Weekend Review
It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the home nations in this weekend’s international action, with two wins, two defeats and one draw recorded.
England cruised to a comfortable over a relatively poor Slovakian side, courtesy of goals from Emile Heskey, Frank Lampard and a Wayne Rooney double. The Manchester United forward’s brace came in a man of the match performance which is in welcome contrast to his dismissal at Fulham just a week earlier. The match will also be a memorable one for David Beckham who broke Bobby Moore’s record of appearances for an outfield England player, as he claimed his 109th cap as a half time substitute.
On a slightly less positive note, injuries to Emile Heskey and his two replacements, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch, has left Fabio Capello with a striker shortage ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. With Heskey and Cole definitely out and Crouch struggling to be fit, Capello has called up Tottenham’s Darren Bent to reinforce his strking options. There was no such call for Michael Owen however, as the Italian once again chose to ignore the Newcastle forward claiming that his twenty minute return to action last weekend was not sufficient to convince him of his match fitness.
The other weekend winners were Northern Ireland, with a fine 3-2 victory over Poland at Windsor Park. The three points sends Nigel Worthington’s men to the top of their qualifiying group after the match between Slovenia and the Czech Republic ended in a goaless draw. Nigel Worthington has warned his players not to get too carried however, and they will hoping to maintain the momentum when they take on Slovenia on Wednesday.
Their southern neighbours, the Republic of Ireland, dropped two crucial points as they let a one goal advantage slip against Bulgaria. Richard Dunne’s header after just 35 seconds gave them the perfect start and they had opportunities to build on it before Kevin Kilbane’s 74th minute own goal. Their game against Giovanni Trapattoni’s home nation, Italy, on Wednesday now takes on added significance.
For Wales and Scotland, weekend events did not transpire as they would have liked. Wales went down 2-0 to Finland at the Millenium stadium courtesy of goals from ex-Rangers and Charlton stirker Jonatan Johansson and a late second from Crystal Palace’s Shefki Juqi. The result deals a massive blow to the prospect of qualification, with Craig Bellamy admitting after the game that their hopes are now effectively over.
For Scotland, things look equally as grim. Their 3-0 defeat against the Netherlands now leaves them eight points adrift from the Dutch who top the group. Scotland manager George Burley was angry at French referee Laurent Duhamel for disallowing a Gary Caldwell header, but the Scots were largely to blame for their own downful and are now left badly needing a result against Iceland at home on Wednesday.
