I was standing at the side of the pitch as England’s goalkeeping coach Ray Clemence was working with keepers Paul Robinson, Scott Carson and David James at Arsenal’s London Colney training complex on Tuesday morning.

They were preparing for Wednesday night’s vital Euro 2008 qualifier by doing their usual drills, diving low to the right, then to the left, saving shots from in front of them, then from behind them as Clemence varied the routines.

The thing that struck our little posse of reporters was just how relaxed the trio was and what great camaraderie there exists between them. They are a strange, tall breed of men are goalies.

I remarked to a  colleague just how relaxed Paul Robinson looked. “That’s because the pressure’s off!” he shot back. “He knows he’s been dropped!”

We won’t know for certain whether Steve McClaren has or hasn’t left him out of the starting line-up until just before this crucial game.

He has played in every minute of all 11 qualifiers so far and actually kept clean sheets in nine of those games. The four goals he has conceded came in the 2-0 defeat at Croatia in October 2006 and in the 2-1 loss to Russia in Moscow last month.

Despite the impressive stats, Robinson’s confidence has never been the same since that game against Croatia in Zagreb 13 months ago when a harmless-looking backpass from Gary Neville hit a divot and went bouncing under Robinson’s boot and into his own net as he went to clear it.

Mistakes this season against Germany and Russia haven’t helped his cause, and his club form for Spurs has also been patchy. But he has played for England 41 times since making his debut nearly five years ago and is still the No.1 choice.

Scott Carson, on the other hand, is 22 and has played once for England, in last week’s friendly against Austria. England won 1-0 and he hardly had a shot to save. David James, 37 years old and 35 caps in his cupboard, is unlikely to start — but if Carson edges out Robinson then surely James should be on the bench. If McClaren believes Robinson is out of form, why have him as his nominated substitute?

And who else will be on the bench? David Beckham or Shaun Wright-Phillips? Beckham has played 98 times for England, but just twice in England’s six internationals this season. Wright-Phillips has played five times for England this season and scored twice in the last three games at Wembley.

Will McClaren opt for experience, or go for, as he called it on Tuesday, “the innocence of youth”? He’ll be damned for whatever decision he makes — unless England win.

Even if Carson and Wright-Phillips get the nod, which is very possible, I don’t think Robinson and Beckham will be out of the frame for long. Beckham will eventually get his 100 caps. Robinson deserves to fight another day.

Reuters Soccer Correspondent Mike Collett will be at Wembley on Wednesday

PHOTO: Ray Clemence watches goalkeepers (L-R) Scott Carson, Paul Robinson and David James during a training session in London Colney, November 20, 2007. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

Before Real Madrid sign anyone in the January transfer window they will want to see a marriage certificate as well as the other necessary paperwork.

“When we prepare the transfer of a player, the first thing we ask him is whether or not he’s married,” Real boss Bernd Schuster said at a seminar on leadership in football last week. “These types of players are more stable.”

So players eager for that dream move to the Bernabeu might think of getting their agents to send in a copy of the wedding video as well as that skilfully edited showreel.

But is Schuster right? Are married players really more reliable, more consistent and more disciplined than the young, free and single? Is it worth turning down a teenage prodigy because he doesn’t have a steady girlfriend?

Schuster himself married at the tender age of 20, and yet still managed to fall out with practically every club he ever played for.

His wife Gaby is a bit of a legend in Germany. She negotiated his move from Cologne to Barcelona in 1980 and according to rumours he never signed so much as a restaurant bill without her permission.

After switching to Real Madrid, and then Atletico Madrid he moved back to Germany with Bayer Leverkusen. After tying up the last of those transfers, the then Leverkusen general manager Rainer Calmund said of her: “I’d never had to negotiate with anyone tougher than Frau Schuster.”

PHOTO: Schuster stands on the touchline during Real’s Champions League game against Lazio in Rome, October 3, 2007. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, believes that the days of FIFA and UEFA are numbered and that a new European League, run by businessmen and comprising around 60 clubs is bound to happen sooner or later. Strachan said last week:

“The businessmen coming into football now will say, ‘Forget FIFA, forget UEFA, we’re so powerful we’ll have three (European) leagues with the best 60 clubs. I think that’s the way it has got to go.”

Doesn’t that sound like a terrifying prospect? For all their faults, and there are plenty of them, world soccer cannot exist as we know it without FIFA and UEFA and the other continental confederations running it.

What should not be forgotten is that FIFA and UEFA are non-profit making organisations: the revenue they generate is to all intents and purposes put back into the game at every level from elite to grass roots.

Of course the rich get richer and the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid, will probably never now fall too far from the summit.

