Steve McClaren must be the luckiest man on earth today. In injury time between Israel and Russia in the Euro 2008 qualifier today, Russia had a shot that struck the post. If it went in, it would have been 2-1 to Russia and would have signaled England’s downfall. But, luckily for England and McClaren, the ball hit the post and went out for a goalkick. A few inches to the right and England’s hopes would have vanished.

On the counter attack, Israel then went ahead and scored a 92nd minute injury time winner after some horrible defending by Russia.

England now goes into Wednesday’s match against Croatia at Wembley knowing that a draw will be enough to qualify for Euro 2008. Thanks to Israel’s Omer Golan, England is now just 90 minutes away from qualifying and McClaren still has a job for another week.