Rooney hoping it won’t be a horror show in Tel Aviv (From The Northern Echo)

Rooney hoping it won’t be a horror show in Tel Aviv

9:24am Saturday 17th November 2007 in

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WAYNE Rooney will see England's Euro 2008 fate unfold on TV tonight desperately hoping for a similar outcome to the last time he watched a major match on the box.

As a regular football viewer, a seat in front of the telly would be a natural place for Rooney to find himself on the penultimate night of qualifiers.

But given the precarious nature of England's position, it is fairly safe to assume the 21-yearold, currently sidelined after suffering a freak ankle injury in training, will, like his international manager Steve McClaren, be sat cheering Israel on to some kind of a result against Russia in Tel Aviv.

Rooney knows that if Israel fail to stop Russia winning, he will almost certainly be consigned to spending a summer on holiday rather than representing his country at the European Championships as he would wish.

And while he accepts it will not be an easy night, the Manchester United star recalls the experience he endured on the day he became a Premier League champion to convince himself it can turn out all right in the end.

I love watching pretty much any football, especially if the game means something,'' hesaid.

I am not so much nervous, it is more frustrating because it is a very important game and it is out of our hands.

But I like watching games where you need a team to drop points. It's like the Arsenal- Chelsea game at the end of last season.

Chelsea had to win otherwise we won the league. Arsenal were winning but then Chelsea got an equaliser and probably should have snatched a winner in the end, so I was quite nervous watching that one.'' Rooney's United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his hope that England will make it, if only to have another chance to inflict more damage on English dreams after his part in last year's World Cup quarter-final exit.

Like his international colleagues, Rooney desperately wants to be in Austria and Switzerland next summer as well as he tries to ensure his unquestioned talent receives its due reward in terms of trophies and honours.

England midfielder Gareth Barry, meanwhile, has dismissed the conspiracy theories'' suggesting Israel will make little attempt to deny Russia victory in Tel Aviv.

There has been speculation that Russia will have an easy ride tonight, but Barry believes Israel will be fully committed and warned Guus Hiddink's side to expect a similar task to the one which confronted England when they could only draw 0-0 in the same city earlier in their qualifying campaign.

The Aston Villa skipper said: You hear all the conspiracy theories but I am sure every team does their best when they get out there on the pitch and it will be no different with Israel.

Of course, when it comes to the Israel-Russia game, there is not much I can do except pray, keep the fingers crossed and hope for the result to go in our favour.

But I was a substitute when we drew 0-0 in Tel Aviv earlier in the group and I know it is a difficult place to go.

On the day, Israel were well organised, proved tough to break down and showed they could be dangerous in attack.

That very experience gives me hope that Russia may also find it hard over there. It's a case of crossing your fingers but by no means is everything over.

Then, if the results over the weekend are beneficial to us, we have to make sure we make the most of being given another chance against Croatia next Wednesday.''

* Former England captain Ray Wilkins is convinced failure to reach Euro 2008 will spell the end for manager Steve McClaren.

The bottom line is it comes down to the coach,'' said Wilkins.

If things are going wonky it's not the players but the manager who gets the sack. It's exactly the same for Steve McClaren.

"The FA haven't said anything yet about Steve's job and I think they should have done by now to let him know where he stands."