<div class="quote_poster">hustler Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Lol Ben Haim is ****. I know I can't judge him with one play but see what Torres (misspell?) did to him from Liverpool.</div>
He's not world class, but he's a solid full back. He's been able to shut down world class strikers (Rooney for example) numerous times. Obviously, an offensive superstar like Torres will be able to school even the best defenders sometimes, so that's not a good example.
Chingy, I never said England were weak, but Lampard and Rooney are probably the team's best offensive weapons and they're both injured. Even their replacements are obviously better than Israel's offensive unit, but as I said, despite the talent gap I expect a draw.
Plus, Owen isn't what he used to be before the injury (still superb though), but Ben Haim should do a good enough job on him, leaving the load on the less talented and less experienced strikers like Heskey.
With both Gerrard and Hargreaves carrying injuries, you can't expect the midfield to be full-proof either. One well aimed step on Gerrard's toe can send him straight out focus, same for Hargreaves and his thigh. The only part of England's starting 11 that hasn't been affected too much is the defence. Terry and Ferdinand are basically like a steel wall, Cole is great and Richards is an up and coming star.
It's not like Israel is San Marino or Guatemala either. We have talent, we just play for the draw most of the time and we usually get it (see: WC06 Qualifiers). Seems like this time we're going for the win and it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Toto Tamuz and Barak Itzhaki are both wanted in countries like Portugal and Holland, they're both very talented young strikers and Itzhaki is on a roll since the end of last season. Benayoun is obviously the most important and most talented player and will need to play like he did for Liverpool against Tuluz. Idan Tal played for Bolton but decided to move back to Israel after 2 seasons there, despite Bolton wanting him to stay. Yaniv Katan had a stint with West Ham, he's a good striker as well. The defence is pretty good as well, full of experienced guys. Add Pini Balili (plays for Sivasspor(sp?) in Turkey) as an offensive spark off the bench, and Walid Badir who's a pretty good midfielder (scored against France a year or two ago in the WC06 Qualifiers). We're missing Roberto Colautti (plays for Gladbach in Germany), our top striker who's out with an injury, though. Too bad.