FOOTBALL Live

Saturday September 6, 2008 Finished

Logo 0 - Logo 2

Andorra

England

  • Cole 49’, 55’
  1. World Cup qual. - Cole brace fires England to win

    World Cup qual. - Cole brace fires England to win

    England overcame a poor first half performance to beat Andorra 2-0 in their opening World Cup qualifying match, Joe Cole netting both goals. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Andorra
    • England
    • - Thanks for joining us tonight! A decent enough, if rather unspectacular performance, from Fabio Capello's men gets them off to the right start... bring on Croatia!
    • - There goes the final whistle! And England have three points thanks to Joe Cole's brace!
    • 90'+1 Joe Cole! Oooh! Chance for a hat-trick as the ball falls to him on the edge of the box! But he doesn't catch it too sweetly and Alvarez can make the save!
    • 90' Andorra make another change... 18-year-old Marc Vales comes on to replace Pujol.
    • 85' Terry gets his head to a Beckham free-kick... but it's over the bar! Lima squares up to the captain, but the ref saw nothing untoward and play goes on...
    • 80' Capello makes his last change of the night... off goes Lampard and on comes Beckham to a great reception!
    • 78' Heskey does well to power past Lima and deliver a decent centre from the by-line... cleared this time, but there's another goal in England...
    • 74' It's only 2-0, but already it's a far more satisfying result than the 3-0 last time here. Cole's quick-fire brace has seen to that.
    • 70' This should be an easy final 20 minutes for England now... but there's always room for another goal...
    • 68' Rooney loses the ball and tracks back to get it... the crowd love that from the Manchester United man! He flies into a 50-50 and concedes a throw! That's commitment for you!
    • 66' Andorra's Toscano on for Fernando Silva.
    • 64' Super stuff from Rooney on the England left... he brings the ball out of the night sky before turning and firing a cross-shot across the face of goal! No one's there to turn it in though!
    • 62' Johnson has the ball in the back of the net! But it won't count! Disallowed mid celebration!
    • 57' Johnson lets fly from 25 yards now! Alvarez falls on it at his near post and manages to hang on. So much better from England this half!
    • 56' Toni Lima is the next Andorran to be shown yellow... for remonstrating with the ref over a Heskey challenge.
    • 55' GOAL! Joe Cole again and it's two for England! Rooney finds the Chelsea man with a perfectly weighted through ball and Cole does the rest, slipping the ball under the keeper's body!
    • 53' Terry goes close with a firm low strike that hits the side netting! England starting the second half like they did the first...
    • 52' Pujol is shown a yellow now for halting Joe Cole in his tracks with a clumsy challenge.
    • 49' GOAL! From the free-kick Joe Cole puts England into the lead with a well struck volley after Lescott cushioned Lampard's dead ball into his path! 1-0 and the crowd cheer!
    • 48' Silva goes into the book for a late challenge on Lescott...
    • 47' GOALFLASH! Andriy Shevchenko has netted a last minute penalty for Ukraine and Luka Modric has scored a second for Croatia.
    • 46' Capello has mixed things up at half time... other than the rollocking he was certain to have given his players, he's brought on Emile Heskey for Jermain Defoe and Joe Cole for Stuart Downing.
    • 46' Back underway in Barcelona!
    • 45'+1 Another aimless ball forward, this time from Barry, signals the end of the first period and the start of the jeers...
    • 45' Terry now plays a ball out of touch, prompting a chorus of boos from the England contingent in the stands.
    • 44' Croatia are one-up in the other Group 6 game... Niko Kovac on the scoresheet.
    • 43' If it stays goalless, it will be interesting to see whether the crowd's reaction will be as angry as last time, when abuse was hurled at Steve McClaren and his team.
    • 42' That's better though... Rooney clips in a lovely ball towards Defoe! But it's inches too long for his strike partner and the ball runs out for a goal kick...
    • 41' Another long cross into the box is claimed by Alvarez again... that's poor from Downing.
    • 40' It's all panning out in a similar fashion to the last time... it's all England, but there's no cutting edge so far.
    • 38' Pujol hacks at Johnson, a couple of seconds after the ball had been released... still no booking though.
    • 37' Downing plays in an aimless centre that bounces straight out for a goal kick... and that brings some jeers from the crowd... they're beginning to lose their patience and that can't help the players.
    • 35' Oh dear! Lescott meets the second corner with another header that sqirts off his forehead to Barry! But he miscues as well... and Rooney can't get there as the ball runs out for a goal kick! Untidy stuff from England.
    • 34' Lescott gets his head to it, and it's put behind for another one...
    • 34' Ashley Cole now wins a corner, which Lampard will take.
    • 33' The crowd are beginning to get a little restless... give them credit, they've lasted over half an hour!
    • 31' Defoe hares off after a slightly overhit through pass... he gets there, at the by-line, but his cross floats right into the waiting arms of Alvarez.
    • 29' Downing finds Defoe in the middle... the striker connects with it well enough, but the ball flies well over the bar.
    • 27' Nice work from Defoe on the right hand side as he cuts in and plays the ball square to the onrushing Lampard... but again the final touch is lacking and Andorra can clear.
    • 26' The resulting free-kick finds Defoe on the edge of the Andorra box... but the Pompey man can't quite get the ball out of his feet and the Andorran defence can clear.
    • 25' Cole is caught late by Andorra... the player, not the country that is...
    • 23' Barry's doing a great job of breaking up any Andorra breaks forward... but it's not really about what happens at the back tonight....
    • 21' Oooh! Lampard picks up a loose ball on the edge of the box and fires inches wide of the post!
    • 18' Andorra have not a so much as a sniff in the England half so far... but the more the game goes on and England do not find the back of the net, the more they will grow in confidence.
    • 16' Rooney! Should be one-nil but Rooney blasts over the bar after Walcott's lovely cushioned pass teed him up perfectly!
    • 15' Alvarez goes down in a heap under an aerial challenge from Terry... no action taken by the ref and the Andorran keeper will be fine.
    • 13' A rousing rendition of God Save the Queen rings out... good to see them giving support to the team tonight.
    • 10' England just playing the ball around midfield at the moment... they look comfortable on the ball.
    • 8' This is a decent, upbeat start from Capello's men... the Andorran defence can't seen to handle their pace so far...
    • 5' Oooh! Glen Johnson latches onto a loose ball on the edge of the box and lets fly! Deflected behind for a corner! Good start from England!
    • 3' Walcott's in here! But he lofts the ball over the bar from a tight angle when perhaps he should have crossed it in...
    • 2' Early chance for England! Oooh! Defoe throws himself into the box to challenge the Andorran keeper for the ball! And his efforts cause a bit of a stir... Toni Lima wags his finger in the Pompey striker's face as things hot up quickly!
    • 1' Underway in Barcelona!
    • - It's evident that England supporters considerably outnumber their Andorran counterparts in the Olympic Stadium at Montjuic as the anthems blast out.
    • - Some surprises in Fabio Capello's team selections... in comes Glen Johnson for Wes Brown, Theo Walcott takes the midfield berth on the right hand side and Stewart Downing plays on the left. Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe lead the line.
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of tonight's big game in Barcelona!

