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England lucky to draw with Slovenia

England lucky to draw with Slovenia

England headed to face Slovenia on Tuesday night for a World Cup qualifier with expectations of picking up three points. However, the Three Lions came away from Ljubljana with just a goalless draw.

In truth, Gareth Southgate’s team were lucky to have escaped without defeat, after goalkeeper Joe Hart made a number of good saves. The Torino loanee was just about the only player on the pitch to justify his selection on a poor night for the Three Lions.

Slovenia are no pushovers and as expected the game was a tight affair. The clash was never going to be a comfortable win for the beleaguered Three Lions. It turned out it was not as the home side provided more of an attacking threat.

The draw keeps England in contention for top spot in the group. However, the result did interim boss Gareth Southgate’s chances of getting the job on a permanent basis no favours. The former-Middlesbrough boss has revealed he felt that he inherited ‘a mess’.

The England national team has been undergoing something of a crisis in the last six months. Fans would have been looking to Southgate to provide inspiration to his team. If this is really an audition for Southgate as England boss he may just fail to get the job.

Southgate could not have been expected to cure all England’s many ills in just a few games. However, there was no sign of any improvement from the Three Lions as the home side had the better of the game.

The England interim boss has been accused of lacking charisma and his team’s performance may be illustrated that on the pitch. The interim boss does not come across as a guy who is capable of motivating the current group of England players.

England needs a man of great character, charisma and strength to drag them out of their current malaise. At the moment Gareth Southgate does not look like that man.

WC Qualification UEFA Group A
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Serbia 20 8 6 2 0 9
2
Portugal 17 8 5 2 1 11
3
Ireland 9 8 2 3 3 3
4
Luxembourg 9 8 3 0 5 -10
5
Azerbaijan 1 8 0 1 7 -13
WC Qualification UEFA Group B
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Spain 19 8 6 1 1 10
2
Sweden 15 8 5 0 3 6
3
Greece 10 8 2 4 2 0
4
Georgia 7 8 2 1 5 -6
5
Kosovo 5 8 1 2 5 -10
WC Qualification UEFA Group C
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Switzerland 18 8 5 3 0 13
2
Italy 16 8 4 4 0 11
3
N. Ireland 9 8 2 3 3 -1
4
Bulgaria 8 8 2 2 4 -8
5
Lithuania 3 8 1 0 7 -15
WC Qualification UEFA Group D
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
France 18 8 5 3 0 15
2
Ukraine 12 8 2 6 0 3
3
Finland 11 8 3 2 3 0
4
Bosnia-Herzegovina 7 8 1 4 3 -3
5
Kazakhstan 3 8 0 3 5 -15
WC Qualification UEFA Group E
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Belgium 20 8 6 2 0 19
2
Wales 15 8 4 3 1 5
3
Czech Republic 14 8 4 2 2 5
4
Estonia 4 8 1 1 6 -12
5
Belarus 3 8 1 0 7 -17
WC Qualification UEFA Group F
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Denmark 27 10 9 0 1 27
2
Scotland 23 10 7 2 1 10
3
Israel 16 10 5 1 4 2
4
Austria 16 10 5 1 4 2
5
Faroe Islands 4 10 1 1 8 -16
6
Moldova 1 10 0 1 9 -25
WC Qualification UEFA Group G
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Netherlands 23 10 7 2 1 25
2
Türkiye 21 10 6 3 1 11
3
Norway 18 10 5 3 2 7
4
Montenegro 12 10 3 3 4 -1
5
Latvia 9 10 2 3 5 -3
6
Gibraltar 0 10 0 0 10 -39
WC Qualification UEFA Group H
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Croatia 23 10 7 2 1 17
2
Russia 22 10 7 1 2 13
3
Slovakia 14 10 3 5 2 7
4
Slovenia 14 10 4 2 4 1
5
Cyprus 5 10 1 2 7 -17
6
Malta 5 10 1 2 7 -21
WC Qualification UEFA Group I
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
England 26 10 8 2 0 36
2
Poland 20 10 6 2 2 19
3
Albania 18 10 6 0 4 0
4
Hungary 17 10 5 2 3 6
5
Andorra 6 10 2 0 8 -16
6
San Marino 0 10 0 0 10 -45
WC Qualification UEFA Group J
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Germany 27 10 9 0 1 32
2
North Macedonia 18 10 5 3 2 12
3
Romania 17 10 5 2 3 5
4
Armenia 12 10 3 3 4 -11
5
Iceland 9 10 2 3 5 -6
6
Liechtenstein 1 10 0 1 9 -32

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