England Catch a Lifeline
19th November, 2007
England’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 took a very unexpected turn on Saturday, after Israel secured a 2-1 win over Russia, meaning England’s fate is back in their own hands. Russia were huge-odds on favourites to qualify ahead of England, and the bookies were just a shade away when the Russians hit the post on the 90th minute. Had it gone in, England would have failed to qualify for the finals, rendering Wednesday’s (now crucial) qualifier against Croatia pointless.
The scorer of the winning goal, Omer Golan, is the lucky recipient of a brand new Mercedes, after the boss of bookmaker Betfred offered the scorer of the winning goal over Russia the £50,000 incentive. Last night the Israeli FA were threatening to step in to block hero Golan collecting his Mercedes. Spokesman Moshe Avivi said: "He is not allowed to accept the car because we have a new rule that only our federation can give presents and awards to players from the national team."
No one expected England to find themselves just a draw away from going to next summer’s finals. As long as England do not lost at home to Croatia on Wednesday, England will sneak through at the expense of Russia.
The bookies consider England as having qualified now, with odds at around 1/16, whilst Russia now find themselves a heart breaking 7/1. As would be expected, England are huge favourites for the clash with Croatia, at around 1/2 with Bet 365, whilst Croatia can be found for about 8/1 (also with Bet 365) to put England out of next summer’s finals. All odds are provided by our free live odds comparison service.
Keep an eye out for our preview and betting article ahead of Wednesday’s game, for which there are a host of specials lined up. If you are more interested in these specials, download our Gaming Alerts software that brings you great specials from all the major bookies direct to your desktop. Click here to go to our download page, or use the navigation on the left.