  • Summary

    • 90'+1 Joe Cole! Oooh! Chance for a hat-trick as the ball falls to him on the edge of the box! But he doesn't catch it too sweetly and Alvarez can make the save!
    • 62' Johnson has the ball in the back of the net! But it won't count! Disallowed mid celebration!
    • 55' GOAL! Joe Cole again and it's two for England! Rooney finds the Chelsea man with a perfectly weighted through ball and Cole does the rest, slipping the ball under the keeper's body!
    • 53' Terry goes close with a firm low strike that hits the side netting! England starting the second half like they did the first...
    • 49' GOAL! From the free-kick Joe Cole puts England into the lead with a well struck volley after Lescott cushioned Lampard's dead ball into his path! 1-0 and the crowd cheer!
    • 35' Oh dear! Lescott meets the second corner with another header that sqirts off his forehead to Barry! But he miscues as well... and Rooney can't get there as the ball runs out for a goal kick! Untidy stuff from England.
    • 21' Oooh! Lampard picks up a loose ball on the edge of the box and fires inches wide of the post!
    • 16' Rooney! Should be one-nil but Rooney blasts over the bar after Walcott's lovely cushioned pass teed him up perfectly!
    • 5' Oooh! Glen Johnson latches onto a loose ball on the edge of the box and lets fly! Deflected behind for a corner! Good start from England!
    • 3' Walcott's in here! But he lofts the ball over the bar from a tight angle when perhaps he should have crossed it in...

Live Team Line-Up

  • Andorra

    Manager: David Rodrigo

    Starting line-up

    • A. Koldo
    • J. Ayala
    • T. Lima Yellow Card
    • I. Lima Sola
    • J. Txema
    • M. Pujol Yellow Card Substitution Out (90′)
    • F. Silva Yellow Card Substitution Out (66′)
    • O. Sonejee
    • M. Vieira
    • J. Manolo
    • X. Andorra

    Subs

    • M. Vales Substitution In90′
    • P. Escura
    • J. Fernandez
    • G. Riera
    • .. Moreno
    • J. Gomes
    • J. Toscano Substitution In66′

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • England

    Manager: Fabio Capello

    Starting line-up

    • D. James
    • G. Johnson
    • J. Terry
    • J. Lescott
    • A. Cole
    • T. Walcott
    • F. Lampard Substitution Out (80′)
    • G. Barry
    • S. Downing Substitution Out (46′)
    • W. Rooney
    • J. Defoe Substitution Out (46′)

    Subs

    • D. Beckham Substitution In80′
    • E. Heskey Substitution In46′
    • P. Robinson
    • J. Cole Substitution In46′ Goals×2
    • W. Brown
    • W. Bridge
    • D. Bentley

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None