Euro 2004 : England v Croatia
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England v Croatia:
Peter Rodd
21st June 19:45pm
Luz Stadium, Lisbon |
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Croatia 2 England 4
Scorers:
Kovac (6) Croatia 1 England 0
Scholes (40) Croatia 1 England 1
Rooney (45) Croatia 1 England 2
Rooney (68) Croatia 1 England 3
Tudor (74) Croatia 2 England 3
Lampard (79) Croatia 2 England 4
The “bench” on which the Croatia and England managers
were sitting during this unusual match looked like airline pilots’
seats. Appropriate enough for Sven who guided England to a flying
victory over their Balkan opponents.
What’s happening with this England team? Yes, they managed
to unravel the good knitting they had plained and pearled against
the French when their one-nil lead turned into a 2-1 defeat due
to - yet again the lack of a defensive wall! Did they learn nothing
from the last match ever played at Wembley?
But this time could they show enough character to come back from
a goal down early in the game? Yes. For the first time in a while,
England looked like a force to be reckoned with. Gary
Lineker, who knows something about football, on the BBC asked
the panel if this was, just perhaps, a good England team. Let us
here at Soccerphile answer for them: Yes.
True, you can justifiably argue Gerrard managed to complete perhaps
only two passes throughout the match, that defensive frailties were
once again apparent, that Owen should have chipped in over keeper
Butina, that Tudor was not marked for his fine headed goal, that
England once more relied too heavily on Paul Scholes, that the England
midfield allowed far too much space to opponents between the centre
circle and the D, and so on and so forth. Yet who would now hope
to be England’s opponents in this tournament?
Now that Sven has called Rooney the “new Pele”, he
will probably be marked very tightly. But that will allow more space
for Owen to make his runs, for Lampard, Scholes, Beckham, Gerrard
and perhaps Vassell or Dyer to take shots. A more forward-looking
England is a dangerous one and Portugal will have to now be aware
they might be outscored in the quarter-finals.
Greek Odyssey Continues
France 0 Greece 1
Scorer:
Charisteas (65)
European champions France were knocked out of Euro 2004 by unfancied
Greece by a solitary unstoppable headed goal by Charisteas
in the second half.
The television commentators were much taken by the Greek tactics
of the man-to-man marking of the French forwards. It was this, combined
with the five and sometimes six man Greek midfield which was the
key to the unlikely Greek victory. This is something to which the
England team’s tacticians - if indeed there are such people
- should pay close attention. The French forwards were starving
because Zidane the waiter couldn’t get the cake trolley between
the Greek tables.
Frustrating to watch was the insistence of the French, particularly
in the first 45 minutes, to keep the ball on the ground and always
via the feet of playmaker Zidane. It was as though France, accustomed
as they are to winning, mentally could not cope with the packed
Greek defence: German
in design, labyrinthine in effect.
Yes, it is true that France had most of the possession and spent
most of the match in the Greek half of the pitch, and Thierry Henry
- thought by some to be the world’s best attacker - had attempts
on goal that went close, yet it was French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez
who saw the ball hammered past him in spectacular style by unmarked
Greek forward Angelos Charisteas
after a good run down the right touchline by Theodoros Zagorakis.
This is a fairy-tale result for the Greeks, who had never before
won a match in an international finals competition before they beat
Portugal, the host nation 2-1 in the opening match of this competition.
They certainly were not favorites to win this encounter. How far
can the “Greek gods” go?
Next up: a July 1st semi-final against the winners of the Czech
Republic v Denmark quarter-final.
Croatian
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