World Cup qual - England leave it late

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Apr 11:03:00 2009

John Terry netted a late winner to give Fabio Capello's England a 2-1 win over Ukraine at Wembley and maintain their perfect record in World Cup qualifying Group 6.

FOOTBALL 2008 World Cup qualifying England Terry Gerrard - 0

Peter Crouch, in the starting XI in the absence of injured trio Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Darren Bent, put England in the driving seat on 29 minutes with a trademark volley from close range.

Despite their dominance of possession, the hosts failed to make their superiority count and second-half substitute Andriy Shevchenko threatened to make them pay with a 74th minute equaliser.

But with five minutes remaining England skipper Terry pounced to grab all three points and make it five wins out of five during the current campaign.

The win saw Capello's side maintain their five-point advantage over second-placed Croatia, who enjoyed a 2-0 win over Andorra, while Ukraine slipped to third, eight points adrift of England.

Crouch was handed his first start since Capello took charge of England 13 games ago and he justified his inclusion after 29 minutes, swooping in typical fashion to open the scoring.

The Portsmouth striker swivelled to volley home after Terry had planted a header back into the danger area from a Frank Lampard corner to continue his impressive scoring record at international level - the goal was his 15th in 33 appearances.

Crouch took the plaudits for finding the back of the net, but it was Wayne Rooney's energetic display that had the home crowd on their feet.

At times, there appeared to be two Rooneys on the Wembley turf, such was the Manchester United's incredible coverage of the pitch. But he was not just full of running, and he brought gasps from the stands with a lovely overhead kick that looped just over the bar on eight minutes.

Steven Gerrard, playing wide on the left, also went close early on, firing a curling shot from a set piece just wide of Andriy Pyatov's left-hand upright after a quarter-of-an-hour.

That effort preceded England's best move of the first-half, a lovely flowing passing attack involving both Gerrard, Rooney and Aaron Lennon. But the Tottenham winger's eventual cross failed to cause consternation in the Ukraine defence and the move ultimately fizzled out.

Crouch pounced soon after and the irrepressible Rooney went close to doubling the lead on 35 minutes, sending a powerfully struck volley over the bar after having started the move with a wonderful cross-field pass to Lennon.

At the other end, Ukraine had to make do with pot shots from distance during the opening period, skipper Anatoliy Tymoschuk going closest with a swerving effort that bounced just before it reached David James in the England goal on 36 minutes. The Portsmouth keeper was forced into making an unorthodox, if effective, save with his shoulder.

Rooney started the second half as he had spent much of the first - demanding the ball as often as possible and covering as much ground as he could. And his efforts were nearly rewarded four minutes after the restart when a typically cavalier run saw him evade three Ukraine challenges before shooting wide.

David Beckham was introduced just before the hour mark to win his 110th international cap and he gave the visiting defence a scare five minutes later with a free-kick that landed on top of the netting.

With Ukraine offering very little up front, England looked comfortable yet their failure to put the game to bed gave them a scare after the introduction of Shevchenko.

The former Chelsea striker took full advantage of some slack defending from a whipped free-kick into the danger area which bounced against the chest of Glen Johnson and into his path. Shevchenko stabbed home past James to net on his first appearance at Wembley and England hearts sank.

The visitors were energised by the goal and for several minutes they looked capable of netting a winner - an unlikely scenario for most of the game.

But Terry came to England's rescue with just five minutes remaining, hooking home after Gerrard had knocked back Beckham's deep free-kick in a move which almost mirrored that which led to the opener.

Two goals in the first half gave Croatia a 2-0 win over Andorra to retain second place in Group 6.

Croatia opened the game with a series of promising crosses by Darijo Srna and opened the scoring in the 15th minute through Ivan Klasnic's precise shot from the edge of the box.

The pace of the game then slowed with Croatia creating few chances and Andorra rarely venturing past the centre of the pitch until a random cross from Klasnic was slotted in by Eduardo da Silva in the 35th minute.

The entire second half saw Croatia dominant but failing to create any serious opportunities to increase their lead.

In the early kick-off Belarus crushed Kazakhstan 5-1 to retain a slim chance of reaching the play-offs.

Kazakhstan's Renat Abdulin scored his team's only goal with the opener in the 10th minute from a Ruslan Baltiyev free-kick. Otherwise Belarus were more aggressive in the first half but wasted several chances to score.