But occasionally, like Bayern Munich last season, they stumble. None of them are guaranteed success and a place in perpetuity at football’s top table. They still have to earn it, season by season. If Strachan’s nightmare vision came to pass, they almost certainly wouldn’t have to do that.

The danger is that any organisation formed by businessmen for the elite clubs to prosper could seriously damage the game. Would it tolerate relegation? I don’t think so. Would it change the laws on a whim? I suspect it would. A European league for the top 60 clubs? Yes, I’m sure lots of ordinary travelling fans would just love the expense of a trip to Moscow or Istanbul from Paris or Madrid every other weekend for nine months.

FIFA and UEFA, CONMEBOL (the South American confederation), CONCACAF (the north and central Americans), CAF (the African), the AFC (Asian) and Oceania (New Zealand and the Pacific region) may not be perfect. But can you think of a better alternative?

It’s nice when your colleagues from abroad call for your “expert advice” when they want to be reassured and it’s even more satisfying when your prediction turns out to be correct.

It’s not often that I feel I can utter the phrase ‘I told you so!’ but Saturday night was one such time — and it felt doubly good when Israel beat Russia in Tel Aviv and kept England alive in Euro 2008.

The form book said that it would not happen and there were many England fans missing a heartbeat at the thought that their already faint-looking hopes would be dealt a killer blow when the Russians stormed to victory against a second-rate team.

I promised that Israel’s exemplary home record — they have lost only once here in seven years — would not be easily wrecked. Of course, I would not stick my neck out to say that Israel definitely would not lose, but their record gave me enough confidence to be cautiously optimistic (see the piece I wrote for this blog after England’s defeat in Moscow).

Saturday’s 2-1 win was not only a great result for Steve McClaren, who was apparently in the bathroom for the last 10 minutes, it was probably Israel’s best home result in a competitive match since 1999 when they destroyed Austria 5-0 in a Euro 2000 qualifier.

As journalists we are impartial when describing the action of any match, but at the same time we are people with feelings. On Saturday I got a double reward — as did so many others who wanted Israel to win so that England could stay alive in Euro 2008.

Israelis have been brought up on English soccer, which has been shown here since proper television began in the late 1960s. Due mainly to this, you would be hard pressed to find an Israeli soccer fan who, as well as supporting his own local outfit, does not follow closely the fortunes of an English and/or Scottish team.

It was no surprise, then, that as Omer Golan turned from a total unknown (even for many Israeli soccer fans) into an English household name, and Italian referee Stefano Farina prepared to blow the final whistle, there was unbounded joy as English and Israeli journalists celebrated openly along with the majority of the 27,568 spectators.

Ori Lewis is a Reuters correspondent based in Jerusalem

PHOTO: Israel’s Omer Golan (bottom) celebrates the team’s second goal against Russia with team mates during their Euro 2008 Group E qualifying soccer match at Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv, November 17, 2007. REUTERS/Oleg Popov

What next for Riquelme?

Villarreal have not given him a single minute of action this season. Argentina have fielded him in all three of the World Cup qualifiers so far and he has responded with four goals, three of them from sublime free kicks.

Few players divide opinions as deeply as enigmatic midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme. At his best, he is an elegant playmaker (enganche) in the best South American tradition. At his worst he is a ponderous passenger. And to deepen the dilemma, Riquelme seems incapable of playing a supporting role in any team: either you build the side around him or you leave him out altogether.

Villarreal, tired of what they say are his excessive privileges and lack of commitment, have taken the latter view and shunted him into the reserves.

Argentina coach Alfio Basile, who with his slick-backed hair and gravelly voice appears to have walked out of a 1950s tango club, is something of an old romantic and continues to make Riquelme the centrepiece of his team.

Basile admits he has put his reputation on the line in doing so but so far it has paid off and Argentina are the only team to have taken maximum points from their opening three games in the South American group.

Yet, Riquelme has already let his country down by doing his famous disappearing act when they needed him most. He was anonymous when they lost to Germany in last year’s World Cup quarter-final and was muscled out of the game by the physical Brazilians in the Copa America final in July, when Argentina lost 3-0.

Villarreal are still paying Riquelme’s wages and are keen to offload him at the earliest opportunity. Would you want him in your team?

PHOTO: Riquelme celebrates after scoring Argentina’s second goal against Bolivia in their 2010 World Cup qualifier at Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, November 17, 2007. REUTERS/Santiago Pandolfi

The odds are shortening on Omer Golan being named Britain’s sports personality of the year next week and the unlikely hero of Israel’s win over Russia can probably count on a few votes from England manager Steve McClaren.

Golan came off the bench to score the stoppage-time winner in Saturday’s 2-1 victory that left England needing only a point against Croatia on Wednesday and with no other stand-out contenders you never know.

