Montenegro centre back Miodrag Dzudovic says his team are not intimidate by England and believes his high-flying nation can record a famous victory over Fabio Capello’s side (1/5 to beat Montenegro) on Tuesday night.
The eastern Europeans have made a very impressive start to qualification for Euro 2012, winning their first three matches against Bulgaria, Wales and Switzerland all by the same scoreline of 1-0.
Friday’s win against the Swiss moved them to the top of Group G ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Wembley.
Montenegro (11/1 Group G winners) were expected to be the whipping boys of the group but have so far proven to be tough nuts to crack.
Having only been formed as an independent country four years ago the tiny nation, which has a population of around 627,000, are punching above their weight heading into the top of the table clash with England.
Despite England’s dominant displays at Wembley, Zlato Kranjcar’s side are confident about their chances of pulling off a famous victory over the world renown Three Lions.
Dzudovic believes they have nothing to fear and says he isn’t worried about having to deal with Wayne Rooney, given the striker’s recent form.
“We respect England, but we can beat England,” said Dzudovic.
“We don’t fear them and we don’t fear Rooney.
“We know who he is, one of the best players not just in Europe but in the world, but we know he’s not been playing well for many games and that gives us more hope. In football, everything is possible.”
The Manchester United hitman will be hopeful of proving Dzudovic wrong when they meet on Tuesday, Rooney having struggled with his fitness and problems off the field since the summer.
The 24-year-old has scored just twice for club and country since the start of the season and will have a tough time adding to his tally given Montenegro’s steely defensive record in qualifying, keeping clean sheets in all three of their matches thus far.
Fellow Montenegro (10/1 to beat England) defender Stefan Savic has echoed his team mate’s bullish comments by insisting they are capable of stopping Rooney and co.
“We go to London without pressure and we can surprise them,’ Savic added. ‘But we’re not just going for the shopping.”
England will be hoping they can burst Montenegro’s bubble, although they will have to do it without Aaron Lennon after the Tottenham winger withdrew from the squad.
Lennon has a sore back and has been replaced by Stewart Downing, who joins Bolton?s Gary Cahill as a late arrival in the squad after Cahill was brought in for Phil Jagielka.
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