The Fan

England crash out on penalties again

The Editor — Mon, July 3rd 2006

England 0 - Portugal 0 (Portugal win on penalties)

England lose in the quarter finals (again) on penalties (again) to Portugal (again). The inquest started immediately with the prime villains being Eriksson, Rooney and Ronaldo.

The game started brightly, with both teams seeming to appreciate playing more attacking opponents, and while neither side’s goalkeeper was seriously tested in the first half the game was nicely balanced at half time.

The introduction of Aaron Lennon for an injured David Beckham provided a spark for England and he troubled the Portugese defence - one mazy run leading to chances for Rooney, and then Joe Cole.

A tangle on the half way line between Rooney and Carvalho led to a red card for Rooney for an alledged stamp, and from then on the game pattern changed. Crouch replaced Joe Cole, and England reverted to a 4-4-1 formation, defending resolutely and breaking forward where possible.

In fact for the remaining 30 minutes of normal time, and the 30 minutes of extra-time, Portugal were able to create very little, despite Scolari’s substitutions.

And so England went into the penalty shootout again. Portugal’s Ricardo saved three from Gerrard, Lampard and Carragher, and despite missing 2 themselves Ronaldo stepped up to score Portugal the winning penalty.

Ronaldo was earlier at the centre of Rooney’s red card. Rooney and Carvalho clashed in the middle of the pitch, and Carvalho repeatedly attempted to pull down Rooney who honestly stayed up on his feet when he could have fallen and got a free kick. After several second on tangling, and with Carvalho lying on the floor beneath Rooney, the England players foot came down on the prostate Portugese player.

Ronaldo and Maniche ran over to the referee demanding a red card and Rooney pushed Manchester Utd team mate Ronaldo away.

There was some question about which offence Rooney was sent off for, with neither the ‘stamp’ or the push looking like straight red card offences, but it was later confirmed to be for stamping. This is likely to raise more anger against the Portugese as the referee did not look like he is going to take any action until Ronaldo’s complaints.

It was notable that after the sending off, England for the first time in the tournament started playing as a team. The midfield, which had previously looked like strangers, where cohesive and organised - Gerrard and Lampard had there best period together. Eriksson had reverted to a 5 man midfield to allow his star midfielders a chance to shine, but Saturday’s 4 man midfield (with Hargreaves the man of the match) showed that England could have played 4-4-2 succesfully.

Another chance at World Cup glory has passed and this tournament was a perfect summation of Eriksson’s reign. England did just enough, they achieved the minimum expected. They never reached their potential, or showed the desire or unity or will to succeed beyond their ability.

Listed in: Competitions, World Cup, Countries, England

Comments

Add a comment

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.