England 3
Owen 7, 31
Ferdinand 84
Russia 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 86,106
Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Stefan Wittberg and Henrik Andren (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Ingvarsson (SWE)
Well the 3 Lions roared tonight I think. Russia are no mugs - not as good as they once were since the break up of the USSR - but certainly no mugs. Even so, the first Russian team to visit since the break up of the Soveit Union, were crushed under the wheels of the England bandwagon, that has finally started rolling downhill, rather than having to be dragged up the proverbial mountain.
McClaren has shaken the hounds off for now. Long may it continue. If the boo boys and media hounds don't sink their teth into McClaren anytime soon, that will mean England are winning football matches, which is all good.
I thought Michael Owen played well aside from his 2 goals, very nice to see as an England fan. Owen's first goal came early, in the 7th minute, supplied by a cross from Gareth Barry. Nicely controlled, well finished off the inside of the post, clinical. His second was another clinical finish from just inside the box, over the goalie, just under the crossbar, fed by an Emile Heskey headed flick on. Heskey took out the Russian back 3 with one header, leaving Owen in space in the danger area, to do as he liked.
Even centre back Rio Ferdinand got in the action up front, with a nicely taken goal from quite close in, after a ball from Joe Cole left Rio with only 1 defender to get past. Rio duly moved easily past his opponent, and beat the goalie at the near post with a half reasonable schoolboy shot. I doubt the 3rd choice Russian stopper Malafeev will be very happy with his contribution.
# Robinson looked assured in goal.
# Terry and Rio played well together at the back.
# Ashley Cole and Joe Cole teamed up well on the left.
# Wright-Phillips and Mica Richards marauded down the right.
# Gerrard and Barry controlled the centre of midfield.
# Heskey and Owen were both clinical up front.
A team performance overall, that was too much for the Russians to handle away from home. In fact, if England play like that in Russia in a couple of games time, the plastic artificial pitch won't matter much. Actually, if England play like that on plastic, concrete, grass or broken glass, we'll win plenty more football matches than i've become accustomed to.
Come on England!
England V Russia
♠ England V Russia Minute By Minute (the fa)
♠ Owen Sinks The Russians (the fa)
♠ England 3 Russia 0 (bbc)
Posted at 12:22 AM, Thursday, September 13, 2007
Owen 7, 31
Ferdinand 84
Russia 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 86,106
Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Stefan Wittberg and Henrik Andren (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Ingvarsson (SWE)
Well the 3 Lions roared tonight I think. Russia are no mugs - not as good as they once were since the break up of the USSR - but certainly no mugs. Even so, the first Russian team to visit since the break up of the Soveit Union, were crushed under the wheels of the England bandwagon, that has finally started rolling downhill, rather than having to be dragged up the proverbial mountain.
McClaren has shaken the hounds off for now. Long may it continue. If the boo boys and media hounds don't sink their teth into McClaren anytime soon, that will mean England are winning football matches, which is all good.
I thought Michael Owen played well aside from his 2 goals, very nice to see as an England fan. Owen's first goal came early, in the 7th minute, supplied by a cross from Gareth Barry. Nicely controlled, well finished off the inside of the post, clinical. His second was another clinical finish from just inside the box, over the goalie, just under the crossbar, fed by an Emile Heskey headed flick on. Heskey took out the Russian back 3 with one header, leaving Owen in space in the danger area, to do as he liked.
Even centre back Rio Ferdinand got in the action up front, with a nicely taken goal from quite close in, after a ball from Joe Cole left Rio with only 1 defender to get past. Rio duly moved easily past his opponent, and beat the goalie at the near post with a half reasonable schoolboy shot. I doubt the 3rd choice Russian stopper Malafeev will be very happy with his contribution.
# Robinson looked assured in goal.
# Terry and Rio played well together at the back.
# Ashley Cole and Joe Cole teamed up well on the left.
# Wright-Phillips and Mica Richards marauded down the right.
# Gerrard and Barry controlled the centre of midfield.
# Heskey and Owen were both clinical up front.
A team performance overall, that was too much for the Russians to handle away from home. In fact, if England play like that in Russia in a couple of games time, the plastic artificial pitch won't matter much. Actually, if England play like that on plastic, concrete, grass or broken glass, we'll win plenty more football matches than i've become accustomed to.
Come on England!
