Round 2: (Day Seventeen)….
The big One::
ENGLAND V ECUADOR
England take on south American opposition with the hope of the bucking the annoying trend of the past two world cups that shows England going out to south American opposition…
Rooney is playing on his in attack…Hargreaves, who has played this position for his club, is in at right back for Carragher…which seems bit strange as Carragher has done fine and Hargreaves is a more comfortable defensive midfielder…in midfield Gerrard is back, and Carrick comes in to add stability and athleticism…..
Tenorio and Delgado are back for the Ecuadorians..the team that lost to German included 6 reserve players; it was NOT the first XI that got done by the Krouts…
Hurtado and Espinoza impressed me in their first two games….
Ecuador are very strong in midfield on the wings……
I can understand why Eriksson is packing out the centre of the park, but am a little worried about the roles of Lampard and Gerrard…perhaps Gerrard will be playing as a second striker???
The weather is hot..28C and set to rise…this will hand a definite advantage to the South Americans….And it forces
England to go hell for leather from the first whistle in search of an early goal…the longer the game goes on the more the heat will affect us….
Venue- Stuttgart: they drink 12 times the average amount of wine for Germans, and they also have the highest number of patents….red wine leads to invention…
The pundits say Beckham is too predictable… I think what is more predictable is that he always passes with astounding precision..that is the worry for opponents. I doubt the Ecuadorians will be saying ‘ ahh beckham is predictable all he does is pass the ball better than most other players in the world,,nothing to worry about….’Not sure where the base of this line of attack originates…
Victoria Beckham pouting in the stands…
If England can secure the flanks, they will win this, if they don’t…..
Anthems..Terry sounds likes an accomplished tenor…Every players singing ‘happy and glorious’…apart from Hargreaves…
Ecuador- relaxed…Suarez- ruthless as always.
1Tref is
Belgium.
Carrick in central midfield should allow Gerrard and Lampard to take turns supporting Rooney in attack…
Suarez seen smiling…..!!!!!
We are off…
Cloud cover provides respite from the scorching sun.
5- Rooney gives a half hearted thumbs up to Beckham for the through ball that was a bit too powerful….
Lampard has yet to show his true colours for his country.
England starting positively.
100 English supporters arrested in last 24 hours for hooligan issues….Nothing properly horrible and no-one killed thankfully…..minor skirmishes
10- Rooney pushes the back of Hurtado,then offers instant hand of friendship…. good sportsmanship…The English are exemplary; no diving, no whinging, they get on with it…
11- mistake by Terry on the header, lets in Tenorio who brings the ball down, shoots, ball deflects slightly but significantly off Ashely Cole then onto the bar…..fuck././/that was close….Amazing defending from Cole..Terry must make amends…Outstanding defensive work from the left back…
18- Gerrard is set up by Lampard to try a shot from 25 yards out….it flies well over the bar..
18- Terry BOOKED for flying kick on Carlos Tenorio, who made the most of the small amount of contact.FK in dangerous position…30 yards out. Left of centre…Mendez takes it, Ferdinand deflect it clear but ref gives a goal kick…should have been a corner.
20 FK 30 yard outs for
England…central…Beckham>
21->chips it to Gerrard on the edge of the area, who pumps it back into the danger area..defended…
22 Corner for
England>Beckham>headed clear.
23- Corner for Beckham>wasted…
24- BOOKED
Valencia…chopping BeckhamTenorio smashes through Joe Cole……
Come on
England , give them some of the rough stuff…
Two Ecuadorian players down..Delgado and Edwin Tenorio… after Beckham jumped on them…
28- Rooney links with Lampard before the
Chelsea man hits a fair drive that is comfortably saved by Mora in the Ecuadorian goal..
Hargreaves is playing right back instead of Carragher because he is more mobile and gets up and down the flanks easier and more regularly..
31- FK 25 yards out wide left for Ecaudor>Mendez> doesn’t clear Beckham….
33- Corner for
Ecuador>put out be Gerrard…
35- Beckham FK 32 yards out.central>great effort…2 metres wide…
37- YELLOW for Tenorio for pummelling Terry, more the result of many niggling fouls than one savage one.
The mexican wave dies a sudden death when it reaches the gnarly english gurners…
42- Espinoza falls to the ground and his arm stop the ball when Rooney would have been in on goal….not seen by the ref, or ignored.
44- brave block from Hargreaves leaves him lying in a heap of pain and suffering after Delgado’s boot hit him firmly on the thigh…
Another ECU corner..Hargreaves is back…
HT
Far from entertaining, this has been a war of attrition for both teams…The midfield of Gerrard, Lampard and Carrick is stifling the Ecuadorians. Joe Cole is proving typically mischeivous and forcing Valencia to defend instead of charging forward and crossing into the box…Rooney has shown glimpses of quality but nothing to shout about as of yet. The onl real chance came from Terry’s misjudged header which put Tenorio in one o one with Robinson who wasn’t anywhere near the shot, but thankfully A. Cole was, and it as his boots flying through the air that saved a definite goal, pushing Tenorio’s shot onto the bar. Eriksson must decide how long to persevere with this 5 in midfield. I am sure that Rooney needs Crouch.
We must stop been so concerned with the Ecuadorians and start focussing on playing to our own strengths…
2T46- Riaso stamps on Gerrard’s foot, but the ref gives nothing….
55- corner ECA >poor delivery.
‘Beckham should come off’ the commentator keeps repeating….
59- FK 30 yards out left of centre Beckham>>BECKHAM scores.GOAL 1-0 england…fuck all you haters….what a free kick…..brilliant…perfect strike, he found those few inches between Mora’s hand and the post….Captain Courageous leading by example..that is how the Pros do it…‘Ole ole fuck off
Ecuador..!!……’ the crowd sing jubiliantly…‘your’e not singing any fucking more’ ……chants Erikson enthusiastically from the English bench…
63- Lampard tries a snap shot from 20 yards, the ball fizzes past the post..
66- Valencia shoots hard from 20 yards out, Robinson saves well..corner>keeper’s ball.
67- De la Cruz BOOKED for handball…
69- Tenorio wins a free kick by falling to the floor before Hargreaves even reaches him Lara the little devil comes on for
Ecuador…E.Tenorio makes way. SUB
Rooney needs support,,,
72- Kaviedes on for Tenorio
73- Rooney does brilliantly then sets up Lampard whose shot flies high and wide..Lampard’s shooting has been terrible in these finals..
Since the goal,
England have been very comfortable and should have scored again.
77- SUB ENG J Cole off for Carragher…Carragher goes to right back and Hargreaves joins Carrick in the centre of midfield…
78- YELLOW Robinson,,,time-wasting..
‘Fuck off’ Rooney growls…….when he loses the race to keep a misplaced pass in the field of play.
82- YELLOW for Carragher time easting..
84- Robinson throws the ball out of play so he can receives medical attention for an injury…
87- Lennon replaces Beckham…terry is captain.
92- Gerrard SUBBED for Downing…
FT
in no way a classic. We are winning matches but certainly not acquiring any new admirers. The press are going to focus on the lacklustre, un-cohesive, static nature of the performance but all I can see is a quarterfinal place…Rooney battled away like a Pro for the full match, showing some nice touches and importantly building up his fitness…we remain, in with a shout, but obviously much is going to depend on our star striker when we come up against a team of real class like the Argies or Italy……
Other result:
Portugal 1-0 Holland. (four players were sent off, the winning goal was scored by Maniche. Deco is amongst a posse of portugese players who will miss the showdown with England…
Recent Comments