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England poor, but saved by sub

Poor Performance
By Paddy
September 7 2008
England arrived in Barcelona, seemingly destined for a comfortable victory. Capello was so sure of the result, he left out Beckham, Joe Cole and Micah Richards, who certainly would have welcomed a run out in the shirt to regain confidence after his long injury. However, it was Cole who saved the day after a poor performance in front of goal, as once again, the "Golden Generation" stumbled home.

England, as they were 2 years ago, were booed off at half time for such a shambolic performance. They were dominating, but they wasted chances. It took the substitute Joe Cole's contribution to take the points, after 2 second half goals.

The original selection seemed to be a good one, at least on Theo Walcott's part, as the Arsenal winger was involved in 2 good early chances, one where goal shy Rooney miscued, and then where Defoe was beaten to the ball by the Andorran keeper Koldo.

Walcott then fired over under pressure, and England started to lose confidence, as Capello started to tell England to utilise Walcott more and more, the Andorrans started to crowd him out, and with Stewart Downing having his usual shocker on the other wing, ENgland soon ran out of ideas.

Capello was forced into his substitution, as he needed to bring more life into the game, as Cole replaced the pathetic Downing, and Emile Heskey replacing the ineffective Defoe. It didn't take long for Cole to make an impact, as Lampard sent a whipping free kick over, Joleon Lescott won the header, and Cole struck home from 6 yards, to delight and relieve the England fans.

Andorra 0-1 England (Joe Cole 49)

England found a new belief after the goal and they went in search of a second. Captain John Terry crashed a thumper from the edge of the area into the side netting, and England did get their second to break Andorran spirits, when Rooney threaded a perfect ball through, and Cole prodded past the keeper

Andorra 0-2 England (Joe Cole 55)

England sensed that the job was done, but instead of going for more to improve the goal difference, they decided to sit back and pass the ball around, and on a rare venture forward, Glen Johnson scored a beauty, only to see it ruled out, as Cole drifted offside.

There will no doubt be tougher tests to come for ENgland, none more so than their trip to Zagreb on Wednesday to meet their conquerers in the European qualifiers Croatia, and England will have to be ready for when it comes.

 

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7 Sep, 2008 16:21 Report
Tangerine-Planet.co.uk (IP Logged)
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England poor, but saved by sub
England poor, but saved by sub

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7 Sep, 2008 17:35 Report
Danny17 (IP Logged)
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Re: England poor, but saved by sub
Richards was injured thats why he was left out

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7 Sep, 2008 17:46 Report
Nippywinger (IP Logged)
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Posts: 832
Re: England poor, but saved by sub
Ah well, close enough XD.

Can anyone else tell how much I hate Stewart Downing?


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