LONDON ¨C England is top of its group with two home matches to play as qualification for Brazil 2014 approaches what Sir Alex Ferguson would call ¡°squeaky bum time.¡±
They are the third-highest scorers in the European qualifying section and only two countries have conceded fewer. England is unbeaten and no other side has a better goal difference.
A reason for optimism on the face of it, but for most the glass remains half empty. The English media were more negative than positive after the 0-0 draw in Ukraine, Roy Hodgson angry and puzzled at the criticism of England¡¯s display. Gary Lineker called it ¡°awful¡± (a tweet he later deleted, probably after a call from a high-ranking BBC suit, but when you have almost two million followers it is too late). Such is the power of Planet Twitter and such is Lineker¡¯s status that the A-word became back page news.
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