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Finally the England National Football team is through to the world cup finals in Japan summer 2002. After the state that Kevin Keegan (a total waste of space) left us in most people including me thought we would be very lucky to get to the playoffs!
When the FA brought in Sven Goran Eriksson (bless his soul) some people especially tabloid newspapers were sceptical. I looked up the guys record before I made any forgone decisions and it was very good so I decided to back him to get us there.
After winning against Spain 3-0 I was very pleased but it was only a friendly and we would have to see what happened against Finland who we had drawn with last time we played them. He chose a good oringinal team and to my joy got rid of Tony Adams, one of the worst defenders in world football EVER. We won 2-1 after a shaky start.
Then after two wins against Greece and Albania (2-0 and 3-1 respectivly) We came up against the Germans away.
The attitude of the nation was expectant and I forecasted a 1-0, 2-0 win. Boy was I wrong! 5-1!!! the country went wild, the best win againt Germany in English history, people began to expect alot and forecasted us winning the World Cup! we then beat Albania easily to top the table on goal difference.
This Brung us to the final match England Vs Greece. The hype was huge, all we had to do was win it 4-0, 5-0 predictions were coming from everywhere, but every sane person knew better than that. somehow it is always the useless team of butchers and insurance salesman that beat you!
Unfortunately for the match two massive parts of our team were missing: David Seaman, our number one goalie and Michael Owen our top striker who had scored in every game he had played, was injured with a hamstring niggle.
So it was the big match at 3:00 PM at Manchester United's ground: Old Trafford. The stadium was close to full. I was surprised when the camera panned the crowd, on the amount of families at the match. It really was a big day for English Football.
A Big cheer rose as the team came out of the tunnel, followed by Eriksson. The team lineup was as follows.
Nigel Martyn goalkeeper)
Ashley Cole (defender
Gary Neville
Martin Keown (I was surprised at that choice
Rio Ferdinand
David Beckham (midfielder)
Nick Barmby
Steven Gerrard
Paul Scholes
Robbie Fowler (striker)
Emile Heskey
At the kick off it was apparent that something was very VERY wrong. The England team were passing badly especially Stephen Gerrard and Paul Scholes, and Nigel Martyn had his work cut out in goal due to a sloppy and slow defence. After several unsuccessful counter attacks, there was a series of stuff coming in from the beeb about germany drawing nil-nil as we did trying to reassure themselves that we were playing ok. Then it struck. After a sloppy pass the Greeks made a break down the left wing and the greek striker was tracked by Ashley Cole until he completely missed with a dodgy slide tackle and martin keown stood there and did nothing. It was dribbled towards the shot and the greek player scored from a tight angle.
1-0. Boos and ohs went round the stadium as England carried the ball back to the centre of the pitch. The greeks then kept piling on the pressure while defending well while our team kept doing the opposite. Our best chance was when David Beckham had a Free Kick from just outside the penalty Area. This was an abysmal of a first half.
When they came out in the second half it looked like Eriksson had talked some sense into the players because they started to string some passes together and make some attacks on the goal, meanwhile it was still 0-0 in germany!
We then slumped into the same ways we had played the first half with the same hospital passes and immobile defenders. The only player playing reasonbly well was Beckham. Then Nick Barmby was subsituted for Andy Cole, Heskey moved up to the left of Midfield and cole went into the striker position. Cole Seemed to liven the attack up slightly for ten minutes and a great shot was saved by the goalie. We then sunk back down again.
Things were looking rather bad as it was still Germany 0 - Finland 0.
Then Teddy Sheringham came on - 'the super sub'for Fowler at a corner. David Beckham took the corner and SHERINGHAM HEADED IT OVER THE KEEPER'S HEAD INTO THE GOAL!!! 1-1 England were top of the table
But it was going too well.
Greece scored a minute later.
The players reeled from this blow they had only just equalised! and their heads sank down... Except for one, David Beckham's our captain. He played his heart out while the rest watched. he was the England team. Then Steve Mcmanaman came on for Ashley Cole, Mcmanaman has never ran at players since Euro '96 when he got kicked, so he was no help.
reports kept on coming in Germany 0 - Finland 0 they were going to qualify.
It was the final minute. David Beckham was about to take a penalty on the edge of the box. He kicked it. The ball swerved over the defenders, rised and curled to the left, the goalkeeper watched it fly into the top corner of the NET!!! 2-2 and then the whistle went! we had automatically qualified for the world cup!!! =D The crowd went wild.
England's rating: 5/10 total rubbish! (except for David Beckham who gets 11/10 for effort)
Greece 8.5/10 contained us well until the final whistle we were lucky to draw, best performance of the group, second only to our 5-1 win over Germany.
Man of the Match: David Beckham, Played a top class game all through the game he was the the only player on the pitch (pratically)
Everything bad behind me, WE WON WE WON WE WON WE WON
WEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOOON WEEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOON! (qualified that is)
Greece score
When the FA brought in Sven Goran Eriksson (bless his soul) some people especially tabloid newspapers were sceptical. I looked up the guys record before I made any forgone decisions and it was very good so I decided to back him to get us there.
After winning against Spain 3-0 I was very pleased but it was only a friendly and we would have to see what happened against Finland who we had drawn with last time we played them. He chose a good oringinal team and to my joy got rid of Tony Adams, one of the worst defenders in world football EVER. We won 2-1 after a shaky start.
Then after two wins against Greece and Albania (2-0 and 3-1 respectivly) We came up against the Germans away.
The attitude of the nation was expectant and I forecasted a 1-0, 2-0 win. Boy was I wrong! 5-1!!! the country went wild, the best win againt Germany in English history, people began to expect alot and forecasted us winning the World Cup! we then beat Albania easily to top the table on goal difference.
This Brung us to the final match England Vs Greece. The hype was huge, all we had to do was win it 4-0, 5-0 predictions were coming from everywhere, but every sane person knew better than that. somehow it is always the useless team of butchers and insurance salesman that beat you!
Unfortunately for the match two massive parts of our team were missing: David Seaman, our number one goalie and Michael Owen our top striker who had scored in every game he had played, was injured with a hamstring niggle.
So it was the big match at 3:00 PM at Manchester United's ground: Old Trafford. The stadium was close to full. I was surprised when the camera panned the crowd, on the amount of families at the match. It really was a big day for English Football.
A Big cheer rose as the team came out of the tunnel, followed by Eriksson. The team lineup was as follows.
Nigel Martyn goalkeeper)
Ashley Cole (defender
Gary Neville
Martin Keown (I was surprised at that choice
Rio Ferdinand
David Beckham (midfielder)
Nick Barmby
Steven Gerrard
Paul Scholes
Robbie Fowler (striker)
Emile Heskey
At the kick off it was apparent that something was very VERY wrong. The England team were passing badly especially Stephen Gerrard and Paul Scholes, and Nigel Martyn had his work cut out in goal due to a sloppy and slow defence. After several unsuccessful counter attacks, there was a series of stuff coming in from the beeb about germany drawing nil-nil as we did trying to reassure themselves that we were playing ok. Then it struck. After a sloppy pass the Greeks made a break down the left wing and the greek striker was tracked by Ashley Cole until he completely missed with a dodgy slide tackle and martin keown stood there and did nothing. It was dribbled towards the shot and the greek player scored from a tight angle.
1-0. Boos and ohs went round the stadium as England carried the ball back to the centre of the pitch. The greeks then kept piling on the pressure while defending well while our team kept doing the opposite. Our best chance was when David Beckham had a Free Kick from just outside the penalty Area. This was an abysmal of a first half.
When they came out in the second half it looked like Eriksson had talked some sense into the players because they started to string some passes together and make some attacks on the goal, meanwhile it was still 0-0 in germany!
We then slumped into the same ways we had played the first half with the same hospital passes and immobile defenders. The only player playing reasonbly well was Beckham. Then Nick Barmby was subsituted for Andy Cole, Heskey moved up to the left of Midfield and cole went into the striker position. Cole Seemed to liven the attack up slightly for ten minutes and a great shot was saved by the goalie. We then sunk back down again.
