England evade banana skin with last gasp win
Let’s not get carried away with England’s win over Trinidad and Tobago. This was not a convincing performance at all. The 2-0 win - with goals in the final seven minutes - fails to flatter me.
All this while England had given the impression that it had a team capable of winning the World Cup this year but the way they played today, and in their opening match against Paraguay a week ago, do not support this claim.
They struggled against a dogged T&T defence for most of the game. There were deficiencies in the team and if they are still keen on doing well in the tournament, they must buck up soon. Time is running out for them and a good team will find their flaws easily.
Today, many a time the midfielders were guilty of not creating enough chances for their strikers and their strikers guilty of not finishing off the chances that came their way.
I must single out Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Michael Owen as the main culprits. The two strikers, especially Crouch, were such wastrels in front of the goal. The two midfielders were guilty of trying to do too much with the ball when a simple pass would have sufficed. And defender Ashley Cole looks as though he is still not fully fit to play at this level.
However I must commend Sven Goran Eriksson for his substitutes – not Wayne Rooney, but the two wingers in the form of Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing. These two players created chances from the flanks and generally increased the tempo of the game for England. I also thought both Steven Gerrard and David Beckham had a good game.
As for Rooney, his arrival lifted the spirits of the fans and the players but contribution wise, nothing much. Perhaps his mere presence was enough.
Now to the goals – Crouch finally managed to beat his marker in the 83th minute to head a beautiful cross from Beckham and I just hope he could do this more often than trying to be spectacular.
As for the second goal in the last minute of the match, it had Gerrard stamped all the way. The moment he turned with the ball towards the goal, you instantly knew that he was going to hit it straight into the net.
As for T&T, full credit for their never-say-die attitude. Their fans can be very proud of this team.
England is now in the second round with a game to spare. They will have to get back to the drawing board and re-look at their game plan so that they can make the strides they expect.
And finally a word for ex-England captain Terry Butcher: “They're top of the group and going through to the next round, but in what condition?”
In the other Group B match, Sweden at last gained a win and scored a goal by beating Paraguay 1-0. The goal was scored by Freddie Ljungberg in the 88th minute. Paraguay is now out of the World Cup while Sweden can still make it to the second round provided they don’t lose to England and T&T do not win against Paraguay next Tuesday.
In an earlier Group A match, Ecuador outplayed Costa Rica 3-0 and made history to qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time. Carlos Tenorio, Agustin Delgado and Ivan Kaviedes scored the goals that secured the South Americans' progress from this group. Their victory means that they and hosts Germany become the first two teams to book their places in the last 16 - and ends Costa Rica and Poland's hopes of advancing.
Let’s not get carried away with England’s win over Trinidad and Tobago. This was not a convincing performance at all. The 2-0 win - with goals in the final seven minutes - fails to flatter me.
All this while England had given the impression that it had a team capable of winning the World Cup this year but the way they played today, and in their opening match against Paraguay a week ago, do not support this claim.They struggled against a dogged T&T defence for most of the game. There were deficiencies in the team and if they are still keen on doing well in the tournament, they must buck up soon. Time is running out for them and a good team will find their flaws easily.
Today, many a time the midfielders were guilty of not creating enough chances for their strikers and their strikers guilty of not finishing off the chances that came their way.
I must single out Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Michael Owen as the main culprits. The two strikers, especially Crouch, were such wastrels in front of the goal. The two midfielders were guilty of trying to do too much with the ball when a simple pass would have sufficed. And defender Ashley Cole looks as though he is still not fully fit to play at this level.
However I must commend Sven Goran Eriksson for his substitutes – not Wayne Rooney, but the two wingers in the form of Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing. These two players created chances from the flanks and generally increased the tempo of the game for England. I also thought both Steven Gerrard and David Beckham had a good game.
As for Rooney, his arrival lifted the spirits of the fans and the players but contribution wise, nothing much. Perhaps his mere presence was enough.
Now to the goals – Crouch finally managed to beat his marker in the 83th minute to head a beautiful cross from Beckham and I just hope he could do this more often than trying to be spectacular.
As for the second goal in the last minute of the match, it had Gerrard stamped all the way. The moment he turned with the ball towards the goal, you instantly knew that he was going to hit it straight into the net.As for T&T, full credit for their never-say-die attitude. Their fans can be very proud of this team.
England is now in the second round with a game to spare. They will have to get back to the drawing board and re-look at their game plan so that they can make the strides they expect.
And finally a word for ex-England captain Terry Butcher: “They're top of the group and going through to the next round, but in what condition?”
In the other Group B match, Sweden at last gained a win and scored a goal by beating Paraguay 1-0. The goal was scored by Freddie Ljungberg in the 88th minute. Paraguay is now out of the World Cup while Sweden can still make it to the second round provided they don’t lose to England and T&T do not win against Paraguay next Tuesday.
In an earlier Group A match, Ecuador outplayed Costa Rica 3-0 and made history to qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time. Carlos Tenorio, Agustin Delgado and Ivan Kaviedes scored the goals that secured the South Americans' progress from this group. Their victory means that they and hosts Germany become the first two teams to book their places in the last 16 - and ends Costa Rica and Poland's hopes of advancing.
posted by Kabilan K at
11:09 PM
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