It would have been very different had Dmitri Sychev’s 90th-minute shot gone two inches to the right, giving Russia a win that would have just about ended England’s interest in the competition. Such a result would have made Wednesday’s Wembley occasion a virtual dead rubber and a barometer of the fans’ opinion of their manager.

If the showpiece stadium were to feature a full-scale repeat of the boos and abuse he received on the road earlier in the campaign then the embarrassment for his employers at the FA would surely have been too much to bear.

That still might be the case if England somehow contrive to lose to Croatia and allow Russia to leapfrog them by beating Andorra but they will probably get the point they need against the already-qualified guests.

The worry is that it will just be setting England up for another fall.

McClaren will talk again about how getting out of a tough group was always likely to come down to the last game, about how this batch of “quality” players can go to England’s sixth successive European Championship with a real chance of at least matching their previous best effort of the semi-finals on home soil in 1996.

Away defeats in Croatia and Russia and dropped points against Israel and Macedonia will be forgotten as the Brasso comes out again for one final polish of the “Golden Generation.”

David Beckham can look forward to joining England’s elite group of cap centurions, Rio Ferdinand can restore his belief that he is the best defender in the world and Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can once again cancel out each other’s talent in midfield.

I suspect it would have been saving everybody a lot of painful deja vu if Sychev had been marginally more accurate with his late effort for Russia. Mind you, with goalkeeper Paul Robinson likely to get a recall, England are not home and hosed just yet.

Mitch Phillips is head of Reuters UK sports reporting

PHOTO: Israel’s Omer Golan celebrates after scoring the team’s second goal against Russia during their Euro 2008 Group E qualifying soccer match at Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv November 17, 2007. REUTERS/Oleg Popov

Whatever else was wrong with the England football team in the past there was always the reassuring fact that the man between the posts was one of the best in the world.

As a young boy I was convinced that English goalkeepers like Peter Shilton, Ray Clemence and Joe Corrigan were super-human, unbeatable, blessed with magical ball-stopping powers.

Obviously I was wrong, but then again the only argument regarding the No.1 shirt in those days was whether Shilton was slightly more brilliant than Clemence or vice versa.

Shilton, who barged 1966 World Cup winning keeper Gordon Banks out of the Leicester team as a teenager in 1967 and eventually replaced him for England, went on to win 125 caps and play in three World Cups.

I still remember one sensational save he made against Poland in a World Cup qualifier in 1989 that effectively sealed England’s place in Italy the following year.

Poor old Clemence, who kept goal for Liverpool as they dominated English football in the 70s. He would have been an automatic choice in pretty much every other country in the world but was restricted to 61 caps.

Arsenal’s David Seaman continued the trend, seizing the goalie’s shirt after Shilton’s international retirement to rack up 75 England caps. He was never quite as reliable though.

Now, the days of England fans taking the last line of defence for granted appear to be over.

Scott Carson kept a clean sheet on his debut for England against Austria on Friday and there is a suspicion that he may keep his place for the final Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday.

That would have been unthinkable in days gone by, chucking a rookie into such a vital game, but coach Steve McClaren may have run out of confidence in first choice Paul Robinson. He has been error-prone all season, blundering against Croatia away, against Germany in a friendly and was also not blameless in the defeat in Russia.

Despite approaching 50 caps, he has never inspired the same confidence as Shilton, Clemence or Seaman (a situation not helped by the comedy gloves he wears that appear to be about four sizes too big).

However the options are limited these days. Carson, on loan from Liverpool at Aston Villa, has potential, but veteran David James, a superbly athletic stopper but guilty of moments of madness, is surely coming to the end of his career. West Ham’s Robert Green, Wigan’s injury-prone Chris Kirkland, and Manchester United reserve Ben Foster are all on the fringes. The chances of any of them getting near Shilton’s century of appearances appear remote.

Oh, for the days of green jerseys, Shilton’s frizzy perm and Clem’s sideburns. England were in safe hands back then.

PHOTO: Shilton saves a shot on goal by Argentina in the first half of the quarter-final of the World Cup June 22, 1986. Argentina won 2-1 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Scanned from negative. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

It’s international week again and true to form the Spanish sports press have been leading not on the decisive qualifiers against Sweden and Northern Ireland, but on a Real Madrid transfer story — the reported 40 million-euro offer from Juande Ramos’s Tottenham for goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Casillas knocked the rumour down in his usual plain-spoken manner:

“Why would I leave a club I have played for since I was eight years old and when I’ve got five years left on my contract? Why would I leave if I’ve got my friends and family here and I play for Real Madrid?”

Real Madrid boss Bernd Schuster made it clear where he stood on the matter too, saying: ”He’s the best keeper in the world. He’ll be at Real Madrid for many years to come.”

