Football: Hodgson reveals England play-off fear

England would have gone top of Group H if they had beaten Montenegro on Tuesday.


Afp March 29, 2013

LONDON: England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted his side’s inability to take control of their World Cup qualifying group leaves them facing the possibility of having to qualify via the play-offs.

England would have gone top of Group H if they had beaten Montenegro on Tuesday, but the 1-1 draw in Podgorica left them two points behind their opponents with four games to play.

“No one wants to be in the play-offs, but the fact is, in World Cup qualification, one team qualifies [automatically] and the others don’t,” said Hodgson. “Everyone knows that to qualify as the team that wins the group is that much harder. And if you do get in the play-offs, whoever you meet is going to be a good team because there are some groups in which I would suggest there are more than two good sides.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2013.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