By Chris Mason
Europe correspondent, BBC News |
  The Bristol fans say England should win easily |
"If we can't score a shed-load against this lot, we really are useless." Bristol Rovers fan Phil Dexter, 20, could have been heading to Peterborough this weekend to watch his home town club. Instead, along with two friends, he chose to go to Barcelona, where a sign says the temperature is 31C (88F), to see England take on minnows Andorra on Saturday night in their first qualifying match for the World Cup in 2010.  |  This is a warm up game - a holiday in the sun |
Why Barcelona? Well Andorra, a landlocked principality in the eastern Pyrenees, is so small it does not have a football ground good enough for the match. Instead the game is taking place at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium. And there are plenty of reasons why England fans are hoping for a goal rush. Andorra is one of the smallest countries in Europe and has a population of just 75,000. That means you could fit every man, woman and child from the country inside Old Trafford in Manchester, with seats to spare. And the football world rankings are pretty stark too.
 Chats Harris and Colin Sheasby have travelled from Birmingham |
Andorra are 186th in the latest table. That puts them behind Bangladesh and Afghanistan - nations not exactly world-renowned for their footballing prowess. England, by comparison, are 15th, a place ahead of Scotland. "This is a warm up game - a holiday in the sun. We should score at least four goals, minimum," Jon Marler, 20, also from Bristol, said. A short walk away, two other England fans from the West Midlands, Chats Harris and Colin Sheasby, are enjoying a pint at a pavement cafe on La Rambla, arguably Spain's most famous street. The broad, tree-lined pedestrian boulevard is teeming with tourists enjoying the weather and market traders enjoying their custom. Italian mentality "Eleven lads from England should be able to turn up and get a result against Andorra," Mr Sheasby, 46, from Lichfield in Staffordshire, said. But he is worried the approach of England's new boss, Fabio Capello, might mean watching the national side is boring. "Our strengths are tempo and pace - and I wonder with the Italian mentality if we're going to dilute that if we're not careful." For Mr Harris, 39, from Birmingham, his mind is already on the next - far tougher - game.
 The stadium hosted the 1992 Barcelona Olympics |
On Wednesday England head to Zagreb to take on Croatia, the team that denied them the chance to compete at this summer's Euro 2008. "The thing is, given our current form we're not up to it in Croatia. I'd readily accept a draw out there - and then hope we can beat them at Wembley." Amid all the pre-match analysis though, all of the England fans I have chatted to are smiling. I think the weather has something to do with it. "It's liveable out here," quips Mr Sheasby, with intentional understatement. "We're sitting here in shorts, T-shirts and having a nice cold beer, whereas everyone in old Blighty's got their raincoats on I believe."
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