England vs. Sweden Live!
It's all gone to script so far today, so let's have a confident performance and win against the Swedes. Rooney is starting so it's must-see foot-ie! I know you'll join me live at 3 p.m.
posted by gatorbob @ 2:23 PM
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
It's all gone to script so far today, so let's have a confident performance and win against the Swedes. Rooney is starting so it's must-see foot-ie! I know you'll join me live at 3 p.m.
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Contributors
Previous Posts
- Bloody Cheek!
- Germany vs. Ecuador
- World Cup Predictions Game Update
- Spain vs. Tunisia
- ksa vs. ukraine
- Switzerland vs. Togo
- The Yellow Card Factor
- France vs. Korea
- Brazil vs. Australia
- Croatia vs. Japan
104 Comments:
hiya!
i've been ready for this all day. wore the '66 moore shirt, put on my red kecks, and sent off an england postcard to the 3 amigos living under davey-boy's roof.
that's got to be enough mojo, right?
C'mon England, c'mon England.
I've got the mojo working too - lucky shirt KC gave me before the competition, blasting the "Vindaloo" and generally all abuzz.
Here are the team for today:
ENGLAND
1. Paul Robinson
15. Jamie Carragher
5. Rio Ferdinand
6. John Terry
3. Ashley Cole
7. David Beckham
8. Frank Lampard
16. Owen Hargreaves
11. Joe Cole
9. Wayne Rooney
10. Michael Owen
Hargreaves in for Gerrard and Rooney partnering Owen up front, just as I'd expected.
And the Swedes:
SWEDEN
1. Andreas Isaksson
4. Teddy Lucic
3. Olof Mellberg
5. Erik Edman
7. Niclas Alexandersson
6. Tobias Linderoth
16. Kim Kallstrom
9. Fredrik Ljungberg
18. Mattias Jonson
11. Henrik Larsson
20. Marcus Allback
Allback coming in for Ibrahimovic to play alongside Henrik Larsson. I don't see any other changes. Comments?
Are you with us, United? Or perhaps mending a fence? C'mon Davey boy, let's be having you!
I am here. I just walked in the door and have Univision on the tele
I am here. I just walked in the door and have Univision on the tele
England in red.
Espn2 showing LAX.
Since we are talking wardrobe... I am wearing a United shirt. The white and gold reversable. England goes on after the game.
Heya Dave. Good to have you on board. It's the Gooner and me, Sir Trev's at work and AZKicker is no doubt touring a sweatshop in Sicily and will join us at the half. Are you feeling confident?
not really... it's Sweden... does Sven really want to beat them?
Ecuador will be such a tempting prize
ROOOOOOOOON!
God Save Our Queen being sung
I am glad to hear the English fans not booing the other country's anthem.
I remember when we were at Wembley for England vs Argentina the fans got bored booing becasue the anthem was so long. Classic
John the score is ten nil england at half
please don't get hurt Roon. Oh my god... Owen is down with in the minute
he is off
i saw the Physio say take him off.
Lampard needs to hit the target.
I hope Frank's got his shooting boots on today - a speculative effort from Lamps.
not a good start. Puts a bummer on the proceedings
Lamps doesn't have his shooting boots on
Not started according to plan - I've switched to Univision - tired of 'Cello already.
I am cringing everytime the Roon gets tackled.
HE WAS ON SIDE
Cello said he was... hopeless
It's started to settle down after a frantic start Premiership-style; whew.
Rooney was never offside there.
Did you hear that Rio got his 50th cap today. He has been booked once.
That is pretty impressive.
LAMPARD NEEDS TO BURY THAT HEADER
Does Lamps need contacts?
Oh, nearly on Crouchie's head there.
Any news on Owen? I stand understand a word of this Spanish bollocks.
do you think England are playing better
oooh that could have been dangerous at the back post
We've just had an "Amber Alert" that blacked out the screen for what seemed like five minutes. I nearly had a heart attack!
Nice free kick, lad. We'll take those all day. Too much Swedish pressure for my liking, though.
