Liverpool 2-0 T&T....Oh....

Frakenstadion

England 2 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

Scorers:
England - Crouch (83 min), Gerrard (90 min);

So the Liverpool lads did England proud or should I say saved England's as* by leaving it really late. All seemed lost for England, as they kept trying and getting really frustrated. To be honest, England looked like Bolton, passing the ball to Beckham, then launch those 40-50 yards long pass to find Joe Cole, or Peter Crouch, who looked a little isolated due to the disappearing act by Mickey Owen. He might be a little short of fitness currently, but how bad does he looked? The first half was pretty bad, by England standard. Maybe they are THIS bad normally, but they looked really ordinary. They didn't really create any clear cut chances and Beckham is just passing the ball around 40 yards to Joe Cole who is mostly likely to misplace the cross and another chance spurned.

One thing I'll never understand is why Beckham is being played at such a deep position and spraying passes. Why not let him play the out and out winger and put in wonderful crosses as we have seen him in ManYoo shirt. By passing those 40 yards long pass, it bypassed the central midfielders and the making the two central midfielders rather useless.

Now, get ready for Whisky Ferguson's whining tomorrow morning eh? In the 58 minutes, when England looked really terrible and Eriksson's patience finally ran out, he decided to throw England's golden boy and only hope, Wayne Rooney on for a very disappointing Mickey Owen. Surely this is the last throw of the dice, as England really don't have any more strikers on the bench other than a very inexperienced Theo Walcott. Enland continued to strive for the opening goal but still looked very unimpressive throughout.

But when T&T defenders start to tire and losing concentration, England struck and left T&T with defeat staring in their faces. Beckham placed a wonderful cross into the back post and Peter Crouch rose the highest to head home. To be honest he should have scored at least two beforehand and was wasteful.

I was telling my friends IF England were to draw that game, Crouch would have been made the scapegoat. But he once again silenced the critics and scored the first England goal this World Cup. When everyone thought England would sit back and soak up the pressure once again, they struck and this time round Superman G! It's Steven Gerrard! he got the ball on the right hand side before cutting in a struck a beautiful left footed shot that curled past Shaka Hislop. Surely game over now. Yes and the two Liverpudlians rescued England this time round and helped booked a place in the last 16 alongside Germany.


Not a wonderful win, but effective enough.

Oh, how many times did Gerrard beat Shaka Hislop with his cannonball shots already?









Swedes Love To Leave It Late, Eh?

Olympicstadion, Berlin

Sweden 1 - 0 Paraguay

Scorer:
Sweden - Ljungberg (89 min);

After Sven-Goran Eriksson's England put on a late, late show, his home nation, Sweden did it as well. They went into this game with the disappointing goal-less draw with Trinidad & Tobago and knows that a win against Paraguay is of utmost importance as the Swedes will face the 'mighty' England next. But maybe both of England & Sweden suffers the same problems that is scoring goals and this game too, looked like its going to end up a goal-less draw AGAIN.

But thankfully for the Swedish, Freddie Ljungberg, the Arse midfielder, headed home the winning goal in the 89 minute to seal the important win. Something of note, I really think Ibrahimovic is the most over-rated striker ever and I have no idea what's the hype surrounding him about? He's too selfish, holds up the ball for far too long and wouldn't release it. When he does release it, it's too late. And how about the chance he spurned at the end of first half?

Oh well, maybe this win takes a little gloss off the next game, when Sweden meets England. But I still reckon it's gonna be a cracking match, as the Swedish team holds a fantastic record against the English and they wouldn't and of course, CAN'T lose that match. Hyped up, eh?

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, England, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden, Paraguay