MICHAEL OWEN fired a World Cup dig at Croatia — by insisting NONE of their players would get in the England team.

 

The Three Lions were amazingly grouped with the Croats in last night’s 2010 draw in South Africa.

 

That came just four days after England crashed out of Euro 2008 after losing 3-2 to Slaven Bilic’s troops at Wembley.

 

Our boys must also face Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Andorra and Belarus in Group 6.

But strike star Owen is fully focused on getting revenge against Croatia.

 

And he claims England certainly have more ability than the Eastern Europeans in EVERY position.

 

The Newcastle star, 27, insisted: “I don’t think any of the Croatian team would get into our team.

 

“Doesn’t that tell you it’s not about ability or technique but in the mind.

"We have very demanding fans and a media who expect a great deal from the England team — and rightly so.

 

“How we, as players, cope with that is where the problem lies.

 

“I watched the Croatia game and so often it broke down purely because of pressure.

“It came down to the pressure of making a mistake when it mattered.

 

“If we’d won the games we should have, we wouldn’t have ended up putting that kind of pressure on ourselves. It was our own fault.” ;)

 

England are ranked 12th in the current FIFA standings and were among the second set of seeds, while Croatia were one of Europe’s elite sides.

 

But Owen added: “When I look around the England squad and see the talent we have, I cannot imagine that we will not win something.

 

“A few lucky breaks at the right time wouldn’t go amiss — but we can’t just rely on good luck to see us through.

 

“We have got to apply the ability we have got — and I dare anyone to say it is not there.”

 

Source: The Sun

 

 

Part of the problem with England over the last few years is they think they are the best but can't prove they are the best. Why don't you have more realistic aspirations, and then you won't be so dissappointed if it all goes to pot.

 

I think Owen is being a wee bit arrogant in this article. Do you agree?

IMO Crotia don't have better players than England. When you look at some of the players they've got (Steven Gerrard, David Beckham - Still world-class players) they have much more talent. But the fact is that Crotia not England qualified for the world cup. So maybe Michael is right, but England are obvioulsly lacking something or else they would be going Euro 2008 and not Russia.

Edited November 26, 200717 yr by Jonny

On paper if England have their best team out then I agree with what he's saying.

 

But having the best players isn't always the case, as football is a team game. England just don't play as a team, they're all individual players and that's why they flurish for their clubs but only rarely for their country, and too many players make individual mistakes.

Exactly - a bunch of big names with massive sponsorship behind them that can't play together. Team spirit and a good coach counts for so much more - look at Greece in the Euro 2004 tournament. None of those players would make it into the England team - well, maybe in goal - but they won the European Championship. Sometimes I think England would do better if they selected half the team from the Championship.

Based on international form. No England players would get in the Croatia team. Owen is talking c**p.

Maybe they would have qualified if they didn't believe their publicity.

 

And maybe if the FA had hired someone other than McClaren - still, it gave us Scots something to laugh at.

I think he's both right and wrong. If you look on a player-for-player basis then probably no, the England players are better but as they're completely incapable of playing as a team then he's wrong.