England 0 Bulgaria 0, October 10th 1998

England coach Glenn Hoddle looks like having to make up a five point deficit on Poland to save his reign as national team leader.

After the confused defeat in Sweden amid disciplinary problems this home blanker sees Poland set to take control of Group 5 with Sweden well placed to follow them through to the Finals while Poland are all set for a home win tonight against Luxembourg.

New Bulgaria coach Dimitar Dimitrov produced a side that was unrecognisable from their home hammering against the Poles last month. Their discipline and organisation left England chasing an elusive winner that never came.

Michael Owen started very brightly with a shot wide in the second minute from a corner and an excellent speculative shot a few seconds later that almost caught Zdravkov off guard in goal. His partnership days with Alan Shearer look numbered now as England look to break a run of dismal form.

The Bulgarian side were well happy with the draw after their mauling against the Poles but they were uninterested in any attacking play and were content to waste time from the earliest moments which was always going to make things tough for a patchwork England side that bore the scars of many injuries and suspensions. The English press is likely to be quite savage in their criticism of coach Hoddle. He has many enemies but picking Darren Anderton to look unfit and laboured on the wing does little to help his cause. England have to regroup to face Luxembourg next week with no form to speak off and little confidence. They have made their worst ever start to a European Championships campaign and four wins in twelve games overall in their most recent matches.