England brought down the curtain on 77 years of football at
Wembley Stadium in desperately disappointing fashion as a blunder
by David Seaman handed Germany victory in a World Cup
qualifier.
Seaman was caught napping by a 13th-minute free-kick from Liverpool
midfielder Dietmar Hamann which he could only parry into his own
net.
It was a massive anti-climax for the 76,000 crowd who had hoped to
give England a winning send-off at the Twin Towers.
But England coach Kevin Keegan clearly got his tactics wrong and
only in the final third of the match did his side look like
salvaging a point.
Keegan had stubbornly reverted to a 4-4-2 system after the success
of playing only one central striker in last month's morale-boosting
draw with France in Paris.
But there was a clear public admission that he had got things wrong
as for the second half he had switched back to 3-5-2 after his
players had look confused in their approach.
The Germans were worthy winners, always looking more composed on
the ball and better technically while England in contrast struggled
to keep possession.
Andy Cole did himself credit up front but Michael Owen had an off
day although in fairness both strikers were starved of any
worthwhile service.
It was only when David Beckham became more involved in proceedings
that England looked capable of earning a point.
But in fairness the Germans would have won by a more comfortable
margin but for some dreadful finishing in the latter stages when
England went for broke.
Although it is only the first game in a long qualifying group
England now face an uphill task if they are to secure the automatic
first spot in their group which guarantees qualification for the
2002 World Cup.
At the end of the game a day which had begun with so much
expectation ended with boos as the England team left the famous
turf for the last time.
FnU
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Thank you for loving me baby
You'll always be the one who drives me crazy
I think this is a gift from God to have you here..
Thank you for loving me baby
I'll treasure all your love and all the things we share..
And I wanna tell you, how much I love you.....
[This message has been edited by FATnUGLY (edited 08 October
2000).]