Casillas has won two European Cups and three Spanish titles since he broke into the first team as an 18-year-old. He is the undisputed number one in Spain, having won over 70 caps for the national side and he is still only 26. He also has (probably) the most valuable hands in the game.

But is Schuster right about him being the best in the world? Who would you say is better? Give us your thoughts in the comments section and please pop over to the soccer site and vote in our poll as well.

PHOTO: Casillas celebrates a Real Madrid goal against Olympiakos in the Champions League, October 24, 2007. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

England aren’t the only big team in danger of missing out on Euro 2008. One of the two World Cup finalists will have to skip the tournament if Scotland beat Italy on Saturday on the unluckiest day of the year for Italians.

A home victory in Glasgow would send the flying Scots to Austria and Switzerland with world champions Italy having to win against the Faroes on Wednesday while hoping Ukraine do them a big favour by beating France at home.

The Italians would rather the fixtures had fallen on any other date.

Like 13 in many countries, 17 is Italy’s unlucky number because of the roman numeral XVII, an anagram of VIXI, which is Latin for ‘I have lived’ or ‘I am no more’. The date of Nov 17 is even worse as November is Italy’s month of the dead. Kick-off time is also 17 GMT.

But If Roberto Donadoni’s men can improve on recent patchy performances and edge out the Scots, Alex McLeish’s side will miss out despite beating France twice and being the form team in Group B qualification.

Among other big sides in trouble, England are most at risk of failing to qualify with matters not even in their own hands. A win for Russia in Israel would effectively prevent England from reaching a championship for the first time since the 1994 World Cup.

Guus Hiddink’s Russia could fail, however, if they go down in Israel and England grab a result at home to Group E leaders Croatia, who will only miss out in a bizarre set of circumstances.

Perennial underachievers Spain will squeeze through as long as they get some points from their two remaining home games, leaving 1992 winners Denmark out in the cold.

Holders Greece, who missed the last World Cup, have raced away with Group C and would love to see rivals Turkey lose in Norway on Saturday and crash out.

The Netherlands and Portugal are unlikely to be skipping next year but their places are still not secure. Belgium are long gone, like World Cup quarter-finalists Ukraine and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko.

Other big name players who are already planning holidays for June 2008 include Barcelona’s Icelandic forward Eidur Gudjohnsen and Ireland and Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, not to mention the raft of South American players who light up European leagues each week.

PHOTO: Italy coach Roberto Donadoni gives instructions to his players at the Coverciano training grounds near Florence, November 14, 2007. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

Six international matches in five days will make Paris the capital of African football again as teams head to chilly European climes to prepare for January’s sweltering African Nations Cup finals.

To be accurate, most players aren’t going to notice a change in temperatures. They are there already. The vast majority of footballers chosen by Algeria, Angola, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Mali and Morocco — who will make the French capital their home over the next week — hail from teams scattered across Europe anyway.

Given this phenomenon, it makes sense to cut out the travel and pit African sides against one another in the stadiums in and around Paris. That there are impresarios willing to stage the matches, sort out travel, accommodation and other logistics and still pay an appearance fee, makes the decision even easier.

The showpiece game is Morocco’s clash with France at the Stade de France on Friday. It is a rare chance for a former north African colony to test their mettle against the old colonial power. There is much emotion in these games and French authorities will be mindful of having to prematurely call off the ‘friendly’ between France and Algeria at the same venue six years ago after fans of Algeria invaded the pitch.

What was striking about the match was that there were as many players born in France on Algeria’s side as there were in the French team. Morocco’s line-up on Friday should also have a distinctly Gallic feel about it. They will likely field most of the the French-born contingent of Marouane Chamakh, Michael Chretein, Jamal Alioui, Yacine Abdessadki, Moncef Zerka, Youssef Hadji, Houssine Kharja and Jaouad Zairi.

Former France captain and manager Henri Michel also goes up against his native country, and not for the first time either. In his previous spell in charge of Morocco he twice took charge against Les Blues, drawing 2-2 in Casablanca in 1998 and losing 1-0 in Marseille in early 1999.

Two years ago as coach of the Ivory Coast, Michel was beaten by France again, a 3-0 thumping in Montpellier.

The Ivorians are also in town to take on fellow 2006 World Cup finalists Angola in Melun on Saturday. Mali play Senegal the same day in the famous Colombes stadium, where the 1938 World Cup final was played. Next Tuesday Algeria and the Malians compete against each other at Rouen, just north of Paris, while Guinea take on the Angolans in the city. Morocco and Senegal play a second game in France against each other at Creteil on Wednesday, November 21.

Mark Gleeson, Johannesburg

PHOTO: Chamakh Marouane (R) celebrates his first goal for Morocco against Zimbabwe during their African Cup qualifier at the Mohamed V stadium in Casablanca June 2, 2007. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante