World Cup qual - How England rated

Eurosport - Sun, 07 Jun 12:54:00 2009

We cast a discerning eye over England's performers in the 4-0 World Cup qualifying win against Kazakhstan.

2009 Kazakhstan-England Gareth Barry Emile Heskey - 0

Robert Green - 6

His only major contribution came after 20 seconds, when he made himself big and caused Sergey Ostapenko to fluff his lines when presented with an early chance. Ostapenko later found the net but was ruled offside. Green will start against Andorra on Wednesday.

Glen Johnson - 4

Was awful in the first half, giving the ball away to Zhambyl Kukeyev for that early chance, and then playing panicky stuff. Partially redeemed himself with the cross for Rooney's goal, but will be thankful backup right-back Gary Neville is injured.

John Terry - 6

Had very little to do following the home side's opening flurry of activity. His pre-match comments that only the result mattered cannot have helped the overall team performance but a win is a win. Will soon be captaining England at the World Cup.

Matthew Upson - 6

It is difficult to remember him making a telling contribution barring a first-half header wide, but Upson did what was required of him. Mind you, England could have kept a clean sheet in the second half with waxwork dummies at centre-back.

Ashley Cole - 5

Was troubled by Eugene Averchenko's searing pace down the Kazakhstan right and was relieved when a tactical reshuffle saw the winger take a more central role. Made no major clangers, as he did in the corresponding fixture at Wembley.

Theo Walcott - 4

The Arsenal flier's long-awaited return to the England team was a disappointment. A small pitch and the home side's tendency to defend in numbers denied him space, and he was replaced at half-time by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Frank Lampard - 7

The Chelsea man's late penalty capped off an authoritative performance in midfield. Lampard worked hard in a more defensive role than that which he plays at club level, but still found space to pass the ball effectively. Set pieces could have been better.

Gareth Barry - 5

A mixed performance after a big week for Manchester City's latest signing. Was booked for a first-half foul and might have picked up a second booking from a fussier referee. But made no mistake heading in the opening goal.

Steven Gerrard - 6

The Liverpool skipper set up the opening goal with a left-foot cross, but he still looks less than comfortable in his position on the left. Occasionally swapped positions with Wayne Rooney, drifting inside to more familiar ground.

Wayne Rooney - 6

After a big build-up, Rooney's return to his favoured position as a second striker was something of a let-down. Did not see as much of the ball as he wanted, but executed a superb overhead kick late on to score his eighth England goal in six matches.

Emile Heskey - 7

A record of seven goals in 53 caps is hardly prolific, but the Aston Villa striker has now found the net in his last two England games. Led the line with his usual hard work and physical presence, and also hit the post before his goal.

Substitutes

Shaun Wright-Phillips - 5

Played the whole second half but did little to persuade Fabio Capello to start him against Andorra.

David Beckham - 6

A popular introduction late in the second half, Goldenballs moved closer to the all-time record and sent a shot wide.

Jermain Defoe - 5

Had little time to make an impact in his 10-minute cameo.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 25 - 44 of 84

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. me h you can only beat what is in front of you ,and you­ can only rate a tam on it's performance on the day!­ not to rate them attall would be so disrespectful of­ the opposition,as i feel you are being ,this was a­ massive game for them !England won 4-0 a job well done­ p 6 w 6

    From handyandyisalways, on Sun 7 Jun 11:45AM

  2. me h you can only beat what is in front of you ,and you­ can only rate a tam on it's performance on the day!­ not to rate them attall would be so disrespectful of­ the opposition,as i feel you are being ,this was a­ massive game for them !England won 4-0 a job well done­ p 6 w 6

    From handyandyisalways, on Sun 7 Jun 11:45AM

  3. steve 1 what is it you are unhappy about ?

    From handyandyisalways, on Sun 7 Jun 11:39AM

  4. steve g moving to manchester ......city

    From Michael, on Sun 7 Jun 11:34AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hahahha, You are so glad to have beaten kazakhstan­ hahahah omg lmao ! hahahahaxD

    From chechenr, on Sun 7 Jun 11:26AM

  6. Predictable football why the hell Gerrard is rated so­ much in the press i do not know

    he was average for­ this game. The same as Frank Lampard we do not have the­ same technical ability as other teams. But we are­ moving towards the next World Cup and that is what­ counts. At least the Manager is not letting up on the­ players and discipline is being instilled. The players­ are not allowed to say we will do well and progress to­ the semis at least.

    In the past we have crowed we are­ the best etc etc for once every one bar the press­ is
    keeping a low profile and we may benefit from this.

