England odds-on in Vaduz
During the course of England's Euro 2004 qualifying campaign I stupidly posed the question: Who the hell are Macedonia?
Of course, they went on to emphatically show England exactly who they were with a 2-2 draw at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium to derail England's bid to reach Portugal before it ever really got on track.
That shock result means that England are in a must win situation for the imminent double header against Liechtenstein on Saturday, and Turkey the following Wednesday, if they harbour any desires of winning Group Seven and gaining automatic qualification.
On paper, the obvious crunch match is the home tie against World Cup semi-finalists, and group leaders, Turkey but first up there is the small matter of European minnows Liechtenstein.
And not even England can slip-up against Liechtenstein. I mean, who the hell are Liechtenstein?
Well they did manage a draw against Macedonia........
But while England's result against Macedonia was a major blow, for Liechtenstein - a country with a population of a mere 32,000, who have won only one of their 40 competitive internationals - the home draw was a major achievement.
Although England are prone to the odd faux pas not even Liechtenstein manager Ralf Loose can see his side grabbing a shock result on Saturday evening.
'What will be more important for us will be not to give away two or three goals in the first 30 minutes, because then it becomes mentally very difficult,' the 40-year-old German said.
Loose and his side are just happy to be pitting their wits against England after a combination of the tiny size of the Alpine principality and the involvement of British troops in Iraq had put the game in doubt.
The possibility of the clash being used as a platform for anti-war demonstrations, posing a threat to the safety of the England team, meant the game was only given the go-ahead on Monday when UEFA accepted safety assurances from the Liechtenstein FA (LFV).
The LFV drafted in an extra 100 police officers from neighbouring Switzerland and Austria, to add to their own contingent of about 110 full-time and part-time officers, to steward the game and have limited England's ticket allocation to a mere 900 for the 3,548 capacity Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz. 'This is the largest sports event of its kind that has happened in Liechtenstein,' police chief Gabriel Hoop told said.'It is clear that the police force cannot do this on its own...and therefore we have enlisted external help.'
Success
Liechtenstein boss Loose, a former Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Düsseldorf player, was appointed manager in July 98 and guided the county to a 2-1 victory over Azerbaijan in Euro 2000 qualifying to become the most successful coach in their history, with a solitary win.
However, Loose regards only losing 2-0 to Spain during qualification for World Cup 2002 as his greatest achievement and the former Under-18 coach will be hoping his youthful side, that also lost 5-0 to Turkey in October, can emulate that result.
Young goalkeeper Peter Jehle will be charged with the task of rebuffing Michael Owen et al, and the 21-year-old is one of the few players in Loose's squad that plies his trade at one of Europe's better known clubs. Despite being one of the more proficient members of the squad, the one-time Juventus target warms the bench at Swiss Nationalliga leaders Grasshoppers Zurich. When he takes to the field against Sven Goran Eriksson's England it will be his first competitive match of 2003.
Fellow top scorer Martin Stocklasa - not to be confused with central defender Michael Stocklasa, scorer of Liechtenstein's injury time equaliser against Macedonia - will probably be joined in a five-man midfield by FC Vaduz team-mates Ronny Buchel, Andreas Gerster and Daniel Telser. Defensive midfielder Stocklasa is worthy of note as the only Liechtensteiner to score a hat-trick - bagging all three goals in a 3-3 friendly draw against Luxembourg. At the back, FC Wil 1900 defender Daniel Hasler is expected to win his 45th cap and will add some much needed experience alongside returning young left-back Christof Ritter in defence.
England, meanwhile, will revert back to a tried and tested formula following Eriksson's experiment with the 'Young XI' in the second-half of the 3-1 defeat against Australia in February. The Swede has vowed to stick with '90 per cent' of the team that played in the World Cup and recent Euro 2004 qualifiers.
Injuries, however, have enforced a number of changes and West Ham United goalkeeper David James is expected to start his first competitive match for England, having made 11 appearances in friendlies, behind a defence including Manchester United regulars Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand.
Arsenal centre-back Sol Campbell is a doubt for the Liechtenstein game with an achilles problem, but is expected to return against Turkey, and with Newcastle's Jonathan Woodgate and Boro's Gareth Southgate waiting in the wings that could mean a place on the bench for Chelsea's John Terry.
Omitted from February's experimental squad, the 22-year-old has earned his first call-up under Eriksson, following a goalscoring display against Manchester City at the weekend, and could feature as a substitute. Unfortunately for the defender, earmarked as a future England captain, he joins up with the squad fresh from scoring an own goal in the 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday night.
Southampton's Wayne Bridge will probably fill the left-back slot in the absence of Arsenal's Ashley Cole, despite carrying a slight back injury.
David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard are expected to fill the midfield along with some unfortunate soul that will discover he is not the answer to England's left-sided problem, depending on whether Emile Heskey plays out-wide or in attack.
If the Liverpool forward is played out of position it could allow Francis Jeffers a chance to partner Michael Owen, after an impressive performance and a goal against Australia, and would also allow 17-year-old striker Wayne Rooney a place on the bench.
Rooney's inclusion had been in doubt due to a lack of games with Everton, but he started and scored in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal under the watchful gaze of Eriksson on Sunday and the game in Liechtenstein is a perfect opportunity to give the starlet some competitive experience.
In fact Eriksson's toughest task this weekend will probably be limiting himself to a selection of seven possible substitutes from his squad of 25.
Liechtenstein Squad: Goalkeepers: Martin Heeb (USV Eschen-Mauren), Peter Jehle (Grasshoppers Zurich).
Defenders: Frederic Gigon (FC Baulmes), Daniel Hasler (FC Wil 1900), Jurgen Ospelt (Chur 97), Christof Ritter (FC Vaduz), Michael Stocklasa (FC Vaduz), Harry Zech (USV Eschen-Mauren).
Midfielders: Ronny Buchel (FC Vaduz), Matthias Beck (USV Eschen-Mauren), Franz Burgmeier (FC Vaduz), Andreas Gerster (FC Vaduz), Thomas Nigg (USV Eschen-Mauren), Martin Telser (FC Vaduz), Martin Stocklasa (FC Vaduz).
Strikers: Thomas Beck (FC Vaduz), Mario Frick (Ternana Calcio), Fabio D'Elia (Chur 97) England Squad: Goalkeepers: David James (West Ham), Paul Robinson (Leeds), Richard Wright (Everton)
Defenders: Gary Neville (Man Utd), Danny Mills (Leeds), Wayne Bridge (Southampton), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Newcastle), John Terry (Chelsea)
Midfielders: David Beckham (Man Utd), Paul Scholes (Man Utd), Nicky Butt (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Danny Murphy (Liverpool), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle), Jermaine Jenas (Newcastle), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Strikers: Michael Owen (Liverpool), Emile Heskey (Liverpool), Darius Vassell (Aston Villa), Francis Jeffers (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Everton).
