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Anyone finding it hard to care about the England football team at the moment? Try this thought for size. If they were to stumble in the face of this sizeable challenge (a visit to the Ukraine), there’d be a decent chance of them not making it to next summer’s World Cup.
That might not be the worst outcome for Planet Football’s purists – England tend to light up international tournaments with their adventurous, free-flowing football approximately once every 30 years or so – but it would surely be a bit of a downer as the World Cup approached and we didn’t have the prospect of a dash of false hope followed by a heartbreaking quarter-final defeat on penalties to look forward to.
Roy Hodgson will be without Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones, Glen Johnson and, just possibly, Daniel Sturridge for this game – let’s hope England can find some creativity and resilience from somewhere because defeat could be terminal. Check out Sky and BT Sport for games involving Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.