Three minutes into the second half, Alexander Hleb evened the score after a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Belarus then scored three times within the next 15 minutes with a goal by Ihar Stasevich and two from Timofei Kalachev. Vitali Rodionov scored the final goal in the 88th minute.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport / Reuters

Comment 51 - 70 of 130

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  1. England didn't have one of their best games , there­ were individual mistakes which effected their overall­ team performance..

    -James....played well for a­ change
    -Ferdi and JT were solid enough except for the­ goal...
    -A.Cole made tons of mistakes but tried to make­ up for it by overlapping slightly(A huge change for­ him) he's not first team standard­ anymore....
    -Johnson played brillinatly except for the­ goal incident which wasn't entirely his­ fault
    -Lennon showed good speed but lack of­ communication...
    -Lamps and Barry played well but I­ think they would have played better without Gerrard­ occasionally diverting from his left midfield­ role
    -Gerrard wasn't that bad but tired­ quickly
    -Rooney ran himself into the ground, created­ chances, passed, crossed, shot, pretty much everything ­ a good performance..
    -Crouch didn't play­ brilliantly but showed good technique upfront
    -Beckham­ began slowly but delivered impeccably
    -Jagielka and SWP­ didn't get that much possesion or time to make an­ impact....
    All in all not bad but capello knows there­ is still patching up to do until 2010..
    A good­ reliable left back would fix this and maybe Joe Cole­ returning along with Foster in goal.....
    GO CAPELLO!!!

    From tyson82003, on Thu 2 Apr 6:32AM

  2. Please you bad people who dont want to see england­ prosper, its all about three points. We got the points­ and Capello is the boss. Period.

    From Majoser, on Thu 2 Apr 5:30AM

  3. the game is on....dont see dwn to england
    capelo will­ make history again
    bring out beckham for 90min
    beckham­ rules

    From melwin l, on Thu 2 Apr 5:21AM

  4. Good results with an average performance. ­ Individually, most of the team played well but as a­ team, still much left to be desired.

    The 2 fullbacks,­ Ashley Cole and Glenn Johnson, played very­ inconsistently. Cole's form is really terrible now­ and only his experience pulled him through the game. ­ Is Johnson the best right back England has now? If­ that's the case, I can't wait to see Wes Brown­ or Gary Neville get fit again! Even Micah Richards­ could play better than that!

    Ferdinand and Terry had a­ good game and kept the Ukrainian forwards quiet for­ most of the time. However, one lapse and Shevchenko­ pops one in.

    Barry was okay as in cutting out passes­ through the centre but he doesn't have the ball­ distribution of Carrick, Hargreaves or­ Gerrard.

    Lennon's speed was his advantage but this­ time his crosses has improved but he was often­ isolated.

    Lampard has had better games. He seems a­ little lost. Maybe it's due to Gerard's roving­ role and Lamps is having difficulty fitting into this­ team.

    Gerard was good in this roving role but somehow­ there seems to be gaps on wide left.

    Rooney -­ inspirational and full of energy. He's improving­ all the time.

    Robot man Crouch has proven that he­ should be in the first team. Held the ball well and­ his passing was surprisingly good. He seemed to tire a­ bit in the second half. Wonder if it was his fitness­ or the injury acting up a bit.

    Beckham should have­ played from the start! He adapted to the game better­ than Lennon. Initially, Beckham was isolated just like­ Lennon was but he got to grips and started moving­ around more and got the ball more. His passing and­ dead balls are still up there with the best!

    SW­ Phillips and Jagielka didn't play long enough to­ make any impact but seemed to get on okay.

    From Jerry MadMax, on Thu 2 Apr 4:18AM

  5. just 2 goals against the poorly form ukraine...come on­ england...ure getting worst

    From danny_jrul81, on Thu 2 Apr 3:55AM

  6. Good manager is Capello- no ego pandering from him.­ Suprised Lennon got in- he hasn't the confidence to­ take players on- Walcott is so much better. But, all in­ all, an important result.

    From ANDREW S, on Thu 2 Apr 3:30AM

  7. capello is the english hero....
    england have change too­ world south africa...
    thanks too capello..

    From joevargas, on Thu 2 Apr 2:19AM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    H_O_t_blondCh
    _ick_____ W ealth yf in d e rC om _____­ YOu will not forget me if you ...

    From eea.kent, on Thu 2 Apr 2:12AM

  9. I hate to say it being Scottish but i think you are in­ for a chance in this world cup the squad is a good age­ and there seems to be a real desire this time on top of­ that this will be the last chance for some of these­ players get your money on them at the bookies.

