England’s World Cup woes (A Short History)

With the draw for the 2010 World Cup upon us, perhaps we should examine the circumstances that have prevailed since England last won the World Cup in 1966 that have contributed to our elimination from the subsequent World Cups. It will be very fortunate should we avoid any of the problems that have faced an England team in past World Cups.

1970

Food poisoning to Gordon Banks, considered one of the greatest goalkeepers in the game and who had performed perhaps the greatest save ever against Brazil in the group stage, meant that Peter Bonetti had to go in goal for the quarter final game against West Germany. Seemingly comfortable at 2-0 England conceded a goal in the 61st minute. The subsequent substitution of Bobby Charlton disrupted the rhythm of the team and an equaliser by West Germany took the game to extra time. The Germans scored a winner in extra time and Peter Bonetti has been faulted for the goal.

Reason for exit: Food poisoning to goalkeeper, possible wrong tactical substitution.

1974

Failure to qualify was due to a 1-1 draw with Poland at Wembley in 1973. England dominated the game, but could only draw. Poland took the lead with a goalkeeping error by Peter Shilton, perhaps marginally vindicated by the fact that he had practically nothing to do in the game. Poland’s goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski on the other hand performed heroics that night making save after save as England sought to win the game. Poland went on to finish 3rd in the 1974 World Cup and perhaps we had understimated how good Poland actually were. It certainly was the golden age of Polish football.

Reason for exit: Heroics by opposition goalkeeper, emergence of the golden age of the opposition, goallkeeping error.

1978

Quite simply we had Italy in our qualifying group and they were the better team. Matters were not helped with the management of Don Revie that was perceived to be too dossier centred, his assertion the his former club Leeds united were better than England and his subsequent resignation.

Reason for exit: Not good enough, probable managerial problems.

1982

Qualification albeit rather fortuitously, saw England’s two key players Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking injured before the tournament. Unable to play a meaningful part, England did well to go through the tournament unbeaten, but emergence from the second group stage was hampered by lack of goals as the team drew with West Germany and Spain. Germany went on to the final.

Reason for exit: Injury to the two best players.

1986

England picked up momentum with a couple of easy wins after a bad start to the tournament. A quarter final against Argentina saw the now infamous “hand of God goal” in a finals that was always going to be Maradona’s. Exit to the eventual champions, by a dubious goal and a wonder goal perhaps papers over the fact that England were just not good enough to win that World Cup.

Reason for exit: Wonder goal, Maradona and loss to the eventual World Champions.

1990

The nearest we have come. An epic semi final saw England eliminated by a lucky deflection after a free kick was charged down by Paul Parker, the begining of our bad experiences with penalties. Again the team succumbed to the eventual World Champs. We could have won it.

Reason for exit: Lucky deflection, Penalties.

1994

Elimination in qualifying, and perhaps the most crucial game against The Netherlands in Holland, saw an unbelievable refereeing decision, in not sending Ronald Koemann off after a blatant foul. England played well in this game, but poor refereeing and Ronald Koemann who went on to score for Holland in a 2-0 defeat put paid to the England World Cup challenge.

Reason for exit: Bad refereeing and a team that was not probably not good enough overall.

1998

The sending off of Beckham characterised the last 16 game against Argentina. A disallowed goal prevented a heroic win, and the subsequent penalties.after a hard fought and sometimes elegant game of football saw England eliminated.

Reason for exit: Sending off, penalties.

2002

Beckham was injured but played. Beaten by the eventual Champions Brazil in the quarter final, in a very humid and hot arena contributed to our elimination, not to mention a lucky goal by Ronaldinho. Engalnd were beaten by the better team of that there is no doubt, but the heat certainly was to the team’s disadvantage.

Reason for exit: Beaten by the World Champs, deservedly so.

