Saturday June 2, 2012 Friendlies Finished Wembley

England 1 - 0 Belgium

  • Welbeck 35’

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  1. Dogged England subdue Belgium

    Dogged England subdue Belgium

    Danny Welbeck scored his first England goal in an unconvincing 1-0 win against Belgium at Wembley, the team's last game ahead of Euro 2012. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • England
    • Belgium
    • 90+5' Well, that's that. A win's a win, I suppose, but it hardly set the pulse racing. At least that won't send anyone's expectations soaring either.
    • 90+4' Great work from Fellaini to knock the ball past Ashley Cole... he slides it through for Lukaku, but the striker is unnecessarily offside!
    • 90+3' Lukaku knocks the ball down at the edge of the box for Fellaini, who hits a left-foot shot into the ground, and Hart dives to his left to make a low save.
    • 90+1' Four minutes of stoppage time to be played.
    • 90' Walcott picks the ball up and feeds Defoe, who smashes a shot into the side netting from the right side. Lively from both players.
    • 89' Pacy free-kick whipped into the box by Rooney, where Mignolet punches it into Lescott ands away to safety. Vertonghen had a handful of Lescott's shirt there. Could have been a penalty.
    • 87' Gillet crosses for Fellaini, who is climbing all over his Everton colleague Jagielka and glances a header just wide.
    • 86' Weirdly, Andy Townsend has nominated Steven Gerrard as England's man of the match. I would have picked Ashley Cole.
    • 85' Rooney and Cole combine well down the left... deep cross from the full-back, headed behind for a corner.
    • 84' Jordan Henderson; trending in 3, 2, 1....
    • 83' England: Jordan Henderson comes on for Steven Gerrard, who hands the captain's armband to Wayne Rooney.
    • 82' Defoe hits the post! Shot from the right side of the box, it clangs back off the far upright!
    • 82' Fellaini's shot is blocked, then Witsel blasts it about 35 rows back.
    • 81' Rooney lofts a lovely ball into the box for Parker, whose attempted flick header is blocked.
    • 80' Lescott heads clear - he's very visible with his white bandaged head. And Rooney is also back to defend.
    • 79' Good spell for Belgium. They are well on top here, which is not entirely encouraging from an England point of view.
    • 78' GILLET!! Off the post! What a strike from the right-back! Thrashes one with the outside of his right foot from 25 yards, it takes a slight deflection on its way through and glances wide off the outside of the left-hand post.
    • 77' Claret. Lescott is bleeding from the side of his head, and his Terry Butcher tribute act is cut short when he is ordered off for treatment.
    • 76' Lukaku! Twists and turns inside the England box, and his shot is blocked by the flying Ashley Cole!
    • 75' Early touch for Defoe inside the box... tries to cut across goal from the left, but Simons intercepts.
    • 74' Gerrard fires a pacy free-kick into the box... Johnson attacks it at the far post but a Belgian head gets there first.
    • 72' And is that cutting edge coming on now? Romelu Lukaku replaces Dries Mertens for Belgium.
    • 71' Tom Adams: "England struggling to keep Belgium at bay and distinctly inferior still. If the Belgians had a cutting edge England would be in trouble."
    • 70' A few whistles for John Terry as he comes off, to be replaced by Phil Jagielka. He's limping a bit, but honestly, you never know how injured JT really is. He disappears down the tunnel and slips on a strategically-placed captain's armband.
    • 68' Chadli skins Johnson and clips over a cross from the left... over the top of everyone.
    • 67' England changes: Jermain Defoe and Theo Walcott come on for Ashley Young and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
    • 66' Mertens fails to deliver again - this time his cross from the right is straight at Hart.
    • 65' I almost nodded off there... sorry, it's been a long day. Belgium pass the ball around, England retreat with two banks of four.
    • 63' By the way, Vermaelen is playing on and looks fine.
    • 62' Fellaini now! Dodges Terry and hits a left-foot shot... again, Hart is not seriously troubled when he probably should have been.
    • 61' Hazard tries to bend a left-foot shot towards the top-left corner, but it poses no great problem for Hart.
    • 60' Mertens hits a speculative shot from the left corner of the box... straight at Hart.
    • 59' A change for Belgium - Nacer Chadli comes on for Kevin Mirallas.
    • 58' The Ox stays down after catching a flailing arm in the face from Dembele. Accidental, and to be honest he made the most of it.
    • 57' Vermaelen slides in on Milner - he takes the ball, but gets a clout on the leg as Milner flies through. The Belgian stays down and will need treatment.
    • 56' The FA tell us Gary Cahill is having a precautionary x-ray on his jaw...
    • 56' Mertens cuts inside from the left and shoots into the crowd. Not great.
    • 55' Welbeck has gone straight down the tunnel for some treatment on his ankle - this was his first game in nearly five weeks.
    • 54' Off goes Welbeck for Rooney, who is of course suspended for the first two games of Euro 2012. He's wearing the number 20 shirt...
    • 53' Wayne Rooney is stripped and getting ready to come on.
    • 52' Milner works hard in his own box to dispossess Hazard... he finds Gerrard who prods the ball out for a throw.
    • 50' Vertonghen cuts inside from the left and strikes right-footed... miles over.
    • 49' Gillet knocks it long to Fellaini, who appears to be impeded by Terry... the referee says no foul.
    • 48' Another corner comes in, once again defended solidly by the visitors.
    • 47' England win the first corner of the second half... delivered by Young and headed clear.
    • 46' Off we go! England kick off the second half with the posh seats still more than half empty.
    • 45+2' That's half-time, and England are a goal to the good. Not scintillating, but a great finish by Danny Welbeck.
    • 45+1' Two minutes of stoppage time to be played.
    • 45' Gerrard! His shot from the edge of the box is blocked by Simons, it comes back to the England skipper and Gillet gets in the way of his second shot!
    • 44' Fellaini comes across to the touchline for some treatment following that tangle with Cole. He'll be OK.
    • 43' Fellaini piles into the back of Cole, who responds with a quick slap to the face. Handbags.
    • 42' Young closes down Mignolet, who uses some silky skills to twist away from the onrushing forward.
    • 40' Fist-bump between Welbeck and Hart. Bo! Belgium launch a throw into the England box... Hazard strikes from distance, and it bounces into the arms of Hart.
    • 39' Tom Adams tweets from Wembley: 'Nice assist from Young solidifies his claim for the second striker role. Will that gorgeous finish push Welbeck ahead of Carroll? Hope so.' Follow Tom on Twitter
    • 38' Down on the bench, Jermain Defoe looks worried. Wayne Rooney looks bored.
    • 37' And just like that, England are going to win the Euros. Good link-up between Young and Welbeck. I have to say Welbeck looks a better option than Carroll in Rooney's absence.
    • 36' GOAL!! Danny Welbeck, terrific finish! Young plays him in on the left side of the box, and Welbeck dinks the ball exquisitely over Mignolet for his first England goal.
    • 35' The Belgians are just about shading this, but it must be said neither goal has been seriously threatened so far.
    • 33' OLE! Great short passing down the Beligum right... it is worked to the other flank, but Vertonghen crosses out of play. Nice from the visitors though (Dembele in particular), making England look ponderous and leaden.
    • 32' The atmosphere oozes England friendly. The TV cameras pick out a Camilla Parker-Bowles lookalike in the crowd. She looks enormously bored.
    • 31' Hazard accelrates away from Ashley Cole, who slides in a chops his soon-to-be-team-mate.
    • 30' Parker takes Vertonghen out, and even in a friendly that's yellow.
    • 30' Glen Johnson is currently positioned deep in Jan Vertonghen's pocket. The Belgium left-back dispossesses him again.
    • 29' According to ITV's touchline guy, Cahill has taken a bang to the jaw, and is basically fine though his face has swelled up a bit.
    • 28' Tweets Tony Mabert: "Paper aeroplanes beginning to bomb down on those in bottom tier at Wembley with increasing velocity. Someone's going to have an eye out." Follow Tony on Twitter
    • 27' Lescott heads the corner out and Mertens runs it out of play for a throw.
    • 26' Hazard fires in a good inswinging ball. Fellaini cannot force the ball goalwards but Belgium win a corner.
    • 25' Belgium are enjoying a good spell, and Johnson crocks Mertens to give the visitors a free-kick on the left, 25 yards from goal.
    • 24' There's a presentation at half-time in honour of the five players to get 100 England caps. Beckham, Bobby Charlton and Shilton are here in person. Billy Wright and Bobby Moore also reached their century.
    • 23' Axel Witsel hits a shot with the outside of his right boot from 20 yards - powerful strike, but it flashes just over.
    • 21' Belgium are doing striker by committee - Hazard is probably the furthest forward, but constantly rotating with Mirallas and Dembele.
    • 20' Pointless Hollywood ball from Gerrard. I find myself writing that a lot when I cover England games.
    • 19' Joleon Lescott comes on for Gary Cahill. I don't think the Chelsea man is badly hurt, but it's not exactly what Roy Hodgson wanted.
    • 18' And it looks like Cahill is coming off. He did clash heads with Hart...
    • 17' Cahill has stayed down and is getting treatment - appears to be a check that he isn't concussed. Not another injury... Joleon Lescott warming up.
    • 16' Hilarious foul by Mertens! He chases a through ball, and decides to push Cahill into Hart. Both men end up on the deck, and Mertens puts the ball in the net, but it's a yellow card.
    • 15' Rooney and Carroll enjoy a jape on the bench. Not exactly a white-hot atmosphere...
    • 14' There's a Mexican wave, and paper planes landing on the pitch. This game not exactly holding the attention of a sold-out Wembley.
    • 12' Mertens attempts a sharp 1-2 with Mirallas in the England box - but the return pass squirts away and out for a goal kick, which the red-clad Joe Hart will boom clear.
    • 11' Johnson is dispossessed by Vertonghen, and Belgium counter... nice touch by Hazard, and Parker fouls Fellaini in midfield.
    • 10' England are operating a nice, fluid formation without a target man - Welbeck and Young switching positions.
    • 9' After a slightly shaky start, England are starting to assert themselves.
    • 8' Oh, the Ox! Milner picks it up in space on the right and pulls back to the edge of the box, where Oxlade-Chamberlain arrives, slips as he strikes the ball and sends it spiralling well wide.
    • 7' Dembele fouls Gerrard again, just inside the Belgium half...
    • 6' The corner comes to nothing, and Gerrard wins a free-kick when Dembele hauls him down.
    • 5' First corner of the game for Belgium, Hazard to take on the left.
    • 4' Not much England possession early on. Young wins it and knocks a long ball for Welbeck... it goes out for a throw.
    • 3' Mertens challenges Ashley Cole, who goes to ground... he'll be OK, though.
    • 2' Belgium are playing without an out-and-out striker, but early on it looks like Kevin Mirallas will play furthest forward, with Hazard and Dembele supporting.
    • 1' Off we go! Belgium kick off, playing from right to left in all black. England all in white...
    • 17:13 'God Save The Queen' is sung by Lissa Hermans, who has battled blindness and autism... and she knocks it out of the park. Well played. More on Lissa Hermans
    • 17:11 The Belgian anthem is pretty well respected - you'd have to be some kind of idiot to boo, wouldn't you?
    • 17:11 The teams are out, and FA supremo David Bernstein introduces some dignitary or other to the teams.
    • 17:10 Thomas Vermaelen takes the captain's armband for Belgium following Kompany's withdrawal.
    • 17:10 Tony Mabert, also in the building, Tweets: 'Chris Kamara on the Wembley pitch now, hawking his official England song. You can pre-order by text now and beat the rush at Woolworths.' Follow Tony Mabert
    • 17:05 Despairing about Jordan Henderson? Our Rundown blog makes a desperate attempt to persuade you he could be the next Gazza, Nedved or Pele. Honest. The Rundown: Young guns who broke through
    • 17:00 KOMPANY OUT! The Manchester City captain has been withdrawn from the Belgian side following that injury in the warm-up. Veteran Timmy Simons replaces him.
    • 16:55 No doubt you will know about Belgium's crop of excellent young players - but just think about the XI they could put out at the next Euros in 2016. Meet Belgium's Golden Generation
    • 16:50 Vicent Kompany has been injured in the warm-up. He's receiving treatment. No word on whether this will keep him out of today's game.
    • 16:50 For my rather cynical part, I don't like this trendy view that 'England's low expectations could work in the favour.' Very soon, enough people will be saying it that expectations won't be low any more.
    • 16:45 Here's a sample gush from Tom: "Rare feeling of being rather excited about an England team today. Youth and talent. Maybe my patriotism has been swelled this weekend." @tomEurosport
    • 16:45 Eurosport-Yahoo!'s Tom Adams is at Wembley, getting over-excited at the prospect of the Ox starting. Follow his tweets here!
    • 16:40 Today sees a FIFA-sanctioned test of goalline technology, though the match officials will not be notified of any results. England boss Roy Hodgson is in favour. Read: Hodgson backs goalline experiment
    • 16:35 Hello, my name's Alex Chick. I'll be covering this game live today. Should the mood take you, you can get in touch with me on Twitter - @alexchick81 Follow me on Twitter
    • 16:30 Plenty of quality for Belgium: Vertonghen, Kompany, Vermaelen, Witsel and Eden Hazard among the starters.
    • 16:25 So quite a few changes from Roy Hodgson, including a first start for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The only players to stay in the team from the Norway game: Gerrard, Parker, Milner and Young.
    • 16:20 ENGLAND: Hart, Johnson, Cole, Gerrard (c), Cahill, Terry, Milner, Parker, Welbeck, Young, Chamberlain... Subs: Jones, Green, Baines, Lescott, Jagielka, Henderson, Downing, Defoe, Rooney, Carroll, Walcott, Butland. /// BELGIUM: Mignolet, G Gillet, Vertonghen, Kompany (c), Vermaelen, Mertens, Witsel, Mirallas, Hazard, Fellaini, Dembele...
    • 16:15 Welcome to LIVE coverage of England's international friendly against Belgium at Wembley - and we straight into the team news...

  • Summary

    • 90+3' Lukaku knocks the ball down at the edge of the box for Fellaini, who hits a left-foot shot into the ground, and Hart dives to his left to make a low save.
    • 82' Defoe hits the post! Shot from the right side of the box, it clangs back off the far upright!
    • 78' GILLET!! Off the post! What a strike from the right-back! Thrashes one with the outside of his right foot from 25 yards, it takes a slight deflection on its way through and glances wide off the outside of the left-hand post.
    • 76' Lukaku! Twists and turns inside the England box, and his shot is blocked by the flying Ashley Cole!
    • 62' Fellaini now! Dodges Terry and hits a left-foot shot... again, Hart is not seriously troubled when he probably should have been.
    • 61' Hazard tries to bend a left-foot shot towards the top-left corner, but it poses no great problem for Hart.
    • 45' Gerrard! His shot from the edge of the box is blocked by Simons, it comes back to the England skipper and Gillet gets in the way of his second shot!
    • 36' GOAL!! Danny Welbeck, terrific finish! Young plays him in on the left side of the box, and Welbeck dinks the ball exquisitely over Mignolet for his first England goal.
    • 8' Oh, the Ox! Milner picks it up in space on the right and pulls back to the edge of the box, where Oxlade-Chamberlain arrives, slips as he strikes the ball and sends it spiralling well wide.
    • 17:00 KOMPANY OUT! The Manchester City captain has been withdrawn from the Belgian side following that injury in the warm-up. Veteran Timmy Simons replaces him.
    • 16:20 ENGLAND: Hart, Johnson, Cole, Gerrard (c), Cahill, Terry, Milner, Parker, Welbeck, Young, Chamberlain... Subs: Jones, Green, Baines, Lescott, Jagielka, Henderson, Downing, Defoe, Rooney, Carroll, Walcott, Butland. /// BELGIUM: Mignolet, G Gillet, Vertonghen, Kompany (c), Vermaelen, Mertens, Witsel, Mirallas, Hazard, Fellaini, Dembele...

Team Line-up & Ratings

  • England

    Manager: Roy Hodgson

  • Belgium

    Manager: Marc Wilmots

  • Line-up

    Live Team Line-Up

  • Rate Players

    Rate Players

    Please to rate the players.

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    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      5.7 7
      Defenders
      4.3 5
      Substitution Out19′ 5 7
      Substitution Out70′ 4.9 6
      5.5 8
      Midfielders
      Substitution Out83′ 5.8 6
      Yellow Card 5.4 7
      4.5 6
      Substitution Out67′ 5.4 7
      Substitution Out67′ 5.4 6
      Strikers
      Goal Substitution Out53′ 6 7
      Subs
      Substitution In19′ 5.4 7
      Substitution In70′ 5 7
      Substitution In67′ 6 7
      Substitution In53′ 5 6
      Substitution In67′ 4.5 6
      Substitution In83′ 4.5 -
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      6 6
      Defenders
      5.9 8
      5.7 6
      6.4 7
      6.6 8
      Midfielders
      6.1 7
      5.8 6
      Yellow Card Substitution Out72′ 5.7 5
      Strikers
      Substitution Out59′ 5.7 7
      6.3 7
      5.9 7
      Subs
      Substitution In72′ 4.3 7
      Substitution In59′ 5.2 7

Comment 168 - 188 of 188

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  1. It seems Welbeck,from man utd,scored the only goal... ­ Hazard?Ur a loser..

    From Syazwan, on Thu 7 Jun 7:50

  2. David @ #37: Englands national anthem wasn't­ played! The band played the United Kingdom &­ Belgian national anthems!!

    From Gordon, on Sun 3 Jun 13:28

  3. From what I have seen yesterday and a few games for­ Lille, I am not sure Hazard would even get into Chelsea­ team. May be in a few years but at present he is not­ ahead of Juan Mata or Daniel Sturridge who are playing­ on the wings or is he anywhere near Ramires or as­ muscualr as Jon Obi Mikel. There is a German guy­ Chelsea has signed quietly just after the season. Lets­ see how he cope with the Physical side as well.

    From wunna, on Sun 3 Jun 13:22

  4. Its a great English team their on a roll!

    From Ciaran, on Sun 3 Jun 9:25

  5. how long do you think it will take the bbc to mention­ 1966? thats what us scots hate the most not the­ actual england side but the media frickin as* lickin­ you lot!!

    From Richard, on Sun 3 Jun 4:23

  6. Englands defence was always on top and sitting­ deepseems to be their best option and then counter.­ Hazard looked very sharp and his passing and movement­ into space was excellent. he didn't pick out the­ final pass but he didn't have enough movemnet in­ front of him. Torres, Mata, Sturridge,Lukaku and Huk­ will offer much more at Chelsea. Belgium looked more­ dangerous when Lukaku was a target man but England­ dealth with their predictable movement. England­ aren't exciting but strong, organised and very­ dangerous on the counter, Belgium are tidy but­ tactically predictable. A more adventerous approach­ might see them trouble opponents far more.

    From charles, on Sun 3 Jun 0:16

  7. gollywogazoo@220 No didn't get stuffed today - you­ might, though!

    From TruthRaider, on Sun 3 Jun 0:12

  8. I wish they'd lost today. One of my favorite­ pastimes is to sit in the corner of my local enjoying a­ pint & listen to all the middle aged skinheads in­ their football shirts complaining about how pathetic­ Engerland are, etc. Me & my gay boyfriend have a­ good giggle!

    From gollywogazoo, on Sat 2 Jun 20:57

  9. Gerrard for MOM was a joke. Rooney created more in his­ 20 min or so. Gerrard made astray passes and didn't­ link up with anybody. My MOM was Ashley Cole who was­ best of the bunch, just. England are OK when we are­ ahead just like Sven and Capello teams. Problem is what­ are we going to do when behind. Amount of wasted­ possesion and lack of creativity means when England are­ behind, the French and the Swede will just simplly pass­ around English Pillars. Only hope is to park the BUS in­ the first 2 games adn get a result against Ukraine­ which is a winnable game.

    From wunna, on Sat 2 Jun 20:49

  10. I hate it when I'm right but message #14 : ­ Hazard tends to be a no show in international matches­­ and doesn't get on with the manager. FB : Weird to­­ say that Belgium should beat England but it was normal­­ to be behind Turkey in the qualifiers ! If it's a­­ typical game between England and Belgium it should­­ finish at best 1-0. Belgium don't know how to­ score­ and England don't know how to keep the ball.­ Great­ game infront of us. Could I have been more­ right?!

    From , on Sat 2 Jun 20:26

  11. belgium reminded me of ajax plenty pretty football but­ no cutting edge.

    From tony, on Sat 2 Jun 20:22

  12. @finito, thats what the guy on TV said... great to know­ you are listening

    From Dat gunner, on Sat 2 Jun 20:16

  13. Comment on 167. I'm white, but I consider myself a­ human being who understands the world as it is. 167 is­ just a racist idiot. Stick with reading the BNP News­ and leave sensible people to smile and not place­ pathetic judgements.

    From steve, on Sat 2 Jun 19:40

  14. England won and i guess you cant ask for too much but­ france will be a very different proposal in 9 days , i­ just cannot see any area the french are weaker in, i­ believe a draw is the best england can hope for, so it­ will be between sweden, who are a very decent side,­ ukraine ( playing home) and england for 2 place, its a­ hard group for roy to get out from, if he does than ,­ just that alone will warrant the fa decision, as for­ winning the euro? Please be real, i saw that old­ english overrated pressure with a picture of roy with­ the trophy in the sun???? I never saw any other nation­ tabloids printing such arrogant picture, what do you­ think the rest of europe think when they see this? Its­ such picture who make us laughing stoke

    From , on Sat 2 Jun 19:40

  15. Gerrard Man of the Match. LOL. Failed to link the­ midfield to attack played defensive when there was no­ need as Parker was in that position, so left a big­ whole and area for Belgium midfield to dominate­ possession. He gave the ball away in dangerous­ situations and also committed fouls in dangerous areas­ was very slow and poor passing. Best player was Defoe­ when he came on and that said it all about our­ performance

    From Aaron, on Sat 2 Jun 19:36

  16. English are the worst fans in the world. they have to­ win and entertain and play beautiful football.­ you're never satisfied.

    From Morty, on Sat 2 Jun 19:35

  17. Joe Blogs @ 200. You obviously are one of those­ "fans" that do not know the rules (laws for­ the pedantic!) of the game. Mertens was not obstructed­ but blatantly pushe Cahill into Hart!! Are you blind,­ or just a blinkered watcher?

    From Fred, on Sat 2 Jun 19:30

  18. That match was like watching paint dry, boring, if­ thats there best team god help us. France will­ slaughter them, still no onr is expecting them to get­ further thsn the first round.

    From shirley, on Sat 2 Jun 19:30

  19. ABE

    From Peter, on Sat 2 Jun 19:29

  20. England should stick to morris dancing.

    From Peter, on Sat 2 Jun 19:29
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