England V Russia
♠ England V Russia Minute By Minute (the fa)
♠ Owen Sinks The Russians (the fa)
♠ England 3 Russia 0 (bbc)
Posted at 12:22 AM, Thursday, September 13, 2007
England 3
Wright-Phillips 20
Owen 49
Richards 66
Israel 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium.
Att: 85,372.
Referee: Peter Vink, Netherlands.
England's 3 lions roared today, crushed a well disciplined Israeli side at Wembley in front of 85'000 fans, and in emphatic fashion.
Allegedly this was an injury depleted England side, but it did not show. Actually, in my opinion, due to the injuries throughout the squad, McClaren was forced to go for balance, rather than hope for something special from an individual. The balance proved a step too far for the Israeli's, who were made to look ordinary, due to them having to struggle throughout the match. Aside Benayoun, they were outclassed.
# Heskey dominated up front physically. Owen floated about as he prefers.
# Gerrard and Gareth Barry controlled the centre of midfeild.
# Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips were far too good out wide for the Israeli full backs. Especially Wright Phillips.
# At centre back, Rio and Terry complemented each other well.
# The right and left backs, ie Hyde and Ashley Cole, bombed forward at will, and did so at the right time, especialluy Micah Hyde.
# In goal, Robinson had little to do, and did his little bit plenty well enough.
Overall, an extremely important 3 points, backed by a very good performance, which should by rights, provide McClaren with some genuine selection headaches all over the pitch.
The Russians are next on wednesday at Wembley. A similar performance, from exactly the same players if selected, should be enough to overcome a well managed Russian side. Since the break up of the USSR, the Russian national team have had less top players to pick from. Accordingly, while very well managed by Guus Hiddink, the Russians are nowhere near as strong as their teams of the past.
Come on England!
England 3 Israel 0
♠ England 3 Israel 0 (bbc)
Posted at 7:15 PM, Saturday, September 08, 2007
Wright-Phillips 20
Owen 49
Richards 66
Israel 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium.
Att: 85,372.
Referee: Peter Vink, Netherlands.
England's 3 lions roared today, crushed a well disciplined Israeli side at Wembley in front of 85'000 fans, and in emphatic fashion.
Allegedly this was an injury depleted England side, but it did not show. Actually, in my opinion, due to the injuries throughout the squad, McClaren was forced to go for balance, rather than hope for something special from an individual. The balance proved a step too far for the Israeli's, who were made to look ordinary, due to them having to struggle throughout the match. Aside Benayoun, they were outclassed.
# Heskey dominated up front physically. Owen floated about as he prefers.
# Gerrard and Gareth Barry controlled the centre of midfeild.
# Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips were far too good out wide for the Israeli full backs. Especially Wright Phillips.
# At centre back, Rio and Terry complemented each other well.
# The right and left backs, ie Hyde and Ashley Cole, bombed forward at will, and did so at the right time, especialluy Micah Hyde.
# In goal, Robinson had little to do, and did his little bit plenty well enough.
Overall, an extremely important 3 points, backed by a very good performance, which should by rights, provide McClaren with some genuine selection headaches all over the pitch.
The Russians are next on wednesday at Wembley. A similar performance, from exactly the same players if selected, should be enough to overcome a well managed Russian side. Since the break up of the USSR, the Russian national team have had less top players to pick from. Accordingly, while very well managed by Guus Hiddink, the Russians are nowhere near as strong as their teams of the past.
Come on England!
England 3 Israel 0
♠ England 3 Israel 0 (bbc)
Posted at 7:15 PM, Saturday, September 08, 2007
Previous Posts
♠ England 23 To Face France On 26 Mar 2008
♠ England 2 Switzerland 1 (6 Feb 08)
♠ Capello Names His First England Squad
♠ Fabio Capello - The New England Manager?
♠ Steve McClaren Sacked As England Manager
♠ England 2 Croatia 3 - England Fail To Qualify
♠ Isreal Beat Russia - England Can Qualify
♠ Austria 0 England 1 (friendly)
♠ Russia 2 England 1 (17 Oct 07)
♠ England 3 Estonia 0 (13 oct, 07)
♠ England 2 Switzerland 1 (6 Feb 08)
♠ Capello Names His First England Squad
♠ Fabio Capello - The New England Manager?
♠ Steve McClaren Sacked As England Manager
♠ England 2 Croatia 3 - England Fail To Qualify
♠ Isreal Beat Russia - England Can Qualify
♠ Austria 0 England 1 (friendly)
♠ Russia 2 England 1 (17 Oct 07)
♠ England 3 Estonia 0 (13 oct, 07)
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