Montenegro will provide World Cup flops England with their third test in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. Between the Three Lions and the underdogs, who will prevail?
It actually looks good for England in Group G at the moment. They seat on top of the standing – having already scored 7 goals in only two matches. Now the only thing they might be asking for is consistency in terms of results and improvement in terms of performance.
What makes Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifying match even more exciting is the fact that Montenegro, surprisingly, are on top of Group G with three points ahead of England who have a game in hand. The so-called underdogs took maximum points at the end of match-day two, thanks to 1-0 victories over Wales and Bulgaria respectively. Last weekend, they also triumphed 1-0 over Switzerland.
But their biggest mission will be against favorites England on Tuesday. Will the "underdogs" bite the Three Lions?
Montenegro are currently building an impressive clean sheet record away from home as they prepare to play at the Wembley stadium. As the Brave Falcons are inferior to the Three Lions on paper, the probability is that this clean sheet record might end on Tuesday night.
England and Montenegro have never met before at the senior level, knowing that Montenegro only separated from Serbia a few years ago. So Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifying match will create a brand new chapter in the history of both teams.
As things stand now, Montenegro have a good chance of playing in their first ever European Championship finals. However, just as their dream could go on, it could also fade away. Hoping for no discouraging results in the upcoming qualifiers, the Brave Falcons’ coach, Zlatko Kranjcar, urged his men to keep things up as he was quoted as saying on FIFA.com:
“For me, the results from the first two games weren’t a surprise, because I know the quality that we have. But, we can’t rest on that. We need to keep our feet firmly on the ground, but we must also believe in ourselves that we’re strong and powerful.”
Confident England fans may laugh off Zlatko Kranjcar’s comments and expect the Three Lions to wake his men up. Either way, the Montenegro manager has made it clear that Capello’s side was very much likely to qualify from Group G as winners of the section. Based on this matter, many might question Montenegro’s confidence ahead of the England match since they claim to rather be looking at a second-place finish in the group as Kranjcar explained to reporters:
“England are one of the best quality teams in European football, and they won’t feel the pressure, even if we come on Tuesday as group leaders.
“They are used to big games and know how to get the results through their system and through their individual qualities. But, I think it’s possible for us to finish second.”
So what should the public expect from the visitors against England? Coach Kranjcar shared his wish, stating:
“What I’d like to have is a more relaxed team at Wembley. I want a team ready to compete with England, and I want them to try and grab at least a point against them.”
Perhaps a 0-0 result will be fair enough in terms of prediction...
What makes Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifying match even more exciting is the fact that Montenegro, surprisingly, are on top of Group G with three points ahead of England who have a game in hand. The so-called underdogs took maximum points at the end of match-day two, thanks to 1-0 victories over Wales and Bulgaria respectively. Last weekend, they also triumphed 1-0 over Switzerland.
But their biggest mission will be against favorites England on Tuesday. Will the "underdogs" bite the Three Lions?
Montenegro are currently building an impressive clean sheet record away from home as they prepare to play at the Wembley stadium. As the Brave Falcons are inferior to the Three Lions on paper, the probability is that this clean sheet record might end on Tuesday night.
England and Montenegro have never met before at the senior level, knowing that Montenegro only separated from Serbia a few years ago. So Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifying match will create a brand new chapter in the history of both teams.
As things stand now, Montenegro have a good chance of playing in their first ever European Championship finals. However, just as their dream could go on, it could also fade away. Hoping for no discouraging results in the upcoming qualifiers, the Brave Falcons’ coach, Zlatko Kranjcar, urged his men to keep things up as he was quoted as saying on FIFA.com:
“For me, the results from the first two games weren’t a surprise, because I know the quality that we have. But, we can’t rest on that. We need to keep our feet firmly on the ground, but we must also believe in ourselves that we’re strong and powerful.”
Confident England fans may laugh off Zlatko Kranjcar’s comments and expect the Three Lions to wake his men up. Either way, the Montenegro manager has made it clear that Capello’s side was very much likely to qualify from Group G as winners of the section. Based on this matter, many might question Montenegro’s confidence ahead of the England match since they claim to rather be looking at a second-place finish in the group as Kranjcar explained to reporters:
“England are one of the best quality teams in European football, and they won’t feel the pressure, even if we come on Tuesday as group leaders.
“They are used to big games and know how to get the results through their system and through their individual qualities. But, I think it’s possible for us to finish second.”
So what should the public expect from the visitors against England? Coach Kranjcar shared his wish, stating:
“What I’d like to have is a more relaxed team at Wembley. I want a team ready to compete with England, and I want them to try and grab at least a point against them.”
Perhaps a 0-0 result will be fair enough in terms of prediction...