Free kick now for us....
what a flick from cole
ROONEY SHOULD HAVE DONE IT THERE... HE IS DANGEROUS
OHHHHH, that would have been special from Roon!
A Cole is playing better than he has
From the beeb
"Michael Owen's injury is shown again on television screens in the media tribune, bringing audible gasps from England supporters in that area for what appears a very serious problem."
Phil McNulty, BBC Sport in Cologne
Free kick in a dangerous area
almost put it in
rooney was the one that got that one way back in his own half
Another Amber Alert - this is killing me!
nice knock down from Crouch
that Swede should've done better while free in the box
Cello said something intelligent. He said that the ref has kept the cards inside his pocket
\
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!
COLE!!!!!
WHAT A SCREAMER!!!!!!
I've died and gone to heaven - what a goal! GOLASSSSSSSO!
Goal of the tournament from Cole - no doubt.
Larsen should have had a pop there.
Hargreeves did a great run and then a crappy pass
I'm glad the Swedes are a bit shy about shooting - they've had a couple of opportunities. Leave the shooting to Joey!
what a corker, huh?
It went out of the screen of the tv
Close by Lamps
great skill from Crouch
A bit of razzle dazzle from Crouchie! They are feeling their oats.
According to the Beeb, England have had 64% of the possession.
Nothing like talking about some English band when the ball is in the six yard box
Happy with this performance so far, Dave? I am.
I wish we could get a second. We deserve it
Yeah, if one or two had their shooting boots on like Joe, we'd have two or three. They're giving our boys loads of space in front the box.
COME ON LAMPS!!!!!!!
Too cute there by Lamps - he should have hammered it!
Half time, good performance so far.
If we keep on playiing and don't go into a shell things will be fine for the second half.
How long should Roon stay on? Bring on Theo?
Yeah, I would say pretty soon. We can't risk him. I'd bring on Theo and maybe another defensive midfielder to bottle it up at the back if we're still at 1-0 at the 70th minute or so.
just another half like that please. j.cole has been magnificent and his goal is the best individual one of the tournament. what a belter. crouch, lamps both looking dangerous. lamps is getting nearer and nearer. rooney isn't getting as much of the ball as i would like but everytime he does, 5 swedish sphincters tighten.
hargreaves is very good and hopefully he's feeling more confident after doing well. rios been good apart from that appalling half-assed clearance looped out to the swedes. fortunately, such an outcome never occurred to larson and in his surprise he blasted over.
the official news on owen is "twisted knee." he's in the dressing room having the knee iced and he will have a scan to assess the damage tomorrow. this wording is very much like the old politburo news that brezhnev was just poorly and his arm falling off was very common and not worthy of further comment. it's bound to be bad for owen. he's out.
leave rooney in as long as he has the gas to go. why sub anyone yet. with the rest at the half, they all should be ready to go again for 25 minutes, minumum. then if we're still up by a goal, switch on lennon for rooney and leave crouch up front in case aaron's found his range on his crossing. and then when we're wasting time at the end, sure, theo then.
where are you gooner?
This is a promising start so far. If we stick another in, we could kill it off by bringing Roon out and subbing a defender in.
OH NO!!!!!!
I all of a sudden feel very nervous. This could be a Sweden match now
And as soon as I wrote that last note, they stuck one in from a corner. Bugger! Becks didn't mark up from the corner. Now they're bringing Wilhelmsson on - they scent blood in the water.
was that in
hand ball by Jamie
what's with rio. Everything has turned around
Now Sol's coming on for Rio. Why?
Unintentional handball from Jamie. He didn't know anything about it. Great save from Robbo.
THIS IS SICK!!!
How do things change so quickly
by the way, i was using this blogg through Safari during the first half. I changed to Firefox for the second.
Needless to say, I have changed back to Safari. Sorry about that
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE DEFENSE!!!!!!!!
Bob, suit up
Dear oh dear, that should've been their second - Sol totally lost that header.
bloody hell, there were two swedes waiting to shoot from the top of the box unmarked!!!!!!!!!!!
