2010 World Cup Qualifying: Joe Cole Saves England While Spain Easily Edge Bosnia
September 8th 2008 21:17
The UEFA's qualifyers for the 2010 World Cup started on Saturday with more than 40 teams playing their first group match during that day. I was able to watch only two games (and two more for the CONCACAF zone) due to scheduling conflicts - England against Andorra and Spain against Bosnia-Hezegovina.
Chelsea's underrated winger had an immediate impact on the field as he scored the first goal of the match three minutes into the second half. Almost five minutes later, he scored his second after a superb through-pass from Rooney. Joe Cole brought a completely new dimension to England's attack since his skills and constant movement allowed him to easily break through Andorra's static defense. Before he got on the field, England had no movement up front except for Walcott, and thus made life easy for Andorra whose only objective was to concede the less goals possible. Johnson had given his team a three-goal lead at the 61st minute, but the goal was disallowed since Joe Cole had touched the ball while in an offside position. In the end, Capello's seemed satisfied with a 2-0 victory and introduced Beckham only as a measure to keep possession.
Although the scoreline suggests a comfortable win, England looked everything but comfortable on Saturday. They'll have a tough time against Croatia on Wednesday, and better hope for the best.
England's line-up: David James; Glen Johnson, John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole; Theo Walcott, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard (David Beckham, 80th), Stuart Downing (Joe Cole, h-t); Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe (Emile Heskey, h-t).
Spain started their qualifying campaign with a quiet 1-0 victory against Bosnia. Though they faced a stronger opposition than England, they were never worried and simply passed the ball around the same way they did during the Euro 2008. Two players stood out in this match. First, Diego Capel took David Silva's place on the left-wing and was simply superb, using his speed to draw fouls after fouls, even a penalty that Villa couldn't convert. Secondly, Marcos Senna was once again the master of the midfield, cutting off the opposition's attack. Not only was he great defensively, he also showed some offensive flair by firing two long-range rockets, one hitting the bar, the other rattling the post. Other than that, Spain played their game. It would've been nice having a couple more goals, but keeping a clean sheet is just as satisfying. Villa was the lone scorer (with a nice pass from Fabregas), putting the ball in the back of the net while in an impossible angle.
Spain's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Raul Albiol, Juan Capdevila; Andres Iniesta, Marcos Senna, Cesc Fabregas (Xabi Alonso, 65th), Xavi Hernandez, Diego Capel (Santi Cazorla, 72nd); David Villa (Daniel Guiza, 85th).
Elsewhere in Europe, France fell against Austria who won 3-1 (LOL), Germany destroyed Liechtenstein 6-0, Italy narrowly defeated Cyprus 2-1, Portugal easily came through Malta 4-0, Turkey defeated Armenia 2-0, Croatia and Greece both scored three goals to defeat respectively Kazakhstan and Luxembourg 3-0; Ukraine defeated Belarus 1-0 thanks to a late penalty converted by Shevchenko.
Andorra – England: 0-2
The Three Lions had all the trouble in the world to pierce through Andorra's ten-men defense. An intense opening twenty minutes saw Walcott create three scoring opportunities, his pace causing a lot of problems in the Andorran defense. After that though, their chances slowly disappeared as their final ball often left a lot to be desired. Downing was thoroughly ineffective on the left wing and the defense's high balls to the strikers were always intercepted by the opposition. Though I must say that Rooney and Defoe aren't the best headers you'll find so any high cross to either of them was hopeful at best. With the score tied 0-0 at half-time, Fabio Capello decided to make a couple of changes for the second half. Hulking Heskey replaced diminutive Defoe while Downing was replaced by Joe Cole.Chelsea's underrated winger had an immediate impact on the field as he scored the first goal of the match three minutes into the second half. Almost five minutes later, he scored his second after a superb through-pass from Rooney. Joe Cole brought a completely new dimension to England's attack since his skills and constant movement allowed him to easily break through Andorra's static defense. Before he got on the field, England had no movement up front except for Walcott, and thus made life easy for Andorra whose only objective was to concede the less goals possible. Johnson had given his team a three-goal lead at the 61st minute, but the goal was disallowed since Joe Cole had touched the ball while in an offside position. In the end, Capello's seemed satisfied with a 2-0 victory and introduced Beckham only as a measure to keep possession.
Although the scoreline suggests a comfortable win, England looked everything but comfortable on Saturday. They'll have a tough time against Croatia on Wednesday, and better hope for the best.
England Goals
England's line-up: David James; Glen Johnson, John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole; Theo Walcott, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard (David Beckham, 80th), Stuart Downing (Joe Cole, h-t); Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe (Emile Heskey, h-t).
Spain – Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1-0
Spain started their qualifying campaign with a quiet 1-0 victory against Bosnia. Though they faced a stronger opposition than England, they were never worried and simply passed the ball around the same way they did during the Euro 2008. Two players stood out in this match. First, Diego Capel took David Silva's place on the left-wing and was simply superb, using his speed to draw fouls after fouls, even a penalty that Villa couldn't convert. Secondly, Marcos Senna was once again the master of the midfield, cutting off the opposition's attack. Not only was he great defensively, he also showed some offensive flair by firing two long-range rockets, one hitting the bar, the other rattling the post. Other than that, Spain played their game. It would've been nice having a couple more goals, but keeping a clean sheet is just as satisfying. Villa was the lone scorer (with a nice pass from Fabregas), putting the ball in the back of the net while in an impossible angle.
Spain's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Raul Albiol, Juan Capdevila; Andres Iniesta, Marcos Senna, Cesc Fabregas (Xabi Alonso, 65th), Xavi Hernandez, Diego Capel (Santi Cazorla, 72nd); David Villa (Daniel Guiza, 85th).
Elsewhere in Europe, France fell against Austria who won 3-1 (LOL), Germany destroyed Liechtenstein 6-0, Italy narrowly defeated Cyprus 2-1, Portugal easily came through Malta 4-0, Turkey defeated Armenia 2-0, Croatia and Greece both scored three goals to defeat respectively Kazakhstan and Luxembourg 3-0; Ukraine defeated Belarus 1-0 thanks to a late penalty converted by Shevchenko.
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