England 0 – 0 Portugal
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Rubbish.
Yes, I know this is where we’re all supposed to talk of heroism in the face of defeat and didn’t the plucky lads try hard, but that’s just not what happened. Twenty minutes of frantic, full-blooded effort does not constitute a world-class performance. England were simply rubbish.
I’ll qualify that. Rio Ferdinand was superb. John Terry was superb. Owen Hargreaves was world class, breaking down Portugal attacks, running at players, spreading passes to every part of the pitch and even trying his hand at Beckham’s job towards the end. On the other hand, Rooney was ineffectual while he was on the pitch, bringing his contribution to an abrupt end with a display of selfish petulance that would make Cristiano Ronaldo proud. Lampard simply shouldn’t have been on the pitch, and any coach who allows a player on that sort of form to take the first penalty is clearly not up to the job.
Oh yes… the coach. I’ve stood up for Eriksson at various times during the last five years, but he’s now been found out. His substitutions were our undoing against Brazil and Portugal (in 2002 and 2004 respectively) but he clearly learned nothing from those matches. To bring on Carragher (a fifth defender) in place of Aaron Lennon, the one player who had revitalised England’s attacks, was naive to the point of incompetence. Why, when Rooney was sent off, was Joe Cole sacrificed in order to bring on Crouch? Why, indeed, was Crouch not playing from the start, in a 4-4-2 formation with Rooney that would have caused havoc for Portugal’s shaky central defence? If Brazil’s coach Parreira is guilty of being swayed by reputation, Sven is just as bad.
However, it takes two to tango and the Portugal cheating machine keeps rolling on. Did you see Cristiano’s knowing wink to another player after Rooney was dismissed? Why was Ronaldo himself not booked for trying to influence the referee amid the Rooney fracas? However far they progress in this tournament, Portugal have succeeded in one thing… using sly foul play to convince referees that they’re innocent victims. They’re the nastiest, most dishonest and negative side I’ve seen in world football for many years. That isn’t English sour grapes either; I know full well why England lost that match. However, it would have been nice to be beaten purely by football rather than by a mixture of our coach’s tactical naivety and another team’s cheating.
(Back to a more impartial tone in part 2, after I’ve had a pint!)
I have mentioned repeatedly over the campaign the words “Lampard”, “poor” and “nervous”, in the same sentence. The man just can’t step up to the big stage (not for England anyway).
The moment it went to extra time, I texted friends “here come the penalties … out go England” :( The worrying thing of course was that everyone texted back “yep”.
I’m gutted! Good riddance Ericsson, Close the door on your way out.
But where from here? McLaren isn’t the answer, he’s a terrible coach. Teesside breathed a huge sigh of relief when he was offered, and took, the big job.
Yeah, I agree with you… moving to McLaren just continues the pathetic “family line”. They should have started anew with another big-name coach, but without renewing his £2m contract every time we underperform in a tournament.
>> However, it takes two to tango and the Portugal cheating machine keeps rolling on.
My only regret is that Rooney, on being sent off, didn’t think “Ah well, might as well make it worth it!” and smack Ronaldo right across the face (yes, it would’ve been ungentlemanly conduct, and utterly unbecoming someone who ought to be a role model, but dear god, someone needs to twat the little f***er).
Hargreaves was a revelation – I’ve questioned his value for quite some time, but in the Ecuador game he played really well, and made me realize there might be a reason for his place in the team, and on Saturday he was just brilliant- he’s finally playing in a position he’s happy with, and he was a real asset.
Tom – totally agree. The press have already damned Rooney as a vicious chav, so he’s got nothing to lose!
As for Hargreaves, I’ve enjoyed being proved wrong about him. He’s our new official National Football Idol. This time next year, we’ll all be talking in a bizarre hybrid Canadian/German/Scouse accent, you mark my words…