AMAZING ENGLAND DO IT AGAIN!

 

 

Well the last time we faced the Germans was during the McLaren era and like a lot of those matches during that time the results weren't pretty. A friendly at Wembley in '07. Well we did open the scoring that night but it was ultimately the Germans that had the last laugh. Ironically, the last time we beat the Germans was on their own turf. The '02 World Cup qualifiers, UEFA Group 9. That match at the Olympiastadion in Munich. That time the Germans scored but it was most certainly the Three Lions that were celebrating as Sven's men did the business with some serious class. 5-1 was the last result anyone had expected and it's a game people will remember for a long time.

Well now we have another foreign coach and Fabio Capello certainly knows what he's doing, particularly in World Cup qualifiers. However a match against the Germans at the Olympiastadion in Berlin looked to be a pretty serious reality check. A whole load of injuries didn't help matters. So it was with low expectations that England took the field with Johnson at right back, Terry(returning as captain) and Upson in central defence, Wright-Phillips at right mid, Barry and Carrick in central midfield, Downing at left mid with Defoe up front alongside Villa assasin Gabriel Agbonlahor who was making his full England debut. The players were up for it but the last time we faced one of the major footballing powers in led to the only defeat of the Capello era.

Well Germany may have had the first attack but it wasn't long before their defence was under pressure and though we went on to dodge our share of bullets but still, it was seemingly the Three Lions that had the edge and in the 23rd minute we made it count when the German goalie was unable to handle a Downing corner and left on open goal for Upson to score his first goal for England! After that more England chances came but they were blown. In the meantime, the German had their own opportunities but this experimental lineup was seemingly reliant on set pieces. Somehow this had become England's show but surely the Germans would respond in the second half.

Again, Germany had the first attack of the second half but overall England retained the edge and a German comeback looked unlikely. Untill the 63rd minute that was when Patrik Helmes, surged in, both Terry and Carson seemed clueless as to what to do about him and the Bayern Leverkusen player got his first international goal. Fine by England who resumed their siege of the German goal. Fine by me, a draw would have been a creditable result. However Terry had other ideas and in the 84th minute he got his head on to a Downing freekick and the ball went into the net for a second England win in Germany in as many attempts. It used to be that England could never beat Germany, then it became that on their day England could beat anybody. Well right now it's England's day every time eleven men wearing the Three Lions step on to a football pitch!

Elsewhere, Scotland faced Argentina at Hampden Park with all the hype being on the new Argie coach, Diego Maradona. The Argies didn't hang around in making their presence known with Maxi Rodriguez opening the scoring. Credit to the Scots they gave as good as they got in the first half at least without finding the net. The second half proved to be not so fruitful with the visitors taking control of the game and seeing out the win. Credit to the SFA for having the ambition to bring the Argies over but this was always going to be a serious reality check for those on the pitch. Result's still dissapointing but at 1-0, it could have been worse.

Wales faced Denmark at the Brondby Stadium. The Danes had the slight edge during the first half but weren't able to make use of it and despite home advantage and even then the young Welsh side on displaywere giving them a match. Both sides kept testing each other after half time but it seemed as though the home side were at the very least managing to smother John Toshack's crew. That was before Craig Bellamy hit the winner. Denmark wound up having the last word but couldn't equalise. Great work from the Welsh here and given that they are still in competitive form in their World Cup qualifying group, who knows how far this side can go?

Northern Ireland faced Hungary at Windsor Park. The Hungarians ran the show for most of the first half with NI looking like a complete disaster. They never looked like getting into the game before half time, luckilly for them the Hungarians didn't hit the net in the first half either. The home side started to get some decent play going in the second half but then the visitors struck and Sandor Torghelle and Zoltan Gera scored to make sure that the Magyrs went home happy on this occasion. Nigel Worthington wasn't so happy though. He must be wondering where the next decent result from his team is coming from, the potential from Euro 2008 has blown away.

The Republic of Ireland faced Poland at Croke Park. Mariusz Lewandowski opened the scoring early on for Poland but overall the Irish had the slightly better first half but an experimental lineup wasn't able to find an equaliser. Poland found a second goal though, thanks to Roger Guerreiro and the game looked to be over then. The Irish held out though and late on Stephen Hunt pulled one back for them with a penalty but it was Robert Lewandowski who finished the game off with a third Polish goal though the Irish had the last laugh with a Keith Andrews consolation. Geovanni Trappatoni seemed to be happy enough having seen some promise from the younger players in green but the result can't exactly have been ideal.

Back on the domestic front the FA Cup 1st round replays took place and the one match I kept an eye on was the all-Blue Square Premier clash between Barrow and Eastborne at Holker Street. Richard Brodie opened the scoring for Barrow but that wasn't till late on in the first half. However that just set up an explosive, if one-sided second half as Paul Brown, Matt Henney and Carlos Logan all scored to send the home side cruising into the second round. Given that Barrow have the higher League position this was an unsurprising result but still, Barrow fans must be relieved that it's mission accomplished on this occasion. The next round will surely be another mattter entirely.

So in the second round my fomer local team Brentford are going up against Barrow at Holker Street. Now Brentford are currently an ambitious, high flying L2 side and my best mate has compared some of their football this season to Arsenal's on occasion. Therefore a team languishing in the lower half of the BSP should not be a problem for them. However, every team in the FA Cup knows that no opponent can be taken for granted. However the safe bet had to be that the Barrow attackers will get a reality check going up against the Bees defence. Brentford to win this one and make it into the pot for the 3rd round, complete with Premiership teams to what their appetite.

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