    From saltire1873, on Thu 2 Apr 1:52AM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    LUCKY TO WIN ENGLAND GAMES ARE ALWAYS SAME IF THEY GOT­ FIRST GOAL THEN THE GAME BEGINS SLOW IF U WANT US TO­ MAKE HAPPY THEN PLAY LIKE BOLIVIA AGAINST MIGHTY­ ARGEINTINE HTEY WERE 3 UP AT HALFTIME BUT THEY KEEP ON­ PUSHING FR MORE GOAL AND MAKE IT 6 BUT I BET IF ENGLAND­ WERE 3 UP AT HALF TIME THEN IT WILL BE BOURING TO SEE­ THE GAME LOOK TODAY ON FIRST HALF THEY WR PLAYING­ BETTER BUT AFTER THEY GOT ONE THE GAME WAS REALLLY­ BOURING TO WATCH AND NEARLLY PUNISH BY SHEVE .IF THE­ ATTITUDE OF PLAYER WILL BE LIKE THAT THEN USELESS TO­ DREAM THAT THEY CAN DO SOMETHING SPECIEL AT 2010 FINAL

    From suryag, on Thu 2 Apr 1:44AM

  11. Like comment 56 I to have just got back from wembley,a­ win is a win ok not the best of displays and Lennon is­ out of his depth,several others had bad nights,but must­ say one thing it is still a joy to see Beckham come on­ think 3/4s of crowd thought so as well he still has­ drive and energy as well passion as does Gerrard,­ Rooney and if man of the match was given for pure­ effort Rooney would of had it sown up by half time,Oh­ and can some one teach the band how to play Steptoe and­ son theme Good on ya boys keep up the good work­ lol

    From Alan L, on Thu 2 Apr 1:26AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Lucky win for ye English bar stewards... ye huvnae a­ clue wha ya doin'...

    From joestone99uk, on Thu 2 Apr 1:13AM

  13. Nice to get the 3 points, but I cant see us doing­ anything in a major tournament. I think it has­ something to do with the way we teach the game in the­ UK, not enough technique.

    From Jamie, on Thu 2 Apr 1:13AM

  14. It's a waste of talent for for leaving Michael Owne­ out of the squad. Owen should at least be on the bench­ because he is still better than some of the other­ strikers choice.

    From sabathiel_01, on Thu 2 Apr 1:06AM

  15. Just got back from Wembley....Rooney was sensational.­ Cole and Lennon don't cut it! What is wrong with­ Ashley Cole? He was terrible on saturday and even worse­ tonight!!

    From James, on Thu 2 Apr 1:00AM

  16. Whoever Capello picks Iam always happy because he­ simpley knows his stuff! What a man he is simply the­ best!!!!

    From stephen d, on Thu 2 Apr 12:55AM

  17. Capello is ACE 5 striaght wins and his outstanding­ record as a manager also doesn't reflect a pratt!!!­ Before he took charge England were not half the team­ they are now.

    From stephen d, on Thu 2 Apr 12:53AM

  18. what a fool who said it was a dreadful performance­ ..Its all relative ,this is the ukraine a team with a­ good record in qualifying and in major tournaments they­ reached the quarter finals in 06 So have a football­ brain and remember there is no easy games anymore in­ international football ,and england did just what they­ had to do scrap it out. Capello 5 out of 5 its a­ results buisness just ask Italy 4 world cups the­ greatest european side ever, not by playing great but­ getting results when it matters hopefully capello will­ get england to do that.

    From ANTONIO, on Thu 2 Apr 12:50AM

  19. Thought Beckham was outstanding!! What a free kick to­ Gerrard who then set up Terry. David Pleat wasn't­ too pleased he'd come on. Ermm, maybe thats why­ Capello has been more a sucessful manager than him????­ Beckham was getting everywhere and is looking much­ fitter, sharper too! It also seems Capello has done no­ harm suggesting AC milan buy him.

    From stephen d, on Thu 2 Apr 12:49AM

  20. Lets get things into perspective here;
    At the end of­ the day, Ukraine is not exactly the world chart topping­ national side. However the result can go the other way­ with any side when you are at your worst. The way­ England were playing, they wouldn't have lasted 5­ minutes against the likes of the Italians or French. No­ doubt they shall qualify for 2010 however, with the­ current line up of pensioners they have, they are­ unlikely to get anywhere significant in the tournament­ itself. I just feel that England shall, for the­ forseeable future, be the best men at the wedding, but­ not the groom itself. It's always the usual story­ of sour grapes when they get the chop. Usual excuse is­ the match officials of course.

    From sappercommando25, on Thu 2 Apr 12:48AM
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