Sport 10-09-2003 England Footy Preview who: England football team what: Play Liechtenstein in Euro 2004 qualifier where: Old Trafford, MANCHESTER when: Tonight snippet: "In preparation for what appears a routine Euro 2004 qualifier against the plumbers and odd pros of Liechtenstein, Sven Goran Eriksson has been shedding his cloak of caution," says The Telegraph`s Henry Winter. "Beckham and Gerrard lined up in midfield in England`s final training session yesterday despite both being a booking away from missing the crucial and vexed-looking trip to Istanbul on Oct 11." The Guardian`s Kevin McCarra is not convinced by Beckham`s promise to be a good boy. "He has picked up three bookings so far in these qualifiers and served one suspension already," the reporter recalls. The emphasis on the captain`s chances of rashly disqualifying himself from the next qualifying game are typical of newspaper coverage which is already looking ahead to next month. And David Beckham yesterday echoed Sven Goran Eriksson`s warnings that England fans could wind up dead if they don`t heed the FA`s warnings to stay away from Turkey. "Our supporters are fantastic but the atmosphere in Turkey will be volatile and no-one wants any trouble," says the hopefully even-tempered and level-headed skipper. "My advice to the England fans is to listen to the FA and don`t go." By absurd contrast, the president of the Turkish FA issued a highly inflammatory challenge, says The Times. "Of course [Eriksson] doesn’t want to see England fans in Turkey to see a defeat," says Haluk Ulusoy. "Anyway, he will be sent away from the England job after the Turkey game because he will no longer have any credibility left. He will only be fit to train Patagonia." [... more]

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