England, on Saturday, played Slovenia in a friendly. Slovenia was picked, as they play a similar style to Croatia, which is the big game on Wednesday (Sept 9th)
The game saw Capello pick a squad comprising Lampard, Defoe, Rooney, Heskey, Green (gk), Terry, Lescott, Gerrard, Wright-Phillips, Lennon, Milner, Carrick, and more.
The game saw England run out 2-1 winners, and whilst it was a comfortable win, the socreline did not reflect that.
Slovenia started brighter, and England where content to let them run out of steam.
England got on the scoreboard with a massively dubious penalty when Rooney went down under a very innocuous challenge, and Lampard slotted the penalty home. The second half saw Defoe give Capello plenty to think about by putting on a strong display and slotted home for Englands second goal.
The games big blemish came towards the end when Englands defence went on a mental walkabout, and Slovenia gleefully slotted home, giving England a nervous final few moments.
What does this game teach us? Well, Defoe has given Capello plenty to think about. He seems to like Heskey. A big player with lots of power, and a very unselfish style of play who can be a great target man up front, but not as productive as Defoe. Defoe put on a great display, and his form so far in the league has led to increasing calls for him to be given an England start. Still. Not a bad problem for Capello to have!
the other more serious problem is Englands defence. On the whole, it has been pretty solid. However, there have only been 4 games under Capello where they have kept a clean sheet. A sign of the problems is that the goals England has gifted have come from defensive errors. We have good defensive players. But for some reason, they just have these mental aberrations where they go to sleep, and let in a goal.
A cause for concern for Capello, and he has now voiced such concerns to the media. It means that in the locker room, he is probably livid!
Moving on. To my new home nation. The Japanese, having qualified for the World Cup, are embarking on a series of friendlies to get ready for the World Cup. With their most recent being a friendly against the Dutch. The game itself was not a game to set the world on fire. The Dutch using it as a tune-up for the game against the Scots on Wednesday, and the Japanese use it as a way to experiment with players, and a chance to see some of their European players, including Takayuki Morimoto, who plies his trade for Catania in Italy. A young player with a a flare style of play, that he says probably wont fit in with Japans more rigid mentality. However, his success in Italy has forced him into the team!
The Japanese started out on top, and had the better of the first half. However, the Dutch looked more dangerous, and far more incisive.
In the second half, the Dutch finally managed to step up a bit, and begin to follow through on their chances, and the 3 goals went in. Unfortunately, the Japanese defence was, at best, makeshift. And, up against the Dutch, it was quickly shown as being not up to the standard required.
Also, for Japan, Takayuki Morimoto tried hard, but was rather muzzled by a far better organised Dutch defence.
Well, the Dutch had a nice tune up ready for their last qualifier against Scotland. It will be tough. The Dutch have nothing to play for, whilst this is make or break for the Scots. Lose, and they will most likely drop a place. A draw may not be enough. A win will see the Scots maintain their hopes to qualify for the second placed playoffs.
The Japanese now have to somehow pick themselves up, ready for a friendly game in the Netherlands against a very good Ghana side. Should be interesting.
Now, moving on...
The big one for the England fans. Wednesday 9th of September. A chance for some serious ghosts being laid to rest. Let us not forget, that in the dying stages of the qualification rounds for Euro 2008, England needed a win against Croatia to make it to the finals, but in the end, miserably gave in on a horrible night at Wembley, now commonly known as Umbrellagate, as McClaren stood there, protecting himself from the rain (and the jeers) with a big brolly
Who can forget THAT night?! What a Wally with a Brolly...
Ah well. He did not do the decent thing and drop on his own sword, he waited to be fired so he could take the huge wodges of cash the FA had to pony up to end the contract.
Still. England have a new manager. A new confidence. And a new chance to right a lot of wrongs, ironically, by defeating their tormentors from last time, Croatia! A win against Croatia will see qualification assured. With 8 wins out of 8. A draw may still be enough, and a loss is not fatal. However, I think I can speak for all England fans who want England to go for the jugular and really drop the anvil on Croatia!
The build up of the game has seen both sides making all sorts of noises in the media. Lampard has been talking about the fact that the players remember how Croatia did for England 2 years ago, and will want to avenge that wrong, whilst Bilic has declared that undr Capello, the England team has lost some of its Englishness. Whatever that is.
To be honest, if the team loses some of its Englishness but goes on to do something pretty amazing, then I can live with that.
There are no injury worries for England, Walcott is out with a back injury, but Lennon, Wright-Phillips and Beckham are all vying for the right flank. Also, Who does Capello pick? Heskey or Defoe? A tough one that most managers would enjoy!
Croatia has a couple of players out in Modric out with an injury, and Corluka suspended. Also, Eduardo is under a spotlight at the moment now he has been found guilty of conning the referee when he took a tumble in the Arsenal game against Celtic.
The Croats have targeted Rooney as Englands danger man. Which is a fair point. He has been bagging goals on a pretty regular basis for the national team. They will try to nullfy him. Either by marking him out of the game (which opens up space for other players to go nuts!) or by taking him out of the game by getting him so riled he does something stupid.
A recent article in the Express quotes the Croats as basically saying his temprement is pretty suspect. Which it is. This is in important game. He needs to keep a lid on it for just 90 minutes. Let his skills do the talking.
The Croats are looking for a win, but if they leave with a draw, then they will leave Wembley. However, I hope and expect an England win. I am going to go for a nail-biting 2-1.
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