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So Owen's been ruled out of the Turkey match on saturday through injury. Great. In case you don't know heres the story:
April 2000: Galatasary Vs Leeds Utd (Istanbul) UEFA Cup semi-final second leg. Lots of rioting by the England football fans and Turkish football fans in which two English fans get stabbed and killed by the Turks. There is no excuse for murder over a football game.
Summer 2002: The Koreans re-ignite the hooligan issue by training their police on 'random football fans' all with white skin, shaved heads, beer in hand and wearing England football shirts, in preparation for the World Cup. Like your style.
Autumn 2002: England and Turkey get drawn in the same Euro 2004 qualification group, with them both being the only strong teams in the group and only the top placed team qualifies for Euro 2004. The second placed team go into a play-off with another second placed team from a different group.
2nd April 2003: England Vs Turkey (sunderland) With both teams virtually inseperable at the top of the qualification table, and the only two teams who can finish 2nd or 1st and go to Euro 2004, England win 2-0 with mild scenes of rioting. England go one point clear at the top of the table with one game to go against you know who
April 2003: The FA (Football Association) announce they have declined to take up their allocation of tickets for the away match to be played at Fenerbache's ground... in Istanbul. This means there will be no tickets available for away fans. The FA also urges all England fans not to travel to Turkey and broker a deal so that as a deterrant the match will be available to everyone on TV. England only need a draw to qualify, Turkey must win.
23rd September 2003: Football's drug panel travel to Manchester to carry out a random drugs test. England and Manchester United star defender Rio Ferdinand's name is one of four picked out of a hat, but he forgets to attend the testing and give a urine sample as he is moving house. It is automatically assumed that Ferdinand failed and is banned from all international matches for two years effective immediately. This means our best defenders and one of the best centre-halves in the world is out of the Turkey match with no obvious replacement.
24th September 2003: Rio finally turns up and passes his drug test, and proven he didn't take any, but its too late. At this point the public is not aware of the drugs issue.
29th September 2003: Beckham injures his foot in Real Madrid's match with Valencia.
4th October 2003: Liverpool play Arsenal in the premiership, where Michael Owen (one of England's three great players imho; Owen, Ferdinand and Beckham) injures his leg. He is given only a 50/50 chance of playing on Saturday against Turkey.
7th October 2003: The England squad is anounced with Ferdinand not included (however Beckham is, phew) and the whole story is blown wide open. The FA do not allow Ferdinand to be included in the England squad for the Turkey game. The England players meet and hold a ballot, in which they will threaten strike action if Ferdinand is not recalled. FIFA (the world governing football body) and UEFA (Europe's football governing body) commend the decisions of the FA and threaten to expell England from Euro 2004 if any strike goes ahead.
8th October 2003: The England players are publically condemmed by all over the 'Riogate' affair. The England squad then agrees to fly out to Turkey.
9th October 2003 (this morning): It is announced that Owen as lost his fitness battle and failed to recover in time for the Turkey game. Brilliant. Turkey striker Hakan Suker shakes off his injury to be able to play in the match. Fantastic.
My money's on a 2-1 win for England
April 2000: Galatasary Vs Leeds Utd (Istanbul) UEFA Cup semi-final second leg. Lots of rioting by the England football fans and Turkish football fans in which two English fans get stabbed and killed by the Turks. There is no excuse for murder over a football game.
Summer 2002: The Koreans re-ignite the hooligan issue by training their police on 'random football fans' all with white skin, shaved heads, beer in hand and wearing England football shirts, in preparation for the World Cup. Like your style.
Autumn 2002: England and Turkey get drawn in the same Euro 2004 qualification group, with them both being the only strong teams in the group and only the top placed team qualifies for Euro 2004. The second placed team go into a play-off with another second placed team from a different group.
2nd April 2003: England Vs Turkey (sunderland) With both teams virtually inseperable at the top of the qualification table, and the only two teams who can finish 2nd or 1st and go to Euro 2004, England win 2-0 with mild scenes of rioting. England go one point clear at the top of the table with one game to go against you know who
April 2003: The FA (Football Association) announce they have declined to take up their allocation of tickets for the away match to be played at Fenerbache's ground... in Istanbul. This means there will be no tickets available for away fans. The FA also urges all England fans not to travel to Turkey and broker a deal so that as a deterrant the match will be available to everyone on TV. England only need a draw to qualify, Turkey must win.
23rd September 2003: Football's drug panel travel to Manchester to carry out a random drugs test. England and Manchester United star defender Rio Ferdinand's name is one of four picked out of a hat, but he forgets to attend the testing and give a urine sample as he is moving house. It is automatically assumed that Ferdinand failed and is banned from all international matches for two years effective immediately. This means our best defenders and one of the best centre-halves in the world is out of the Turkey match with no obvious replacement.
24th September 2003: Rio finally turns up and passes his drug test, and proven he didn't take any, but its too late. At this point the public is not aware of the drugs issue.
29th September 2003: Beckham injures his foot in Real Madrid's match with Valencia.
4th October 2003: Liverpool play Arsenal in the premiership, where Michael Owen (one of England's three great players imho; Owen, Ferdinand and Beckham) injures his leg. He is given only a 50/50 chance of playing on Saturday against Turkey.
7th October 2003: The England squad is anounced with Ferdinand not included (however Beckham is, phew) and the whole story is blown wide open. The FA do not allow Ferdinand to be included in the England squad for the Turkey game. The England players meet and hold a ballot, in which they will threaten strike action if Ferdinand is not recalled. FIFA (the world governing football body) and UEFA (Europe's football governing body) commend the decisions of the FA and threaten to expell England from Euro 2004 if any strike goes ahead.
8th October 2003: The England players are publically condemmed by all over the 'Riogate' affair. The England squad then agrees to fly out to Turkey.
9th October 2003 (this morning): It is announced that Owen as lost his fitness battle and failed to recover in time for the Turkey game. Brilliant. Turkey striker Hakan Suker shakes off his injury to be able to play in the match. Fantastic.
My money's on a 2-1 win for England
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