Andorra must go abroad to play England
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Andorra have been told by Uefa that they cannot stage the Euro 2008 qualifying match against England next March at their national stadium, which holds only 1,299 people.
Barcelona's mini-Estadi is now expected to be the venue. That stadium, which nestles alongside the Nou Camp, can hold 16,000. Andorra's attempt to stage their biggest game in the capital, Andorra La Vella, was considered to be posturing, the Andorran FA wanting Uefa, the European game's governing body, to impose the unpopular but inevitable decision on them. England would have received only about 150 tickets under Andorra's original plan.
The home match against Andorra was Steve McClaren's first competitive outing as England manager and the first that David Beckham missed after becoming the first major casualty of the new regime.
With Owen Hargreaves, who took over his No 7 shirt if not his wide right midfield role, now ruled out with a broken leg, Beckham has a chance to test McClaren's assertion that the door is not closed, but to earn a recall for next month's matches against Macedonia and Croatia he has to be playing for Real Madrid. That is by no means certain, even though he scored Real's second goal in the 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad in his last outing, which he started on the bench. He will have to wait to see if Real's new coach, Fabio Capello, thinks that he is worth a place in the starting line-up against Real Betis today.
Capello told the club's website: "I haven't decided about Beckham yet, but 12 men cannot play. I rotate my players, so some have to be left out every match. He's a member of the squad, just like the rest."
Beckham's hopes appear slim of being in the squad which McClaren will name next weekend for the matches against Macedonia and Croatia. Croatia have recalled three players who were banned from their 0-0 draw in Russia for breaking a curfew, including the former Aston Villa striker Bosko Balaban.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments