England are up and running after a Theo Walcott hat-trick inspired the 3 Lions to a 4-1 victory
away in Croatia.
I never got to watch England's last 2 matches against Andorra (2-1) and the red & whites of Croatia
(4-1) because I don't have Setanta, so I won't be going into one regarding how we played.
Arguably 2 meaningless international friendlies versus the USA and Trinidad & Tobago, have become
completely meaningless for me after a family tragedy.
So, for those who are not aware of the goings on regarding the 2 friendlies England have just
played and won, I guess a forward to a couple of half decent match reports may be helpful.
France 1 (HT 1-0)
Ribery (pen) 32
England 0
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Match: International Friendly
Kick Off: 8pm, Wednesday 26 March 2008
Referee: Florian Meyer (German)
Assistant Referees: Sonke Glindmann and Mark Borsch (Both German)
I never caught the mach.
France v England
International Friendly
8pm, Wednesday 26 March 2008
Stade de France, Paris
Live on Sky Sports
Fabio Capello has named his 2nd England squad to face the French on wednesday. 23 players have been
selected, whittled down from a provisional 30.
The big news is David Beckham has been recalled, presumably to get his 100th cap.
England 2
Jenas (40)
Wright-Phillips (62)
Switzerland 1
Derdiyok (58)
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 86,857.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
England started off their Capello time with a reasonable 2-1 friendly win against Switzerland
tonight.
Fabio Capello has picked his first England squad. Of course, the headline news is the ommission of
David Beckham due to the fact Becks has not played any competetive matches lately. The door has not
been closed on Beckham getting his 100th cap at some time in the future.
Capello said: "The reason that David is not in the squad is because he has not had any real match
practice since playing in November.
Fabio Capello will be the next England team manager. He is Italian if you don't know, and can't
guess.
Ever since the Scotsman Adam Crozier decided to appoint the Swede Sven Goran Eriksson to the
England manager's job, to teach us stupid English how to do things, it's become ok for England not
to have an Englishman in charge.
"McClaren sacked after Euro exit" is the headline at the Sun newspaper.
According to journalists Pat Sheehan and Shaun Curtis, the decision to sack Steve McClaren was made
at 10.30 pm after the 3-2 home defeat by Croatia. McClaren was informed of the decision
instantly.
Apparently, according to the Sun - FA chief executive Brian Barwick, his trusted aid Simon Johnson,
FA chairman Geoff Thompson and chairman of the international committee Noel White met at 10.
England 2
Lampard (pen) 56
Crouch 65
Croatia 3
Kranjcar 8
Olic 14
Petric 77
Venue: Wembley Stadium.
Attendance: 88,091.
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).
England have failed to qualify for the 2008 Euro's after a dismal display at Wembley in front of
nearly 90,000 fans.
Israel 2
Barda 10
Golan 90
Russia 1
Bilyaletdinov 61
Israel survived a torrid second half which saw their early lead equalised, and with 5 to go Isreal
were nearly defeated when a Russian shot hit the post. Somehow, amazingly, the Israeli's, who
looked out on their feet, counter-attacked and stole all 3 points when Golan pounced on a Cohen
through ball to make the score Israel 2 Russia 1.
Austria 0
England 1
Peter Crouch 44
Venue: Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Kick Off: 8pm, Friday 16 November 2007
Referee: Nicolai Vollquartz
England beat quite a weak Austrian side with a headed goal from Peter Crouch, supplied by a David
Beckham corner.
Scott Carson and Ashley Young made their England debuts.
Russia 2
Pavlyuchenko 69 (pen), 73.
England 1
Rooney 29
Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)
Well, I could not afford to go to Moscow, and my usual Sky Sports spot was unavailable, so I got to
listen to England 2-1 lose away in Russia on BBC 5 Live.
England 3
Wright-Phillips 11
Rooney 32
Rahn 33 og.
Estonia 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 86,655.
Referee: Nicolai Vollquartz (Denmark).
England seemed to jog past Estonia today. There was a period of time when England struggled to win
games under McClaren.
England 3
Owen 7, 31
Ferdinand 84
Russia 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 86,106
Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Stefan Wittberg and Henrik Andren (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Ingvarsson (SWE)
Well the 3 Lions roared tonight I think.
England 3
Wright-Phillips 20
Owen 49
Richards 66
Israel 0
Venue: Wembley Stadium.
Att: 85,372.
Referee: Peter Vink, Netherlands.
England's 3 lions roared today, crushed a well disciplined Israeli side at Wembley in front of
85'000 fans, and in emphatic fashion.
