Expectations are high from the English team, nothing new, they always are! In this soccer crazy nation there is always a hype when the world cup arrives - this English team can do it! But that was not to be - The english are eliminated and in traditional fashion - going a man down for a STUPID tackle / argument / bickering, and then suffering the misery!
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The england portugal match was expected to be exciting, especially because the teams were so evenly matched considering their past head to head record! The match lasted 120 minutes - personally i love the additional soccer as it gives more action (recall the germany argentina match yesterday) but today i was praying for the extra time to end ASAP! Both teams going with a defensive 4-5-1 combination to play it safe and were more than content in keeping possesion. With this ploy the strikers are frustrated as the ball seldom reaches them, and Rooney made it evident. His puerile foul of stamping on the opponent earned him a red card and virtually eliminated any english chances of scoring goals! To me , Wayne rooney , is the face od English soccer - he epitomises the hooligans on the field with his aggressive attitude and short temper. English would have been much better had they played fluent fluid soccer as they played in the dying moments of the match. The second part of extra time truly represented the true potential of this English team when they thoroughly tested the Portugese despite being a man down!
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Going into the penalties, they were clearly at a disadvantage as a "dehydrated" Beckham was substituted, rooney carded and Owen injured!
Frank Lampard missed the first English penalty - that pretty much sums up his world cup - a very sorry one for him. 23 shots, at least half of them from close range, from this chelsea midfielder in the tournament and none of them converted.
Full marks to Ricardo for getting a hand on all 4 penalties and saving 3 of them. As for Robinson the English keeper, England can boast that he is the youngest to play in WC, but if he is their best, I guess that is not sufficient. The top teams in the world have very high quality keepers who can win matches for their teams - and English soccer needs one such keeper!
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France get the better of Brazil!
It was a day of upsets and the biggest and the best came from France as they knocked off the defending champions! I had mentioned in my previous post that France can and Yes they did! ZiZo showed what he can do when he is on the brink of his career!
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