    From reddevil155, on Sun 7 Jun 11:26AM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hahahahahahahahah England relax it was JUST­ KAZAKHSTAN hahahahaha the land of Borat hahha. hahah­ Enligsh men are retards hahaha

    From chechenr, on Sun 7 Jun 11:25AM

  8. look! i think we did alright! you want to try sleeping­ in bed with a gay hippo and a bear that wears jim jams!­ THEN you'd have something to moan about!

    From jimbob333, on Sun 7 Jun 11:25AM

  9. It's funny how people compare England to Spain and­ use that as an argument to why England would not win a­ world cup. Well probably England won't win the­ world cup but when did Spain win a world cup or even­ reach the final to deserve to be compared to? And what­ does Spain have to stand for next to the likes of Italy­ and France and even Holland and Germany in terms of­ European and World championships and finals? Winning­ their first European championship in more than 30 year­ makes Spain a good contender for he world title but­ never a reference for success in it.

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 7 Jun 11:15AM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    lets not get carried away with the result. any decent­ attacking team would have shown our flaws that we have­ the two WORST fullbacks in world football

    From midland kopite, on Sun 7 Jun 11:15AM

  11. The best teams in the world are the ones that still­ grind out results even when they play CR*P! Eng not the­ best team in the world but 4-0 when playing awful shows­ promise of potential greatness when they play well.­ Great goal Rooney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Crispy, on Sun 7 Jun 11:12AM

  12. Cant beleive this B.S uhmmmm we won 4 0 away from­ home we have WON 6 outta 6 games in qualifiers and look­ 10 times better then we did under mclarean and yet­ people still knock the team. Why not just F off, u­ still will moan if we win the dam world cup well done­ England keep up the good work

    From Tina P, on Sun 7 Jun 11:06AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Oh praise Lampard again? He was ok, but no better than­ anybody else out there. Several typical shots from way­ out, aimed at the moon. I am not saying he is a bad­ player, but not worthy of any special praise yesterday.­ All in all a very lacklustre and average effort from­ England which against better opposition would have got­ them stuffed.
    As for Goldenballs, I wish somebody­ would add up the minutes played by him against those of­ the pre-multisubstituting days, and he would be miles­ behind the likes of Bobby Moore and probably several­ others. I think that giving him cameo roles to beat­ records is very unfair to those who served for 90­ minutes every game

    From steve, on Sun 7 Jun 11:04AM

  14. jimbob333 thats really made me laugh out loud!!­ HA!!!!!!!

    From oskinton, on Sun 7 Jun 11:03AM

  15. Dennivois, yes sometimes you do need to grind out­ results.....but the fact is that England shoudlnt HAVE­ to do that against Kazakstahn, their 136 places below­ England. It was hardly ground, England dominated the­ last 60 minutes of the match, but surely, if your an­ england fan (which im not) that first 20 minutes­ performance is really really worrying? Imagine if they­ were playing Spain and started like that, they'd be­ ripped to pieces....

    From Jordzibob, on Sun 7 Jun 10:59AM

  16. denni, we dont play "spectacular stuff" and­ we dont "raise it for the big one" as you put­ it, thats the whole problem. Are you watching different­ games to the rest of the nation ????

    From the silent assassin, on Sun 7 Jun 10:52AM

  17. right lets improve on this! i really do believe that we­ can push the top teams all the way!......But then­ again, i have no eyelids and a zip for a mouth!!­ JESUS!!!! LOOK AT ME!!!!!!

    From jimbob333, on Sun 7 Jun 10:52AM

  18. Sometimes you need to just grind out results, not­ always play spectacular stuff, 4-0 is nothing to sneeze­ at, job done in very convicing fashion score wise.­ I'm sure that Capello will give the lads an earful,­ and they'll raise their games for the 'big'­ ones.

    From denniovis, on Sun 7 Jun 10:44AM

  19. Glen Johnson was pants yesterday, and I'm a Pompey­ supporter. But one bad game doesn't make him a bad­ player. He was in the Yahoo team of the season and the­ PFA Premier League team of the season so he can't­ be that bad. I think he was tired, like the rest of­ the England team, and also made the big mistake of­ under estimating his opponents. He's still a far­ better attacking wing back than Phil Neville, or Wes­ Brown, who are just stoppers and add nothing else to­ the team. And Phil Neville will be way too old by the­ time the world cup is played.

    From Ace, on Sun 7 Jun 10:38AM

  20. Why do successive England managers treat these­ ridiculous matches as competitive football games? Any­ reasonably sober pub team could beat this mob after­ giving them a goal start and the idea of playing a ski­ resort next is just laughable. Given that this current­ England team have no competent goalie, no midfielders­ capable of playing with eath other and no competent­ strikers and therfore will fail badly at their first­ competitive game then the idea of rating them in such a­ patnetly ridiculous martch is laughable.

    From Me H, on Sun 7 Jun 10:31AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account