Things were looking rather bad as it was still Germany 0 - Finland 0.
Then Teddy Sheringham came on - 'the super sub'for Fowler at a corner. David Beckham took the corner and SHERINGHAM HEADED IT OVER THE KEEPER'S HEAD INTO THE GOAL!!! 1-1 England were top of the table
But it was going too well.
Greece scored a minute later.
The players reeled from this blow they had only just equalised! and their heads sank down... Except for one, David Beckham's our captain. He played his heart out while the rest watched. he was the England team. Then Steve Mcmanaman came on for Ashley Cole, Mcmanaman has never ran at players since Euro '96 when he got kicked, so he was no help.
reports kept on coming in Germany 0 - Finland 0 they were going to qualify.
It was the final minute. David Beckham was about to take a penalty on the edge of the box. He kicked it. The ball swerved over the defenders, rised and curled to the left, the goalkeeper watched it fly into the top corner of the NET!!! 2-2 and then the whistle went! we had automatically qualified for the world cup!!! =D The crowd went wild.
England's rating: 5/10 total rubbish! (except for David Beckham who gets 11/10 for effort)
Greece 8.5/10 contained us well until the final whistle we were lucky to draw, best performance of the group, second only to our 5-1 win over Germany.
Man of the Match: David Beckham, Played a top class game all through the game he was the the only player on the pitch (pratically)
Everything bad behind me, WE WON WE WON WE WON WE WON
WEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOOON WEEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOON! (qualified that is)
Greece score
Page:
Finally the England National Football team is through to the world cup finals in Japan summer 2002. After the state that Kevin Keegan (a total waste of space) left us in most people including me thought we would be very lucky to get to the playoffs!
When the FA brought in Sven Goran Eriksson (bless his soul) some people especially tabloid newspapers were sceptical. I looked up the guys record before I made any forgone decisions and it was very good so I decided to back him to get us there.
After winning against Spain 3-0 I was very pleased but it was only a friendly and we would have to see what happened against Finland who we had drawn with last time we played them. He chose a good oringinal team and to my joy got rid of Tony Adams, one of the worst defenders in world football EVER. We won 2-1 after a shaky start.
Then after two wins against Greece and Albania (2-0 and 3-1 respectivly) We came up against the Germans away.
The attitude of the nation was expectant and I forecasted a 1-0, 2-0 win. Boy was I wrong! 5-1!!! the country went wild, the best win againt Germany in English history, people began to expect alot and forecasted us winning the World Cup! we then beat Albania easily to top the table on goal difference.
This Brung us to the final match England Vs Greece. The hype was huge, all we had to do was win it 4-0, 5-0 predictions were coming from everywhere, but every sane person knew better than that. somehow it is always the useless team of butchers and insurance salesman that beat you!
Unfortunately for the match two massive parts of our team were missing: David Seaman, our number one goalie and Michael Owen our top striker who had scored in every game he had played, was injured with a hamstring niggle.
So it was the big match at 3:00 PM at Manchester United's ground: Old Trafford. The stadium was close to full. I was surprised when the camera panned the crowd, on the amount of families at the match. It really was a big day for English Football.
A Big cheer rose as the team came out of the tunnel, followed by Eriksson. The team lineup was as follows.
Nigel Martyn goalkeeper)
Ashley Cole (defender
Gary Neville
Martin Keown (I was surprised at that choice
Rio Ferdinand
David Beckham (midfielder)
Nick Barmby
Steven Gerrard
Paul Scholes
Robbie Fowler (striker)
Emile Heskey
At the kick off it was apparent that something was very VERY wrong. The England team were passing badly especially Stephen Gerrard and Paul Scholes, and Nigel Martyn had his work cut out in goal due to a sloppy and slow defence. After several unsuccessful counter attacks, there was a series of stuff coming in from the beeb about germany drawing nil-nil as we did trying to reassure themselves that we were playing ok. Then it struck. After a sloppy pass the Greeks made a break down the left wing and the greek striker was tracked by Ashley Cole until he completely missed with a dodgy slide tackle and martin keown stood there and did nothing. It was dribbled towards the shot and the greek player scored from a tight angle.
1-0. Boos and ohs went round the stadium as England carried the ball back to the centre of the pitch. The greeks then kept piling on the pressure while defending well while our team kept doing the opposite. Our best chance was when David Beckham had a Free Kick from just outside the penalty Area. This was an abysmal of a first half.
When they came out in the second half it looked like Eriksson had talked some sense into the players because they started to string some passes together and make some attacks on the goal, meanwhile it was still 0-0 in germany!
We then slumped into the same ways we had played the first half with the same hospital passes and immobile defenders. The only player playing reasonbly well was Beckham. Then Nick Barmby was subsituted for Andy Cole, Heskey moved up to the left of Midfield and cole went into the striker position. Cole Seemed to liven the attack up slightly for ten minutes and a great shot was saved by the goalie. We then sunk back down again.
Things were looking rather bad as it was still Germany 0 - Finland 0.
Then Teddy Sheringham came on - 'the super sub'for Fowler at a corner. David Beckham took the corner and SHERINGHAM HEADED IT OVER THE KEEPER'S HEAD INTO THE GOAL!!! 1-1 England were top of the table
But it was going too well.
Greece scored a minute later.
The players reeled from this blow they had only just equalised! and their heads sank down... Except for one, David Beckham's our captain. He played his heart out while the rest watched. he was the England team. Then Steve Mcmanaman came on for Ashley Cole, Mcmanaman has never ran at players since Euro '96 when he got kicked, so he was no help.
reports kept on coming in Germany 0 - Finland 0 they were going to qualify.
It was the final minute. David Beckham was about to take a penalty on the edge of the box. He kicked it. The ball swerved over the defenders, rised and curled to the left, the goalkeeper watched it fly into the top corner of the NET!!! 2-2 and then the whistle went! we had automatically qualified for the world cup!!! =D The crowd went wild.
England's rating: 5/10 total rubbish! (except for David Beckham who gets 11/10 for effort)
Greece 8.5/10 contained us well until the final whistle we were lucky to draw, best performance of the group, second only to our 5-1 win over Germany.
Man of the Match: David Beckham, Played a top class game all through the game he was the the only player on the pitch (pratically)
Everything bad behind me, WE WON WE WON WE WON WE WON
WEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOOON WEEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOON! (qualified that is)
Greece score
When the FA brought in Sven Goran Eriksson (bless his soul) some people especially tabloid newspapers were sceptical. I looked up the guys record before I made any forgone decisions and it was very good so I decided to back him to get us there.
After winning against Spain 3-0 I was very pleased but it was only a friendly and we would have to see what happened against Finland who we had drawn with last time we played them. He chose a good oringinal team and to my joy got rid of Tony Adams, one of the worst defenders in world football EVER. We won 2-1 after a shaky start.
Then after two wins against Greece and Albania (2-0 and 3-1 respectivly) We came up against the Germans away.
The attitude of the nation was expectant and I forecasted a 1-0, 2-0 win. Boy was I wrong! 5-1!!! the country went wild, the best win againt Germany in English history, people began to expect alot and forecasted us winning the World Cup! we then beat Albania easily to top the table on goal difference.
This Brung us to the final match England Vs Greece. The hype was huge, all we had to do was win it 4-0, 5-0 predictions were coming from everywhere, but every sane person knew better than that. somehow it is always the useless team of butchers and insurance salesman that beat you!
Unfortunately for the match two massive parts of our team were missing: David Seaman, our number one goalie and Michael Owen our top striker who had scored in every game he had played, was injured with a hamstring niggle.
So it was the big match at 3:00 PM at Manchester United's ground: Old Trafford. The stadium was close to full. I was surprised when the camera panned the crowd, on the amount of families at the match. It really was a big day for English Football.
A Big cheer rose as the team came out of the tunnel, followed by Eriksson. The team lineup was as follows.
