Andorra vs England 2010 WC Qualifying: England Missing Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves
England national football team is now getting prepared for their opening match in world cup 2010 qualification against Andorra. The match will take place at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona on 6 September. England has been drawn into UEFA Group 6 of 2010 World Cup Qualification alongside Croatia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and Andorra.
England Coach Fabio Capello will miss two of his key midfielders: Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves- for the first two world cup qualifying matches. Steven Gerrard has been sidelined with groin injury recently and will undergo a surgery very soon- meaning he will be out of action for at least 10-15 days. So, it is for sure that the Liverpool midfielder will miss England’s first two qualifying matches against Andorra and Croatia next month.
Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves will miss at least England’s opening match against Andorra on 6th September as he has been sidelined with tendinitis in his knee. His club boss Alex Ferguson already confirmed that the midfielder was going to miss both of England’s away matches. Ferguson also urged Capello not to play Hargreaves for the opening two games as the player would need recovery time.
Just after four days of the Andorra match, England will take on Croatia at Zagreb, a match that has been centre of all attention now. Andorra can be considered as a less strong opponent, but the Croatia match is very crucial for England. So, missing two key midfielders will not be very easy for England coach Fabio Capello to cope up with.
