But what better day to launch the new version of Spotflick – the Penalty Shoot Out Game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad – than the first day of the European Qualifiers!
Today sees the first round of games in the Road to Euro 2012. It is a chance for teams to gain redemption for a poor World Cup (I’m looking in your general direction Fabio) and a chance for teams that didn’t make it to South Africa to try and book their place in Poland and Ukraine in two years time.
England begin their Euro 2012 Qualification campaign by hosting Bulgaria, with Fabio Capello only making three changes to the side that had their pants pulled down so emphatically against Germany in the World Cup. The impressive Joe Hart replaces David James between the sticks and Phil Jagielka and Theo Walcott are in for John Terry and Frank Lampard. Bulgaria, ranked 43rd in the world, will fancy their chances at upsetting an England team that will still be reeling from their dismal performance in South Africa. But now that Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov has retired from international football, England would hope to get their European campaign off to the perfect start with a win, so the chat about being crowned Euro Champs in 2012 can start in earnest.
In Group I Scotland face a tricky away trip to Lithuania but must come away with a win if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the finals. Scotland manager Craig Levein is under pressure to get his Scotland career officially underway after his team were given a good going over against Sweden in a friendly last month. The Lithuania game is Levein’s first competitive game in charge of his country and it looks like he will have a job on getting Scotland to the Euro’s. Group I also includes Spain and the Czech Republic, so Scotland must put the supposedly smaller nations like Lithuania (only ranked 11 places lower than them) to the sword and hope for some decent results at Hampden Park against the likes of the Spaniards. On a lighter note, former Evertonian David Weir will become the oldest ever player for Scotland, turning out at the tender age of 40. Well played that man!
Northern Ireland get their campaign under way in Slovenia and will hope to end the barren spell of over twenty years since qualification for a major tournament. Northern Ireland are in the tricky enough Group C, along with Slovenia (obviously) and Italy, Serbia, Estonia and the Faroe Islands. Slovenia will be looking to build on a decent performance in South Africa, where it was only a last minute Landon Donovan goal that prevented them from progressing to the knock out stages. Northern Ireland will be looking to David Healy to put aside his poor club form and find the spark that saw Norn Iron almost qualify for Euro 2008, duffing up Spain, Sweden and Denmark in the process. Glory Days! Let’s hope Nigel Worthington’s men can get their campaign off to a good start.
And the Republic of Ireland travel to Armenia aiming to put their ‘Hand of Gaul‘ disappointment behind them and qualify outright, avoiding any tricky play off ties in Paris with cheating Frenchmen. On paper this should be an easy victory for the Irish, with Armenia sitting a whopping 60 places below them in the world rankings. The Republic must fancy their chances of progressing from their group that consists of a lot of ia’s, meaning a fair few trips behind the Iron Curtain for the Irish boys. Macedonia, Russia and Slovakia also lie in wait for Ireland, with Andorra providing the only respite, but they shouldn’t provide much else in this tournament.
Sorry Wales, but I don’t have Montenegro in Spotflick so no Screenshot, but best of luck to the Welsh! It certainly promises to be a fantastic night of football, with other interesting ties like France v Belarus, with France looking to start a new era of the farce of their World Cup exploits, and Spain will not be too worried about kicking off the defence of their European crown against Liechtenstein. Could be a cricket score that one!
So if you are travelling to any of the games, why not download your copy of Spotflick – the Penalty Kick Game for the iPhone or iPod Touch – and make your trip a little bit more exciting with some animated spotflicking action. And if there are any penalties to be taken tonight make sure your team is ready for them by making sure that they are top of the Spotflick Cup Table.(Oddly enough England are currently sitting joint top of the table with Italy. At least if their team can’t take penalties their fans seem to be able to manage!)
Good luck to all of the home nations tonight and enjoy your newly updated Spotflicks!