Suddenly they've lost their way. The passes are going astray. They need an injection of energy - Lennon?
what are Jamie and Robbo doing
word from soccernet that Gerrard is warming up
word from soccernet that Gerrard is warming up
hope he is ok. This is not injury, right?
This ref's been really good. He could have easily booked Hargreaves there. Roons coming off for Gerrard.
england are useless in this second half
off the line. WHERE IS THE DEFENSE!!!!!!!
Bob, please suit up
Roon didn't look happy, chucking his boots off. Wonder what the problem is?
Oh, the Swedes again - and Gerrard saves us!
who's up with Crouch? Nobody? Cole? Gerrard?
I just realized England have used all their subs.
come on Becks, get the delivery right
Sol doesn't look right - you never let the ball bounce between you and the keeper like that.
the ref has been good. No second card for Owen
Yeah, and we've got four guys on with yellows.
what was that from BECKS
come on. Hold on
they keep saying that they lost Owen in the fourth minute. That is when Crouch came on. He went down within the first minute
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Stevie G!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great cross by Cole. Man of the Match
What a ball from Joe Cole; he took his time, picked out his man and stuck it right on his head. He's had a blinder today.
did I pick Gerrard for Golden Boot?
keep it tight.
I want to hold on.
I don't want them to bring 1968 again
UNBELIEVABLE
What was that; what a calamity. You don't let the ball bounce in the six yard box. You hoof it!
This game's over though. We've the top of the group for sure. No way they can come back for more, please.
the way they are defending.. nothing will surprise me.
AGAIN, for the THIRD TIME, BOB SUIT UP
Full time: 2-2; Very lucky, I thought they had the beating of us for long stretches of the second half. The defending was a particular worry because that had been our strength up until now. We really should win against most teams if we score two.
Still, we can't think any further than Ecuador on Sunday. We should beat them and then who knows. Holland? Portugal? Mexico? We'll just have to see.
davey,
the computer is now way down the hall from the telly and i don't want to miss anything.
rio may have a hip problem and that's why sol came on.
so, i've had time to calm down and i can see that it was a game of two halfs. the good thing is that even though we've lost owen to a calamitous injury that everyone on the pitch could see was as bad as i fear it is, we regrouped. we'd definitely practised an owen-rooney partnership, but crouch came on and we just got on with it. everything good came from joe cole. his goal, his passing, his work-rate and his assist to gerrard for what turned out to be the goal that kept us top of the group to face ecuador.
also good was hargreaves who filled that defensive hole really well. good too were rooney and crouch and lamps. i keep believing that lamps will soon find his range. but joe cole looks like a player who is peaking nicely for this tournament.
and for the most part, the defence was doing it's job well. the glaring and unfathomable problem was on the set pieces in the second half. and it's not like those were things they'd never seen before in the prem or even on intl duty either. it was simply very disorganized. and when the allback header went effortlessly in, you could see the same thought hitting every england defender: holy shit, we're not good at defending set pieces. and they panicked again and again. right after the swedish goal, they could have had 3 or 4 more from corners.
as i understand defending a corner is looking at four areas, the near post, the middle area, the back post and roughly the penalty spot. and tonight, for some reason it was beckham on the near post.
now bob correct me, but are there not just two jobs on the near post? heading it away and making sure that no one runs across you from behind and getting to the ball first? and yet, beckham stood square onto the ball where he couldn't see anyone behind him. and is beckham the best choice to defend the near post anyway? does he like the defensive header away? he doesn't look like it. for us this was on itv which was good because alan hanson would have had a feckin' breakdown seeing the complete shambles that supposed international professionals with a claim to winning the trophy were tonight. terry letting the ball through, campbell ball-watching, cashley close to impeding robbo and ultimately missing where he could have made a goal line clearance.
sven interviewed after the match said they had work to do on set pieces. you don't say, eh svennis?
but england are through top of their world cup group for the first time since 1966 and face ecuador who are pretty comic defenders themselves. that gives us a week at least to get organized to defend a corner. i hope they start tomorrow.
5 days off for england, chaps. c'mon!
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