Barry: Football no-brainer

Sep 9 2009 By Barry Gibson

BIG games abound across Europe tonight as World Cup qualification nears its conclusion.

Starting with the most important match, plucky wee Northern Ireland could put one foot in South Africa by beating group leaders Slovakia in Belfast.

Scotland are supping Irn-bru in the last-chance saloon with a must-win game against the Dutch.

And then there’s England, who could qualify with two games to spare if Croatia are dispatched at Wembley tonight.

Under Fabio Capello, the English have been scarily competent in qualifying. Gone are the embarrassing defeats, the nail-biting finales and the gutting failures of yesteryear.

England’s record in this qualifying campaign reads played seven, won seven. That’s almost German in its efficiency.

The gruff sergeant-major Capello has clearly whipped this group of talented but egotistical players into shape.

But it’s nice to see that, while results have improved, some other things haven’t changed.

For instance, the delusion that English players are more honest than Jonny Foreigner remains intact.

Team captain John Terry said last week that England sometimes lose out because they are too honest to dive for a penalty.

According to the Chelsea man: "Even in the Premier League we see the English lads get a bit of contact and try to stay on their feet to score from the chance. The foreign mentality coming in is any little clip and you go tumbling over.

"It’s not all the foreigners, but you know who they are."

And he’s right, there is a lot of diving in the Premier League. Some of it by well-known foreigners like Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, who’ve been known to "lose their balance" at vital moments.

Wayne Rooney weighed in as well, insisting that he only dives on holiday. If that’s the case, then he must be taking his vacations on match days at Old Trafford.

Fair play to England for (almost) qualifying for the World Cup. But please, don’t insult our intelligence.