Israelis plunge England deeper into the mire

England's Steven Gerrard(R) jumps for the ball with Israel's Yoav Ziv during their Euro Cup 2008 qualifying football match at the Ramat Gan Stadium, near Tel Aviv. England's chances of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered another serious setback when they were held to a goalless draw with Israel.

England's chances of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered another serious setback when they were held to a goalless draw with Israel here on Saturday.

Having kicked off in third place in group E, Steve McClaren's side badly needed a win to get their qualifying campaign back on track and boost the flagging morale of their increasingly disillusioned supporters.

Instead, they suffered the ignominy of being jeered off the pitch by their own fans for the third time in four matches as the Israelis claimed the point that was the least their efforts deserved.

McClaren conceded England had lacked the cutting edge necessary to overcome resilient opponents and he said: "I'm disappointed and frustrated because we should have won the game. It's not good enough.

"We had enough chances but it either didn't fall for us or poor quality, poor decisions or poor finishing cost us. It's two points dropped."

England's Andy Johnson passes between Israel's Shimon Gershon(L) and Tal Ben Haim during their Euro Cup 2008 qualifying football match at the Ramat Gan Stadium, near Tel Aviv. England's chances of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered another serious setback when they were held to a goalless draw with Israel.

England have now scored just one goal in their last five matches - their worst run for 26 years - and McClaren added: "They packed their defence so it was always going to be hard. But we have got to have better quality in front of goal when we get the opportunities.

"We weren't ruthless enough. It's a concern and a worry, but I would be more worried if we weren't creating chances and the goalkeeper wasn't making saves."

Israeli coach Dror Kashtan admitted he had sent his team out to frustrate England and said: "It was part of our preparations to make sure that their main players did not have any chances or influence on the outcome of the game.

"England put a lot of pressure on us in the second half and they had chances, but overall I'm satisfied with the way we played. However, it is not a good result for either of us."

England's Rio Ferdinand(TopL) and Owen Hargreaves go for the ball against Israel's Toto Tamuz(R) during their Euro Cup 2008 qualifying football match at the Ramat Gan Stadium, near Tel Aviv. England's chances of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered another serious setback when they were held to a goalless draw with Israel.

Kashtan confounded predictions that he would instruct his side to keep things tight behind a solo striker by deploying Toto Tamuz as virtually an out-and-out left winger.

The surprise selection appeared astute as the Nigerian-born forward immediately set about unsettling his marker, Phil Neville, and he might have given Israel a third minute lead, firing over after intercepting Rio Ferdinand's lethargic pass across the front of the penalty area.

Yossi Benayoun's mazy run into the area provided further discomfort for the England back four and over quarter of an hour had elapsed before the visitors conjured up some indication of their own threat.

A poor first touch cost Andrew Johnson the opportunity to make more of Phil Neville's low cross and Wayne Rooney could not get enough power behind his header after Aaron Lennon had made his first foray to the byline and delivered a well-judged chip to his team-mate.

England's John Terry(L) heads past Israel's Ben Sahar during their Euro Cup 2008 qualifying football match at the Ramat Gan Stadium, near Tel Aviv. England's chances of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered another serious setback when they were held to a goalless draw with Israel.

A neat flick from Johnson on the edge of the area offered Rooney a second opportunity but his attempt at a chip was shanked high over the target.

England's best chance of the opening period quickly followed. Johnson held the ball up well on the left of the box, found Gerrard who, in turn, played Frank Lampard in behind the back four but the Chelsea midfielder was denied by Dudu Awat's speed off his line.

As the half-hour mark approached, Benayoun teed up Tamuz 20 yards out and the striker's low drive forced Paul Robinson to get down smartly to his right to save.

A minute later, the striker was agonisingly close to giving Israel the lead, his header from Ben Shushan's cross flying inches over.

The frustrating pattern of the match for England continued beyond the interval with Pini Balil going close with a shot on the turn, ten minutes after the restart.

England's Wayne Rooney(L) clashes with Israel's Tal Ben Haim, resulting in a yellow card given to both players during their European Championships 2008 qualifying football match at Ramat Gan Stadium, near Tel Aviv. England's chances of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered another serious setback when they were held to a goalless draw with Israel.

The hosts soon started to tire however and England began to generate the chances they had been denied for the first hour.

Owen Hargreaves had a shot well-saved by Awat before Lampard and Johnson sent headers fractionally wide of the target following good work by, firstly Lennon down the left, then Gerrard on the opposite flank.

Jamie Carragher outjumped the Israeli defence to meet a Lampard corner with a header that looped tamely on to the top of the bar and Awat produced another good block to deny Defoe seven minutes from the end.

Those near misses were not enough to appease the 5,000-strong contingent of England fans, who finished the match alternating chants of "what a load of rubbish" with the taunt "you don't know what you're doing."