Fabio Capello has ended his England reign ahead of Euro 2012 and the 23-man squad will now try and achieve success with a new manager
The Three Lions progressed from the qualifying stage with an unbeaten record, but they made hard work of a group that did not boast any real players on the international scene; Montenegro, Switzerland, Wales and Bulgaria.
There was not much to suggest that England are capable of winning their first major tournament since 1966 (10/1 Euro 2012 Winner at Stan James), and progressing through this competition will be a much tougher task than the World Cup two years ago, where they were crushed by Germany in the last-16.
England have been drawn alongside France, Ukraine and Sweden in Group D and should have enough to be among the
Euro 2012 Teams Qualified for the knockout stage (4/9 To Qualify, 13/8 Not To Qualify @ Blue Square), but the quarter-finals may be as good as it gets for the Three Lions (11/5 Stage Of Elimination @ Coral).
They will start the competition without striker Wayne Rooney, if he is selected. The Manchester United man is serving a two-match ban after being sent off for kicking an opponent during qualifying, meaning he will not be available for the first two group games.
Despite having his ban reduced, this is still a big blow for Rooney who is desperate to finally shine on at a major international tournament. The striker was sent off during the World Cup quarter-final with Portugal back in 2006 and, after England missed out on Euro 2008, he did little of note at the 2010 World Cup, with his most memorable moment a post-match moan at supporters who booed.
So when it comes to Rooney there could be class, there could be fireworks and there could be nothing, and because of that bookmaker Paddy Power have announced some Wayne Rooney Specials for
Euro 2012 England. The England striker is 5/6 to score during Euro 2012, 18/1 to be sent off, 25/1 to be player of the tournament and 33/1 to be the top goalscorer.
Rooney’s absence for the first two games will put pressure on the likes of Darren Bent and Danny Welbeck to get the goals. Bent is 6/1 at SkyBet to be England’s top goalscorer at Euro 2012, with Danny Welbeck 8/1. Rooney, who may only play one game if he is selected, remains SkyBet’s 3/1 favourite, although bet365 offer more appealing odds of 6/1.
