20 June 2006 |
SWEDEN | 2-2 |
ENGLAND |
Allback 50 |
Cole 34 |
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Larsson 90 |
Gerrard 85 |
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One of Owen's knee’s gave way as he turned
and passed. He rolled off the pitch before being stretchered off and replaced by Crouch after a minute into the game. The way he's going if this injury is serious he's not going to be playing by the time he hits 30. Cole intercepted a deep clearance, almost 40 yards from goal, juggled the ball off his chest then unleashing a stunning, high right foot volley which sailed into the top corner. One of the goals of the tournament. Allback equalised with a brilliant flick header from Linderoth's corner which sailed over Ashley Cole's head. Yes, someone thought it would be a bright idea to have a midget guarding one of the posts. A succession of corners had the England defence reeling. Robinson made a great reaction save from a deflection off Carragher, tipping the ball against the crossbar, Mellberg hooked a volley against the top of the crossbar and Gerrard cleared off the line from Kallstrom. Having survived the Swedish onslaught Gerrard looked to have stolen the points. Robinson walloped a goalkick downfield, Crouch headed down to Cole, who was now on the right flank, he feigned to shoot twice, forcing two defenders to back off, then chipped a glorious cross to the back post which Gerrard placed beyond Isaksson. Daylight robbery. Instead of fighting for possession and playing out time England went deep and hoofed the ball back to the Swedes. From a throw-in, Edman hurled the ball into the box, Terry missed it, Campbell turned in slow motion and tried to volley clear but couldn't reach all the while Robinson just stood on his line, like a complete twat, watching and Larsson beat Mellberg to volley the ball into the net and earn his team a deserved share of the points. Allback scored the 2000th goal in World Cup finals. I remember the first as if it was yesterday. For those who are interested it was scored by Laurent in the 19th minute for France in a 4-1 win over Mexico on the 13th of July 1930. Joe Cole scored goal number 1999. Ferdinand's injury (mid way through the second half) is a major cause for concern especially as SGE won't do the smart thing and play Carragher alongside Terry and opt for the liability that is Slow Campbell instead. England should be too strong for Ecuador but I doubt it will be pretty. 2 World Cup goals average Owen is no great loss, if, as expected, he doesn't recover. Typical Eriksson, he picks a squad of 23 and with players in need of a rest and getting injured half the team haven't kicked a ball. Sweden have looked a better team with Kallstrom in midfield but I still think Allback is crap, Rosenborg is a much better player. Attendance : 45,000 Assists : n/a, Linderoth (ck), Cole, Edman (throw-in) |
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PARAGUAY | 2-0 |
TRINIDAD & T |
Sancho 25 (og) | ||
Cuevas 85 | ||
Sancho gave Paraguay the lead when he headed
a free kick past his own 'keeper. Jack, in for Hislop, made a brilliant save from Valdes and Theobald cleared a shot off his line. In the second half Paraguay were content to sit back and despite some promising attacks T & T never threatened Bobadilla in goal. Cuevas, named after a famous brand of UK crisps in the, ran onto a return pass from Santa Cruz before slotting into the bottom corner. He also scored twice in the last World Cup. Attendance : 46,000 Assists : n/a, Santa Cruz |
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15 June 2006 |
SWEDEN | 1-0 |
PARAGUAY |
Ljungberg 88 | ||
Ibrahimovic drew a save from Bobadilla with
an excellent shot from distance before wasting Kallstrom's excellent cross from the resulting corner. Ibrahimovic's miss from a goalkick was even worse. More of the same longball crap in the second half sent Allback through on goal, he lobbed over Bobadilla and chased down the ball but Caceres hacked away before Allback could tap into an empty net. Allback headed a deflected ball from Elmander across the face of goal (he was aiming for the top corner) and Ljungberg arrived at the back post to head in the winner. Attendance : 72,000 Assist : Allback |
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ENGLAND | 2-0 |
TRINIDAD & T |
Crouch 83 | ||
Gerrard 91 | ||
Hislop spilled a long ranger from Lampard but