2006

Injury to Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney evoked memories of 1982. The managers baffling decision on forwards that to this day makes no sense by including Theo Walcott who had not broken into first team football at his club, in a selection of 4 that included the un match fit Rooney and Owen and Peter Crouch. Owen was to limp out of the tournament in the group stage. Lack lustre performances culminated in an exhausting draw with Portugal in the quarter final. The sending off of Rooney in the game and penalties saw us eliminated.

Reason for exit: Baffling squad choice, sending off, penalties.

So whether it be injuries, penalties, sendings off, wonder goals, bad refereeing, wrong tactical decisions or just plain being beaten by a better team, there are many possibilities that can conspire to eliminate the team. As the draw is made and we see our group opponents and the pattern of the draw, the first obstacle to be negotiated is our squad for the tournament. If we can have a more or less a full complement of fit and in form players to choose the 23 from, then this would in itself be a very welcome platform to begin the challenge. We will have to wait until May to see our possibilities.

World Cup Seedings

After much speculation the World Cup seedings have been announced and yes England are in Pot 1 and therefore seeded.

The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England are therefore the seven squads that join hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the Final Draw.

Netherlands were initially expected to be placed in Pot 2, but the Dutch eventually replaced France in Pot 1. Portugal also missed out on a place among the eight top seeds.

Pot 2 will be composed of teams from AFC (Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic), CONCACAF (Honduras, Mexico, USA) and OFC (New Zealand).

Pot 3 will include teams from CAF (Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria) and CONMEBOL (Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay).

Pot 4 will have the remaining UEFA teams (Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland).

World Cup Quaifying Teams

World Cup qualifying has now concluded.

FULL LIST OF TEAMS AT 2010 WORLD CUP

South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria
Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, Mexico, United States, New Zealand.

All previous winners of the World Cup since 1930 will be represented.

Commiserations to the Republic of Ireland for not making the tournament in rather controversial circumstances. For all Irish fans, you are invited to support England. Though for some this might not be an attractive proposition, but nonetheless it would be great to have your support.

Brazil 1 England 0

England team Foster, Brown, Bridge, Barry, Upson, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, Jenas, Bent, Rooney, Milner. Subs: Green, Cahill, Warnock, Huddlestone, Crouch, Defoe, Young, Hart.

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Thiago Silva, Michel Bastos, Felipe Melo, Silva, Elano, Kaka, Nilmar, Luis Fabiano. Subs: Doni, Dani Alves, Luisao, Juan, Aurelio, Josue, Lucas, Alex, Julio Baptista, Robinho, Carlos Eduardo, Hulk.

The friendly in Doha that a second string England team lost 1-0 leaves us in a bit of a quandary. The problem is that this was an exhibition game, with World Cup hosting underpinning the teams and location. Brazil will host the World Cup in 2014, England wants the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the hosts of this game are campaigning for the World Cup of 2022. What can this game tell us about our chances in 2010? Well not much. The team was a reserve team due to injuries, and so it was billed as a chance for some players to reinforce their candidacy for the 2010 squad. Brazil were practically at full strength. England struggled and with Wayne Rooney captaining the side, the team lacked cohesion and quality.

Capello picked Milner on the left for the first time which readers of the blog will know is advocated by this blogger, in the absence of Joe Cole at any rate. Jermaine Jenas was fast tracked into the starting lineup seemingly circumventing the rigorous selection procedures that Capello applies. Nobody actually played particularly well, Wes Brown perhaps being the worst player on the pitch. Brown has been plagued with injury in recent years, and so this is a major reason why he seems to be a squad player at Man Utd and also in the England team. His cause was not advanced in this game. Foster did ok, Bridge was ok, Upson made a mistake and Lescott perhaps seemed to be the senior partner in the centre of defence. Wright-Philips tried to get involved and sometimes looked threatening though his threat evaporated either by a bad pass or cross. Jenas was very quiet, Bent did not have any support and seemed lost and Rooney, try as he might could not conjure anything worthwhile.

It is good that there seems to be air of reality in the papers over this game and the fact that we do not have the strength in depth that perhaps we thought we might have. This game should firmly keep our feet on the ground concerning England’s chances in 2010 but it has to be said that this was by no means a representative England team. Can we take anything out of this? Not really, we were beaten fairly and squarely by a talented team that did not really need to try too hard. There is only one match we need to focus on and that is our opening game in South Africa.

Sqaud for friendly V Brazil

England squad to play Brazil in a friendly international in Doha on November 14: Goalkeepers: Foster (Manchester United), Green (West Ham), Hart (Manchester City); Defenders: Bridge (Manchester City), Brown (Manchester United), Cahill (Bolton), Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Manchester City), Terry (Chelsea), Upson (West Ham), Warnock (Aston Villa); Midfielders: Barry (Manchester City), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Carrick (Manchester United), Huddlestone, Jenas (both Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Milner (Aston Villa), Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Young (Aston Villa); Forwards: Bent (Sunderland), Crouch, Defoe (both Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United).

Some interesting inclusions with Huddlestone, Cahill and Warnock making the squad. Fabio has said he will take 4 forwards to South Africa, which limits Michael Owen’s chances. Owen does not make this squad and barring some sort of injury meltdown situation, Owen probabaly will not make the trip in 2010.
Joe Cole does not make the squad either. It is unthinkable that an inform Joe Cole will not make the cut in May…isn’t it?

Joe and Rio

Joe Cole has been playing for Chelsea. October saw him come back into the team and play well. This can only be good news for England. Will he make it into the squad for the friendly against Brazil in November?

Meanwhile Rio Ferdinand who has looked out of sorts may be out for 5 weeks. He has been persistently plagued by injuries that seem to emanate from a back injury sustained last December. Still some way to go before the finals, but these two players form and fitness are significant.

Final Game of Qualifying Ends In Victory

England 3 Belarus 0

England: Foster, Johnson, Ferdinand, Terry, Bridge (Milner 78), Lennon (Beckham 58), Lampard, Barry, Wright-Phillips, Crouch, Agbonlahor (Carlton Cole 66).
Subs Not Used: Hart, Upson, Ashley Cole, Carrick.

Goals: Crouch 4, Wright-Phillips 59, Crouch 76.

The final qualifying game saw a comfortable victory for England. Belarus were not too bad, and indeed showed some glimpses of thoughtful football. Nonetheless they were not strong enough to compete consistently during the match, and England were able to mostly outplay their opponents.

Agbonlahor and Crouch started upfront, with Wright-Phillips given the left side of midfield position. Fabio does not seem to think of Milner as a potential solution to this position.

An early goal by Crouch took England to half time with a 1-0 lead. The game ambled along, neither a dirty nor unentertaining spectacle, but certainly had an end of campaign feel to it.

Beckham was introduced in the second half and livened things up a bit. Wright-Phillips got a second goal, and Crouch grabbed a poacher’s goal after Carlton Cole’s (on for Agbonlahor) shot was parried by the Belarus goalie.

The defence made no errors and Ben Foster did make one very good save on what was a quiet evening for him. Beckham was given man of the match inexplicably. England have now a 100% home qualifying World Cup strike rate at the new Wembley. One thing that characterises Fabio’s reign as the new manager is that he has made the new Wembley feel like a home and the fans have now expereinced sustained success there.

So the qualifying comes to an end and now we must prepare for the tournament. There will be many players eager to impress and to try and make the squad for South Africa 2010. December 4th will see the draw for the finals and we will see who are group opponents will be.

Well done to all the players in the successful qualification campaign. It has been quite entertaining.

No Rooney Or Gerrard

England’s final match in qualifying group 6 will see the England team without Wayne Rooney nor Steven Gerrard. Both are injured for tonight’s game. Fabio on the radio this morning said that Agbonlahor and Milner are the likely starters. It is not often Fabio is so candid about team selection, usually keeping us guessing to the last hour before the game.

