England prepare for the crucible

Norman Fox argues that hostile Georgia will have a crucial World Cup role

England are travelling to Georgia with pitfalls on their minds. Even though England's toughest opposition will obviously be the Italians, qualification from World Cup Group Two is likely to hinge on who escapes from the dangerous trip to Tbilisi with the best result.

The experiences of British teams who have been there suggest there may be trouble ahead in the place where England's fate could be decided, if not next weekend then in nearly a year's time.

It was in Tbilisi, which lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian, that in November 1994 Wales lost their way in the attempt to qualify for Euro 96. They were so outclassed that a 5-0 defeat was actually a comparatively mild escape.

As a result of their worst defeat in 41 years they decided to investigate the lineage of all the Jones boys in the Premiership and League and discovered that Vinnie had a Welsh grandfather. So the following June, with a dragon newly tattooed on his arm, he faced Georgia in Wales. Breathing even more fire than usual, he was sent off for kicking Mikhail Kavelashvili. And Georgi Kinkladze, then playing for Dinamo Tbilisi but later to join Manchester City, sent Wales to the bottom of the group with a fine goal.

All who play against Georgia in Tbilisi, even including the Germans who won 2-0 in a European Championship qualifying match before a passionate crowd of 75,000, talk of the high skill level of their players, almost all of whom are at clubs abroad. Above all, though, they remark on the forbidding atmosphere.

Glenn Roeder, the former Watford manager, was sent by Glenn Hoddle to see Georgia play Norway recently and said: "The support the home team gets there is amazing - it makes it difficult for any visiting side. They've also got a lot of good players, not just Kinkladze." Among them are the Turkish-based Archil Arveladze but it was Kakhi Gogichaishvili and Georgi Nemsadze who gave the Italians such a terrible fright in last month's World Cup qualifier in Perugia, which the Italians eventually won 1-0.

Above all, though, is the patriotism in a troubled area. That is especially true for Kinkladze, whose father teaches Georgian history in Tbilisi.

Local football history proudly records a particular highlight in 1979. At the time Liverpool, the First Division champions, were intent on regaining their position as Europe's top team, a title Nottingham Forest had taken from them earlier in the year.

In the first round of the European Cup they faced a trip to Tbilisi to play Dinamo. They had won 2-1 at Anfield but were ominously and elegantly outwitted by Alexander Chivadze, who was later to become manager of the Georgian national side.

The trip was typical of most to the remote areas of the old Soviet Union. The authorities refused to allow Liverpool to fly direct to Tbilisi. After a long delay at Moscow airport they arrived at a hotel in Tbilisi where Bob Paisley said the food would have been rejected by a soup kitchen.

Then came the well-planned dawn chorus of chanting, jeering Tbilisi fans in the street outside. Liverpool lost to three second-half goals in a defeat that, for all the understandable excuses about distractions, was considered just as troubling in the long term and mortifying on the day as United's defeat on Wednesday.

As a more recent example of Georgia's ability, their display in Perugia was ominous. Had it not been for two exceptional saves by Francesco Toldo in the last 20 minutes they would have made Italy even more uncomfortable than they did. The winner came from Fabrizio Ravanelli, who admitted that he saw Georgia as the key to the group.

The team in Group Two who play Georgia last are England's old nemesis, Poland. The venue next year? Tbilisi.