terry', as one newspaper has mockingly nicknamed him, still hasn't managed to regain his armband and with controversy surrounding an alleged spit on Carlos Tevez last week, he may have to wait a while longer yet. Rio Ferdinand, defender and party-organiser-in-chief, could get the nod again after an impressive end of season run-in.
With a squad of tired players, many of who are still recovering from 120 minutes in the Moscow rain, the friendly will be a chance for Capello to try put a few new faces. Dean Ashton, having missed his intended debut by tripping over little Shaun-Wright Phillips and snapping his ankle, may finally get his chance to play for his country. Ashton was fairly atrocious for most of the season, but scored some spectacular goals in the final weeks and earned himself a place in the squad. Ashton is a rarity in the England frontline in that, with Peter Crouch, he is one of the few strikers taller than a garden gnome. Entertainingly, Capello is now so certain that Ashton's team-mate, Rob Green, is unsuitable for the international team, that he has over-looked him in favour of Joe Lewis, who won promotion from League Two with Peterborough. Yep, that's League Two. One division below Southend United.
For the Americans, it will be a night of celebration as Landon Donavan makes his 100th appearance for the national side. This is the first of three high-profile friendlies for Bob Bradley's team as they prepare for World Cup qualification. Spain and Argentina follow in the next fortnight, but this is the big one for the USA. A chance to beat the old empire at their own game is not to be sniffed at and if England's pampered, perpetual disappointments are dreaming about their summer holidays when they trot out at Wembley, they could find themselves on the receiving end of yet another humiliation. England fans, however, with diaries that are upsettingly clear throughout June, have had plenty of experience of that.