Personally, I am looking forward to seeing how Milner performs on the left side of midfield. Together with Joe Cole they represent our best choices in that position. For me , Gerrard on the left is not quite the solution. Against lesser opposition maybe, but against the best in the world, I am not sure if he is the correct choice. You can only go with what is available, but it would be good if Milner could make a strong case for his selection on the left side of midfield. Agbonlahor is likely to start too, the experience will do him good, and hopefully he can perform well.

Glad to see the game is on ITV, though last Saturday’s games was shown in pubs either on the internet, (remember to disable any screen savers should this “experiment” happen again…which hopefully it won’t) or on Albanian TV via irregular satellite feed.

One last hurrah then tonight in terms of competitive games. The next competitive game will be in South Africa in June 2010! Let’s sit back and see the team gain a final 3 points…hopefully.

Competitive Defeat

Ukraine 1 England 0

England: Green, Johnson, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lennon (James 15), Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard (Milner 46), Rooney, Heskey (Carlton Cole 72).
Subs Not Used: Bridge, Upson, Barry, Agbonlahor.

The stadium in Dnipropetrovsk was a cauldron in what was a vital game for the Ukraine. It was an intimidating atmosphere with flares and a partisan crowd that collectively urged the Ukraine to victory, allowing them to be favorites for the runner up place in the group at the expense of Croatia.

The complexion of the game was set in the 14th minute, when after hesitancy by Rio Ferdinand allowed the Ukrainian striker through on goal. Robert Green came out and brought the player down, thus denying a goal scoring opportunity. The referee awarded a penalty and Green became the first England goalkeepr to be sent off in history.

James came on replacing Lennon. The penalty was missed. Could this be a let off? Ukraine were persistent, rugged and competitive. A rocket shot by Nazarenko in the 29th minute deflected off Ashley Cole’s head (probably gaining speed with the deflection) blasted into the England goal and really can be described as unstoppable.

England took time adapting to playing with 10 men. Gerrard replaced at half time due to injury by James Milner, gave the England team some shape that allowed England to battle hard. It was not enough to find an equaliser, and the Ukraine created the better of the chances in the game. Cole came on for Heskey and showed some adeptness, but the 10men could only battle hard. Ukraine deserved the victory through dogged determination and a home crowd that expected nothing less than victory.

Maybe this was a timely defeat. The defence was a little frail, though the team did well to limit the scoring, but they were unable to return a spectacular result. It should be stated though David James did make one phenomenal save and his ability should never be underestimated.

This result should remind us all of what can happen in a football match. Carefully thought out game plans can be ruined by a the loss of a player through a sending off. Adapting to a new game plan, and playing for most of the match with 10 men is a hazard of any game. At least we should recognise our frailties and approach every game with humility. We have qualified and in the summer of 2010 we will be playing with the big boys. They most certainly will not be believing that they are unable to beat England.

Squad News & Thoughts

Paul Robinson has pulled out of the squad with a hip injury and will be replaced by Joe Hart. Gary Cahill has been called up in place of Joleon Lescott, who has been withdrawn because of a calf problem.

Michael Owen had the perfect opportunity to give some food for thought for Capello, when he was picked to start for Manchester United against Wolfsburg in the Champions league game at Old Trafford last week. With an onlooking Capello, it would have been a golden opportunity for Owen to put himself in the manager’s mind. Alas it was not to be as Owen limped off after 20 minutes and will be out for a further two weeks. That he has not figured in any of England’s qualifying games and consequently is down the pecking order for selection, it is unlikely he will get a chance. That is not to say it will not happen for him, but the circumstances would have to be extraordinary and Owen would have to be fit.

Others not in the squad include Joe Cole, Theo Walcott, Owen Hargreaves, Jermaine Defoe. They are either injured or not match fit after long injury. These players will however be in contention as at the time of writing they are returning for their clubs. All being well they will be pushing for places for 2010.

No great surprises in the squad, except Ben Foster does not make it, and Agbonlahor returns for the injured Defoe. It should be remembered that we have got to this stage without sorting out the midfield, mostly due to injury to Joe Cole. Perhaps it is time to give James Milner a start in the left side of midfield?