More international pain

England face another difficult game against Croatia this evening. Having lost the previous two Croat encounters, they won't start as favourites but I don't think that will help them get a result. Capello believes England will play with more freedom than at Wembley as they won't face the same pressure. I disagree.

His disappointingly similar squad and equally predictable team might look like rabbits caught in the headlights, especially if Croatia get off to a quick start. The press are already on his back and a reversal in Zagreb tonight will see the pressure mount. There were questions about his motivation when he took the job and that was always going to be the case when the sums of money offered for the job are so large, even by modern football standards. He has acknowledged that this is probably his last job and journos have already joined the dots and concluded that Capello is demob happy. Brian Barwick, the FA fossil responsible for recruiting Capello has already gone, so no elaborate excuses are needed when the FA decide it's time for him to go.

Scotland face a nervy night in Reykjavik and I suspect Craig Burley might need to be a little more honest in his assessment of a second successive defeat. The second half performance in the heat of Skopje was much better than the first but it would be hard to imagine a worse showing than they mustered for the first 45. Describing the improvement as "outstanding" was Burley's way of backing his side. McFadden should have had a penalty but you need to create decent chances to win matches and Scotland simply didn't do enough, certainly not in the first half when the objective appeared to be survival. One down after 5 minutes and the game plan didn't change, so you can only blame yourselves when you fail to get a second-half equaliser.

Northern Ireland face a solid Czech Republic side in Belfast tonight who should beat them on paper. However, the Ulstermen don't show too much respect for anyone at home and I wouldn't be too surprised if they manage another home win. If they do, expect to see David Healy scoring again. His international record is astonishing and if he can continue until he finishes, he will rightly be regarded as Northern Ireland's best ever player, George Best included.

Wales go to Russia tonight where I can see no chance of them getting anything other than a hiding. They scraped a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan in front of an embarrassing gate of 17,000 and the dis-organisation of the Welsh FA in selling tickets on the day - one window, hundreds queuing gave up went home - epitomises what's wrong with Wales at the moment. The old guard are shuffling off and John Toshack didn't need 28-year old Paul Parry jacking it in after failing to make the team on Saturday. Poor show by Parry but another player who's felt the need to retire from the Welsh scene and implicate John Toshack in the process.

With none of the home nations qualifying for Euro 2008, we are in desperate need of one or two to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. There's a long way to go but another set of poor results and disappointing performances will hardly raise the spirits.