England Score Goals Again - But Against Andorra

By: Roger Munns

After a goalless draw in Israel just a few days before in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, the England football team travelled to Barcelona to play football minnows Andorra.

Andorra had a history before playing England of just one victory in international football, and under normal circumstances a country with a population of 70,000, with less than half of the Andorra population Andorran nationals elegible to play, no-one would expect anything other than a comfortable England victory, similar to the 5-0 result at Old Trafford in the 2006 England home game against Andorra.

But normal circumstances were absent from the game.

The English media were giving coach Steve McClaren one last chance to end the goal drought that had seen England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008, due to be played in Austria and Switzerland next summer, severely diminish. If England came away with anything less than a victory his resignation would be almost a certainty.

At half time Andorra were incredibly holding England at 0-0, and the travelling England supporters were clearly none too happy with their team's performance, the England players headed for the tunnel with their jeers ringing in their ears. Their first half performance had been dire, with just a couple of shots on target.

Unfortunately for Andorra, but luckily for England coach Steve McClaren, England came out for the second half with more determination to win, and two goals from one of the few players who looked committed to securing an England victory, Steven Gerrard, helped England to win 3-0. Wayne Rooney was substituted shortly after being given a yellow card, and in the end it was the England players fitness levels compared to Andorra's rather than superior tactics that secured the England victory.

It is also questionable whether countries like Andorra should be playing countries like England in qualifying games, as the smaller countries tend to defend and rarely attack, playing for a draw.

Andorra Skiing

The real winners from the game could be the Andorra tourist office, with a lot of publicity for Andorra being generated in the UK from the week before and immediately after the Euro 2008 qualifier.

After spending tens of millions of Euros on new and improved facilities for skiiers, Andorra was looking forward to a good 2007 season, increasing the near ten million tourists that have been visiting in previous years.

But the one thing the country really needs to entice ski tourists hasn't been coming - snow.

Over the last decade Andorra has been blessed with an abundance of snow, making for perfect ski conditions. But while the snow has started falling as early as the last week of October in previous years, none has fallen so far for the 2007 ski holiday season.

'The snow making machines have been working overtime since the beginning of the season', comment a local travel guide, continuing 'They have allowed a depth of around 20cm of snow for popular Andorra ski resorts like Soldeu, but while it's an effective substitute for many skiiers it's still not the real thing. It's allowing skiing for people who booked their holidays a while ago, but last minute bookings are well down as people read the ski reports and head elsewhere this year.'

Press reports in the UK, Andorra's top market, have indicated that some tour operators have already cut their prices, some by nearly 50 per cent, to entice the skiiers back to the Principality.

'It really is the market for later in the season that's in danger of being hit', say the guide, 'If they see now there isn't much snow in Andorra this will influence their booking even though it could be a different story altogether when they get to go on their ski holiday'.

The ski tourist is also an important factor for the real estate agents in Andorra, with a percentage wanting to buy a holiday home after a visit.

'So far there has been little change in the demand', claim an Andorra property company.

'A lot of the buyers at the moment are those who visited last year, but it might have some impact from mid October onwards 2007'.

Article Source: http://www.bigfreearticles.com

England ended their goal drought by beating Andorra 3-0 in their Euro 2008 qualifying game. But it took until the second half before Steven Gerrard scored twice to secure the victory against football minnows Andorra.

About the Author:
YourAndorra.com produce an on-line guide for Andorra. As well as hotels and travel details the guide includes details of Andorra towns and villages including El Tarter and has today's weather in Andorra For Andorra property visit propertyandorra.com

Tags: andorra, weather in andorra, el tarter

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