B TEAM SHOW ENGLAND THE WAY

 

(Image taken from BBC)

 

Well the last time England faced Albania was in a '02 World Cup qualifier at St James's Park. Sven was the gaffer at the time, I was still living in Teddington, a couple of weeks away from starting Uni and the Saturday eveyone in The Anglers had gone mental after beating Germany 5-1! After a result like that, the Albania game was just a light desert. Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler, both playing for Liverpool at the time, got the goals with the Three Lions barely breaking sweat.

This time round though, it was just a friendly and not just that, for England it was a B team friendly, well the senior team are hardly likely to play at Turf Moor are they? The second stringers had some redeeming to do though, their last outing saw them beaten by Belarus at the Madjeski Stadium! The changes from last year's team were Scott Carson in goal, Phil Neville right back, Michael Dawson and Ledley King central defence, Reading's Nicky Shorey at left back. Derek Bentley right mid, Garreth Barry and Jermaine Jenas centre mid, Lennon left mid, Owen(his fitness again being the excuse for a B international) and Smith up front.

Well England started on the front foot but it wasn't long before things went downhill when Lennon got injured and had to be replaced by Downing. In the meantime, Albania were certainly giving us a match and that gave me a slight sense of deja vu from the Belarus game. However Downing then finally started to repay McLaren's patience with him but it was Barry who set up England's first goal when he set up Smithy in the 34th minute before a panic by the Albanian goalie gave the ball to Downing for 2-0 in the 37th. Albanian attacker Besart Berisha was always giving us a headache at the other end though and he finally broke through in the 44th, beating our defence before slamming the ball into the net.

Unlike Belarus though, Albania didn't have anything left in the second half as this B team ran the game in a fashion that the seniors haven't done for ages! The win was capped when Owen surged through to cross for Downing to restore England's two goal advantage in the 58th minute. McLaren was allowed to overhaul the team and the only thing missing from the occassion was an Owen goal but given that the returning assasin did everything but score, mission accomplished all round.

Of course, that match was swiftly swept off the headlines when McLaren allowed David Beckham a chance at a comeback. In the short term this has proved to be a very good move. Can an on form Becks do a job for England? Does the Pope wear a funny hat? Plus Lennon is injured, and the Ruud boy has vouched for his continued class. In the longer term, it's a fair question it's more complicated but not because of his move to the LA Galaxy, an on form Becks is an on form Becks, wherever he plays his football. With Lennon and Bentley both younger than him though and good players in their own right, the former captain shouldn't be a garunteed starter.

Elsewhere, Wales faced New Zealand at the Millenium Stadium and were promptly embarrsed when the Kiwis opened the scoring through Shane Smeltz. Craig Bellamy didn't take long in equalising only for Smeltz to get his second before Bellamy levelled the match again. Wales had the better of the action in the second half but couldn't quite find the net. The Kiwis had the odd chance of their own but overall, this was a cackup for John Toshack's side who must have suffered from complacency.

The Republic of Ireland in the meantime have been playing two friendlies in the US! First up came a 1-1 draw with Ecuador at the Giants Stadium. Then came another 1-1 draw, this time with Bolivia at the Estadio Hernando Siles. Neither result gives Steve Staunton's side much credibility even if he wound up working with some of the first non-professionals to put on an Ireland shirts since the 1960s! I suppose some degree of dissapointment was inevitable given those circumstances.

There were still some domestic issues to take care of at the end of the season though, the first of which being the Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Dunfirmline at Hampden Park. DRawing some parralells to the FA Cup final, the Celt's weren't actually on top form for the encounter with Dunfirmline by far the hungrier side for both the first half and most of the game. It was central defender Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe of all people who eventually spared Gordon Strachen's blushes to hit the winner and secure Celtic the double.

South of the border, the last Premiership place of 07/08 was up for grabs between Derby and West Brom in the Championship playoff final at Wembley. Albion ran the first half and certainly had the chances to bury the Rams and could have had a penalty but just weren't able to hit the net. They regretted that in the second half as Derby took over and Stephen Pearson hit the winner to secure their presence in the Premiership for the first time since '02!

Well, bring on Brazil!

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