Roy Hodgson, England national team manager, remarked that he and his side are assured of a World Cup appearance in 2014, despite a display of flaws while playign against tough oponnent Ukraine that led to a 1-1 draw.

Hodgson's side suffered from a lack of key players. The team needed a late-game penalty from Frank Lampard to get past through losing to Ukraine. Disappointing performances from Tom Cleverley aggravated the team's situation at home on Tuesday.

Important players like Andy Carroll, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and John Terry were all absent during the Ukraine fixture. Hodgson deemed the call-ups of Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Jake Livermore as necessary, even though none of them played for the seniors before.

Hodgson remained confident that his side will be competing strongly for the World Cup. Saying that many features of the Ukraine game impressed him, he noted the abilities of the youngsters in the game. He added that the team has a strong winning chance especially if all the sidelined players are present.

Expectations were high for England when they thrashed an ailing Moldova side 5-0 prior to last Tuesday's match. Ukraine proved to be a tougher team, given their international potential as seen in EURO 2012.

With the match showing England having a difficult time superseding the Ukrainians, the rescue goal provided by Lampard provided consolation to the team's numerous wasted chances. Cleverley's double wide shots is a far cry from his performance in Moldova that led Hodgson to immediately compare him to Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

A 25-yard goal from Yevgeni Konoplianka, followed by near-goal attempts from Oleg Gusev and Ruslan Rotan, highlighted the strength of Ukraine. Captain Steven Gerrard's send-off and five other bookings, greatly hampered the progress of England. Jermain Defoe's invalidated 20-yard goal due to an illegal hand-off further drew the ire of Hodgson on referee Cuneyt Cakir.

Gerrard joined Hodgson in agreeing that England has a fighting chance for the World Cup. He commended his side's determined attitude and the satisfactory performance of the youngsters, as shown against Ukraine which could have easily earned them a loss.

England will face San Marino and Poland in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers in October.

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Photo credits:

Roy Hodgson [Photograph]. (2012). Retrieved 13 September 2012, from < http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/8071022/hodgson-aware-of-slim-pickings >

The Lensois move to Arles on behalf of the second day of Ligue 2, with the ambition not to return empty-handed.

Portugal (N) vs. Denmark June 14, 2012 12:00am GMT+8

June 13, 2012 – for the fifth time after four years Denmark and Portugal will meet again I a competitive fight on Wednesday. This two teams have been drawn together and both qualify the 2010 world Cup and Euro 2012. Portugal was known for their qualifying through playoff while Denmark directly qualified for the finals from gaining more points.

This is the first of those five games that will be played at a neutral site, and based on the results of the last four games, this should add some serious unpredictability to the match. In World Cup qualifying, Denmark shockingly upset Portugal on the road, then drew them at home. In both of their Euro 2012 qualifying matches, the home side won.

Portugal played seventy odd minutes of defensive football against Germany, they set out their stall to be defensive and relied on Ronaldo creating something on his own up front but the one positive from the loss to Germany was once they went behind Portugal opened up and played football creating three guilt edged chances that should have been converted and should what they can do going forward. Hopefully the Portugese will be let off the leash from the start here against a dogged Denmark. In two games in qualifying for the tournament Portugal beat Denmark 4-1 at home but lost 2-1 away. This is an intriguing game and with the likes of Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo, Meireles, Pepe and Contreau there is plenty of talent here in this Portugal side and they know they must win.

Denmark pulled off the shock of the first round beating the Netherlands 1-0. While the Oranje dominated the game and created a heap of chances Denmark did defend well. Daniel agger the Danish captain is the rock at the back and will be the key player for Denmark in the marshalling of Cristiano Ronaldo who will play through the center. With Bendtner and Eriksen through the center this is a solid side built on hard work. Coach Olsen will look for more of the same agaisnt Portugal, play on the counter attack and hold a high solid defensive line. Ericksen wasnt great for me in the first game in the group but he is still young and it was hard for an attacking player as Denmark were defending for so long.

Possible Lineups

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Group Stage Russia Vs Czech Match Preview


Russia will come into the go with as powerful favorites in many experts sight after their amazing displaying during determining. Dick Advocatt's men lead Team B with seven benefits from their ten trips.

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