PARIS, October 13: Ailing footballing giants England and Germany will be out to put several poor performances behind them tomorrow when they take on footballing minnows Luxembourg and Moldova, respectively, in the latest round of Euro 2000 qualifying matches.Both teams, England with coach Glenn Hoddle's position under threat and Germany's Erich Ribbeck just settling into his post, have followed up their disappointing world cup performances with a disastrous start to the Euro competition.England, who lost their first match in Sweden 2-1, were booed off the pitch on Sunday when they were held to a dour 0-0 draw at Wembley by Bulgaria.And Germany, the defending Euro champions, made the worst possible start to the tournament when they were humiliated by a 1-0 defeat in Turkey.Little wonder that Hoddle and Ribbeck are desperately hoping for a major change in fortune to restore their credibility tomorrow.Last July, Hoddle was at pains to tell anyone willing to listen that his side's second-round WorldCup exit was due to bad luck. Certainly, the defeat on penalties inflicted by Argentina at France '98 was cruel but Hoddle's men have hardly been looking like potential worldbeaters having won only four of their last 12 matches.England now face the part-timers of Luxembourg, who have several players injured and suspended, including three of their limited number of full-time professionals, after their 3-0 defeat against Poland on Saturday.But although the result of such a match would have been considered a foregone conclusion a few weeks ago, that is no longer the case.Hoddle will be without injured defensive stalwart Tony Adams to add to the expected absence of left wing-back Andy Hinchcliffe and the suspended mid-field duo of Paul Ince and Jamie Redknapp.However, Hoddle, whose players are performing like a group that lacks faith in its coach after his infamous tell all autobiography came out after the World Cup, is counting on the return of the temperamental Manchester United playmaker DavidBeckham, who was suspended for the Bulgaria match.``Jamie (Redknapp) is now suspended but David comes back into the frame and obviously his talents have been missed,'' he said. ``Sometimes it's been a concern when you've had five or six weeks before the next game yet this time we can bounce back quicker. There's still enough time and matches to qualify from this group,'' the former Chelsea coach added. That may not be the case, however, given the confident starts made by both the Swedes and early group leaders Poland who have yet to lose a match.Ribbeck can shrug off some of the blame for the loss against Turkey by pointing out that he has only just taken over at the helm following the dismissal of Berti Vogts.
