DANES DEALT WITH, SCOTLAND WIN CARLING OPENER

 

 

Well the last time we faced Denmark it was at the Parken Stadion back in '05. Sven was the gaffer back then and I'm pretty sure my best mate and I used the latter stages of the match as background noise and the Danes blew us to bits to the tune of 4-1. The last time we beat the Danes was in the second round of the '02 World Cup. That match was watched down the Anglers in Teddington and England won it 3-0 with Rio(a month or so before he signed for MUFC from Leeds)Michael Owen(then playing for Liverpool) and Heskey(then with Liverpool) hitting the net. For the last time we got a result in Denmark you have to go back to a 1989 matchup at the Idaetsparken Stadium where we drew 1-1 with Gary Lineker getting our goal. The last time we won there was amazingly in a Euro 1980 qualifying Group 1 match at the Idaetsparken Stadium where we won 4-3 with Kevin Keegan scoring twice, Everton's Robert Latchford getting our third then Phil Neal getting the fourth.

Now I have to admit, this latest rumble fell under my radar untill about a week previously and as per usual you got the snarks of how England shouldn't be playing matches at this time of year. Still, you'd have thought a match against decent if not high class opposition would be just what the doctor ordered for Fabio's crew - though those that 'weren't' at the Walkabout seemed to have other ideas. Still, the players were at the Parken Stadion for a game that should be a reasonable confidence booster with Hart in goal then a 4-4-2 with Glenn Johnson right back, Terry and Dawson central defence, Ashley Cole left back, Lampard(captain) alongside Arsenal's Jack Wilshere(making his England debut) in central defence, Rooney and Bent up front.

Well the first few minutes weren't the greatest of starts for England and then things got otright disasterous in the 8th minute. With no resistance whatsoever Christian Ericksen was able to cross to Daniel Agger with plenty of space to put the ball in the net. Not that we hung around with our equaliser. In the 11th minute Rooney found Walcott who crossed the ball to Bent who couldn't miss from point blank range. That didn't end England's problems though with the Danes outright taking the mick out of us on occasion though it was us who hit the net for the second time before half time - slight problem, the ref called it as offside. The second half was certainly up for grabs.

The second half looked likely to be more of the same and it wasn't long before the Three Lions wound up dodging a significant bullet. Still, we now had the benefit of fresh legs and when Johnson crossed to one of them, Ashley Young, in the 68th minute the Villa man grabbed his first international goal. After that well, England ticked over by playing the slow short passing game that many say is technically perfect and Fabio certainly likes it but it still looks like training session play to me. Still, bottom line the Three Lions opened 2011 with a decent enough win and given our previously mentioned history against the Danes, who can really complain about it.

Shifting on to a more competitive affair, way back when, there was a tournament called the Home Nations championship. In the days before the World Cup it was arguably the biggest tournament in football, an equivilent to the Five/Six Nations and in a similar format. It involved England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and finaly came to an end in 1984. Fast forward to the 21st century and TPTB came up with the idea of setting up a similar tournament. England decided that they didn't want anything to do with it but Scotland did and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland then joined them to bring you the Carling Nations Cup.

The first assignment for the Scots was Northern Ireland. The last time the two sides faced each other was back in '08 when George Burley was Scotland gaffer and the two sides drew 0-0 at Hampden Park, a match all involved would probably rather forget about. The Scots haven't actually beaten NI since I was living north of the border though I can't really remember the 1992 match at Hampden Park though the history books say Ally McCoist hit the winner in a 1-0 win for the Scots. The last time the two sides faced each other in a competitive setting was in the 1983/84 championship when the Scots lost 2-0 at Windor Park. The last time they got a result again NI in that competition was a 0-0 draw at Hampden Park the previous season and the last time they beat NI in a competitive setting was way back in the 1978/79 HNC when Jock Stein was Scotland gaffer and a guy called Arthur Graham(then playing for Leeds) got the only goal in a 1-0 win at Hampden Park.

Fast forward to the present day and Craig Levein has had a solid reign as Scotland gaffer so far and so the Tartan Army surely fancied their chances of winning this tournament that was to be held in the Republic of Ireland over the next few months. Both sides brought large groups of fans to this Carling Nations Cup encounter at the Aviva Stadium and though the mean in green had the slight edge in terms of noise surely this game was the Scots to lose. Levein went 4-4-2 for this encounter, Bardsley right back, Caldwell and HUtton central defence, Berra left back, Morrison right might, Blackpool's Charlie Adam and Wigan's James McArthur centre mid, Celtic's Kris Commons left mid, Kenny Miller(captain) and Naismith up front.

Well credit where credit's due it was NI who had the more solid start to the half but luckilly that proved to be nothing the Scottish defence couldn't handle. What NI couldn't deal with was a 19th minute Adam corner flicked on by Bardsley who found Miller who was always going to find the net. The Scots didn't show their opponents much mercy after that either and their second goal arrived in the 32nd minute when Hutton set up McArther who fired a ball goalwards...and did he mean to score, who cares, it went in. NI looked pretty much toothless in response and going into half time, everything was going to plan for Levein. Surely it was just a case of "steady as she goes".

The Scots didn't hang around after half time either, Naismith setting up Commons in the 51st minute and the Celtic man smoothly taking care of business. Levein proceded to overhaul his team but that did little to slow them down as the only question now was how many more goals would the Tartan Army have to celebrate before the end of the night. As it was the game cruised to a halt in the latter stages with Rory Patterson having a chance to secure a consolation goal for the men in green but he couldn't hit the net. Mission accomplished for the Scots who have surely gotten the attention of the other two sides in the competition after this result.

Earlier, the Republic of Ireland faced Wales also at the Aviva Stadium. The hosts had the edge in the first half with Wales's new gaffer Gary Speed still getting used to international management and his team didn't really have much of an effect on the match - at half time they were still getting away with it. They ran out of luck in the second half though, Darron Gibson opened the scoring for the Irish, Damien Duff made it two and Keith Fahey made it three. That leaves Scotland joint top of the table with the Republic of Ireland. The two sides are level on points, goal difference and goals scored. As things stand they'd probably need a playoff to decide the competition.

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