Sunday, June 11, 2006

 

Paraguay 1-0 Paraguay...

*YAWN*

Long ball, struggle for possession, win ball, pass ball backwards, pass ball backwards again, pass to keeper, long ball, repeat ad dormium.

What a boring game. If that was what we're expecting out of England then it'll be a short and uneventful Cup for them. At least, that's what I can get out of what little I saw over and through a sea of heads at the Pig n Whistle!

Sven discarded all his pre-Cup tinkering for a classical 4-4-2, and initially I thought it would be a hammering. Paraguay's defence looked awful, and even gifted a goal, but England could not make the most of it even after their keeper went off due to an injury (poor fella). After a while, Paraguay became tougher to break down although they very rarely threatened.

Eriksson's lack of strikers has already shown itself to be a problem as Owen was subbed, then Crouch looking very tired as the game wore on and with only Walcott available to replace him.

Having said all that, Paraguay are a decent side but England never looked like losing it. Things can go pear-shaped quickly in a match, of course, but the laws of probability were certainly in their favour. They won while playing poorly and that might just be a good sign.

Player ratings (note: I could barely see for much of the game so this might be dodgy..)
Robinson 5, Neville 6, Ferdinand 7, Terry 6, Ashley Cole 5, Beckham 7, Lampard 6, Gerrard 6, Joe Cole 7 (Hargreaves 6), Owen 6 (Downing 6), Crouch 7.



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