Owen failed to capitalise from six yards out, the ball bounced off his knee and went out for a goal kick. Yorke inadvertently blocked a drive from Gerrard with his mangina. I told my two year old son 'he's hurt his willy' and he couldn't stop laughing. Robinson, who had been a spectator for half an hour, flapped at a corner but having got goal-side of Carragher, Stern 'not Stern enough' John headed wide. Lampard blazed over from 12 yards after Owen laid off a Gerrard long ball and Crouch, unmarked in front of goal, wasted another glorious Beckham cross with an embarrassing volley. Right on the stoke of half time Robinson, under pressure from the enormous Lawrence, who is about an inch taller than Crouch, couldn't punch clear a long ball, Stern John leapt above Ferdinand to head the ball but was denied a certain goal by Terry's magnificent overhead kick. Owen was subbed (for Rooney) following another appalling miss from an immaculate Beckham free kick. Crouch did the exact same thing minutes later. Lampard ruined excellent approach play between Ferdinand, Crouch and Rooney with a weak finish, shooting straight at Hislop from six yards but went even closer, flashing just wide of the post with Ferdinand again involved. Ashley Cole wasted a great cross-field pass from Downing, a heavy second touch allowed a defender to close him down before he could shoot. Crouch made the breakthrough with 10 minutes to go. Beckham whipped in another fantastic cross, Crouch pulled Sancho back by yanking on his dreads and headed into the roof of the net. Gerrard received the ball with his back to play on the edge of the box and cut inside Whitley before thumping a shot with his weaker left foot past a helpless Hislop. Well it's about time. I don't think 2-0 is flattering, England could have easily scored four but the football, for the first 60 minutes, was utter shite. Most teams, even minnows like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Tunisia and Ecuador managed to pass the ball around, to show more invention. SGE is a complete and utter cretin. The midfield is the teams strongest point so why bypass it by continually hitting balls from the half way line into attack? Same crap at Lazio, same crap at the last World Cup. With the introduction of Rooney, Lennon and later Downing, Gerrard and Lampard were breaking forward, something we haven't seen a great deal of so far and Downing was miles better than Joe Cole on the left, he put in two great crosses, which is more than Cole has done all tournament. Attendance : 50,000 Assists : Beckham, Beckham |
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10 June 2006 |
ENGLAND | 1-0 |
PARAGUAY |
Gamarra 4 (og) | ||
Gamarra headed a Beckham free kick past his
own 'keeper. England wasted numerous openings with poor passing in and around the penalty area. Valdes almost equalised in first half injury time after a cross caused confusion in the box. The second half was as exciting as a trip to the dentists. SGE made one of his tactically inept substitutions replacing Owen, who looked short of match fitness, with Downing which meant Cole, who had an excellent first half, had to support Crouch in attack. Queue Paraguay enjoying the fair share of possession but failing to trouble Robinson and Crouch heading on longballs to the invisible man. Lampard forced Bobadilla into excellent saves with trademark long range efforts on the two occasions in which the England midfield pushed upfield. So SGE is a inept coward, what's new? What annoyed me more was the players seemed content with the three points and blamed the heat for their performance. Just as annoying was the awful, patchy shadow cast on the pitch by the gimmicked roof. We missed today's Wiggles for this crap. Attendance : 48,000 Assist : n/a |
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TRINIDAD & TOBAGO | 0-0 |
SWEDEN |
Avery John was booked for a violent lunge on
Wilhelmsson who minutes later stung Hislop's palms with a powerful drive from the edge of the box. The big 'keeper then denied Ibrahimovic with a excellent low save down to his right after the striker intercepted a hospital pass before volleying on the turn. Avery John got a second yellow after the restart for another wild lunge on Wilhelmsson. I don't think he likes his haircut. Trinidad & Tobago substitute Glenn rattled the crossbar with a superb strike. Hislop saved another acrobatic effort from Ibrahimovic and Allback wasted the best chance of all, shooting straight at the West Ham goalkeeper following excellent work by Ibrahimovic and Larsson. Sweden's frustrations boiled over when in the 89th minute when Larsson was booked for hacking Gray after running into traffic. Can someone explain what the hell the yellow stuff snowing on the pitch was? Attendance : 62,959 Red Card : Avery John 46 (Trinidad & Tobago) |
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