TAMED LIONS ... England look dejected after
conceding the opener
England 2 Czech Rep 2
Nothing here suggested England are in any better shape
for 2010 than they were when they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
We may not be going backwards but nor are we going forwards.
The scrappy late equaliser by Joe Cole after 92 minutes
summed up England’s performance — disjointed and ugly. There is no
invention, precious little pace and the best chance of scoring
remains the same — set-pieces from David Beckham or hoofed long
balls.
This was Fabio Capello’s last chance to experiment
before next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and
Croatia. He wanted evidence England were ready for the task ahead.
But, despite Capello claiming his side had a good first half, it is
hard to be optimistic.
Maybe so much failure makes us naturally sceptical. Joe
Cole reckoned this week that England are as good as anything that
competed at the Euros. Maybe he means on his PlayStation. In
reality, we are nowhere near the top table of the international
game.
Certainly the Croats, who knocked us out of the
European Championship, will not be quaking in their boots. The
midfield conundrum regarding Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard
remains unsolved. Capello tried to get round it by pairing Lampard
with Gareth Barry and pushing Gerrard further forward. It was
hardly a roaring success.
England’s inability to get behind the defence is also a
serious worry. England did not start well and it set the tone for
the night. Stanislav Vlcek gave an early warning, scuffing a shot
wide when free in the area, and David James did well to keep out a
snap shot from Milan Baros.
Former Liverpool and Aston Villa star Baros is a
curious player. He frustrates so often in games but there are times
when he can produce something out of the blue — and he did just
that to give the Czechs a 22nd-minute lead. Baros collected the
ball in the box with his back to goal and rolled round England
skipper John Terry to create the space for a right-foot shot.
It was not the cleanest strike but the ball struck the
unfortunate Ashley Cole and deflected over the top of the diving
David James. After Defoe had squandered two opportunities and Cech
had made a bit of a meal getting down to a Gerrard drive, England
equalised on the stroke of half-time.
Beckham’s delivery from a corner on the right was
targeted at the near post and the unlikely figure of Wes Brown
climbed to head in for his first international goal in the nine
years since he made his debut.
No sooner had England returned to the pitch after the
break than they were behind again on 48 minutes. Barry, who had
already been booked for an agricultural tackle early on, upended
Jan Polak right on the edge of the area. A free-kick award was a
formality for Norwegian referee Terje Hauge.
The man who stepped up to take it, Marek Jankulovski,
is one of the jewels in the Czech crown and the AC Milan defender
did not disappoint with his execution. He took a curved run-up and
dispatched a curling left-foot strike into the top corner with
James barely moving. It was a quality finish, though James’
positioning could be questioned.
The Czechs, eliminated from the Euros thanks to that
amazing comeback by Turkey, have been hurting ever since and wanted
a good performance of their own to put it behind them. And as the
game went on, they looked increasingly tasty.
England were almost caught out again when sub Vaclav
Sverkos ran from deep to collect a lofted pass and James came
haring out to the touchline with no chance of getting the ball.
Sverkos went round him but was so far out and with an angle so
tight that, as James chased him back and the defenders covered, the
target got smaller and smaller. The result was he shot into the
side-netting.
James was laughing about it but the rest of us were
nearly crying. Capello was getting more and more agitated in the
technical area, as England disappeared up blind alleys. And Joe
Cole’s late show, following an almighty scramble after a corner,
did little to ease the pain.
The fans gave their verdict when those left in a
half-empty stadium booed the team off. It was all so horribly
familiar.
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