Nigel Martyn goalkeeper)
Ashley Cole (defender
Gary Neville
Martin Keown (I was surprised at that choice
Rio Ferdinand
David Beckham (midfielder)
Nick Barmby
Steven Gerrard
Paul Scholes
Robbie Fowler (striker)
Emile Heskey
At the kick off it was apparent that something was very VERY wrong. The England team were passing badly especially Stephen Gerrard and Paul Scholes, and Nigel Martyn had his work cut out in goal due to a sloppy and slow defence. After several unsuccessful counter attacks, there was a series of stuff coming in from the beeb about germany drawing nil-nil as we did trying to reassure themselves that we were playing ok. Then it struck. After a sloppy pass the Greeks made a break down the left wing and the greek striker was tracked by Ashley Cole until he completely missed with a dodgy slide tackle and martin keown stood there and did nothing. It was dribbled towards the shot and the greek player scored from a tight angle.
1-0. Boos and ohs went round the stadium as England carried the ball back to the centre of the pitch. The greeks then kept piling on the pressure while defending well while our team kept doing the opposite. Our best chance was when David Beckham had a Free Kick from just outside the penalty Area. This was an abysmal of a first half.
When they came out in the second half it looked like Eriksson had talked some sense into the players because they started to string some passes together and make some attacks on the goal, meanwhile it was still 0-0 in germany!
We then slumped into the same ways we had played the first half with the same hospital passes and immobile defenders. The only player playing reasonbly well was Beckham. Then Nick Barmby was subsituted for Andy Cole, Heskey moved up to the left of Midfield and cole went into the striker position. Cole Seemed to liven the attack up slightly for ten minutes and a great shot was saved by the goalie. We then sunk back down again.
Things were looking rather bad as it was still Germany 0 - Finland 0.
Then Teddy Sheringham came on - 'the super sub'for Fowler at a corner. David Beckham took the corner and SHERINGHAM HEADED IT OVER THE KEEPER'S HEAD INTO THE GOAL!!! 1-1 England were top of the table
But it was going too well.
Greece scored a minute later.
The players reeled from this blow they had only just equalised! and their heads sank down... Except for one, David Beckham's our captain. He played his heart out while the rest watched. he was the England team. Then Steve Mcmanaman came on for Ashley Cole, Mcmanaman has never ran at players since Euro '96 when he got kicked, so he was no help.
reports kept on coming in Germany 0 - Finland 0 they were going to qualify.
It was the final minute. David Beckham was about to take a penalty on the edge of the box. He kicked it. The ball swerved over the defenders, rised and curled to the left, the goalkeeper watched it fly into the top corner of the NET!!! 2-2 and then the whistle went! we had automatically qualified for the world cup!!! =D The crowd went wild.
England's rating: 5/10 total rubbish! (except for David Beckham who gets 11/10 for effort)
Greece 8.5/10 contained us well until the final whistle we were lucky to draw, best performance of the group, second only to our 5-1 win over Germany.
Man of the Match: David Beckham, Played a top class game all through the game he was the the only player on the pitch (pratically)
Everything bad behind me, WE WON WE WON WE WON WE WON
WEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOOON WEEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOON! (qualified that is)
Greece score
Only Man Utd win at Old Trafford.
Have to say that, as glad as I am that we're there by right rather than luck, the results agains Albania and Greece have confirmed my suspicions that the result against Germany was no more than a fluke.
We need a LOT of improvement if we're to stand a chance in the finals.
We need a LOT of improvement if we're to stand a chance in the finals.
We have a hangover from the Germany game.
Players like Scholes and Gerrard ARE world class, but they just didn't perform on Saturday.
Beckham just didn't give up though, since becoming England captain he has been far and away the most consistant player, and has even managed to score a few more goals.
Players like Scholes and Gerrard ARE world class, but they just didn't perform on Saturday.
Beckham just didn't give up though, since becoming England captain he has been far and away the most consistant player, and has even managed to score a few more goals.
Agreed. Have to admit I was a Beckham-hater after his antics against Argentina, but as England captain he has been outstanding in all areas.
I think it was all donw to the huge expectation on them - they're a young squad, and couldn't handle it. Hopefully it will serve as a warning, because when the World Cup draw is made, people will start making hopefull predictions.
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