England Football Team - Match Report

Wednesday, March 1: England 2 Uruguay 1 England approached this friendly, the last game before Sven Goran Eriksson has to announce his squad, with two of the starting line up under pressure to claim a place, Michael Carrick and Darren Bent. England started with a good tempo and were obviously intent on keeping the momentum gained by beating Argentina. Uruguay soon showed that they were not here for the ride, however. Getting men behind the ball, challenging keenly and breaking quickly with some neat passing movements.In the main they did not really seek to penetrate the England box and would generally end up trying a hopeful shot from distance. Forlan put a couple of shots on target that were no trouble to the England keeper before chances began to appear at the other end. Darren Bent perhaps should have got on the end of a fine Beckham through ball but allowed it to bounce and the chance was lost.Then Michael Carrick began to influence proceedings. He had been nicely efficient from the start but now he began to edge further forward and his probings were more to the liking of Rooney and Joe Cole than either Beckham or Gerrards'. He had a shooting chance himself and will have been disappointed to send his shot a couple of yards wide before he linked well with Cole who might well have done better than force a save out of Carini after showing a fine first touch. Cole turned provider by slipping Beckham clear and he should certainly have done better than scoop hurriedly over as the keeper advanced. There had been moments of anxiety at the back for England, with Ferdinand giving possession away twice in dangerous areas and Neville looking uncomfortable when run at, but the Uruguayans had looked unlikely to punish such errors when they suddenly took the lead on 25 minutes. John Terry's headed clearance from a left wing corner was possibly the most confident piece of England defending yet but as the ball dropped almost thirty yards out Omar Pouso sent a lazy looking volley arching straight back into the corner of the net. It was a stunning goal and everybody was, appropriately enough, stunned. Minutes later there was more danger for England and also confusion which saw Robinson collide with Wayne Bridge as the left back cleared. Bridge stayed down and was unable to continue. He looked to have landed badly but the greater worry was obviously whether or not he had suffered a recurrence of his leg injury of last season. Carragher came on to replace him. With England's attacks increasingly faltering John Terry decided to try to go through alone and came mighty close to pulling it off. He needed a lucky break to set his run in motion but from then on he did well to go clear inside the box. One extra touch allowed Carina to deflect his shot behind for a corner though. The last chance of the half fell to Darren Bent and the Charlton man sent his cross shot wide, although it was a half chance at best. Bent had not shown up to advantage in this half, however. It is one thing making runs in behind the opposition defence but someone has to be in a position to make the pass when you set off. Bent kept going early and was continually finding himself in offside positions. In more close passing movements he was always moving one way as the ball was sent another. Michael Carrick, on the other hand, had probably been England's best performer in the first half. In truth his defensive qualities had not been overly tested but his movement to support and link up play was excellent and his use of the ball good. He was not content just to play the easy ball, either, which is always welcome and generally the sign of a player with that bit of extra class. He certainly looks more naturally suited to the role than his club colleague Ledley King which should not really come as a surprise to anyone. Half Time: England 0 Uruguay 1 England made two changes at half time with Jenas and King replacing Gerrard and Terry. There was less cohesion about England's play at the start of the second half than there had been in the first although the better players of the first half, Carrick, Cole and to some extent Rooney, continued to offer sporadic hope. Rooney linked well with Carrick to bring a decent save out of the Uruguayan sub keeper Viera but wasted a better chance with a sloppy finish. Uruguay fashioned their best chance of the night as England struggled to maintain their tempo but Perez hit his shot too close to Robinson and he parried to safety. Beckham was given a free kick opportunity by the unpredictable referee but his shot across the face of the wall was never going in. I know he doesn't play in England anymore but it does seem a long time since we saw one of his free kicks actually go in. With England looking to be running short of ideas it was certainly time for plan B and both Crouch and Wright-Phillips entered the fray with just under half an hour remaining. Boy, the words freak and show didn't half spring to mind as they stood next to each other waiting to come on though. Initially the changes did nothing to improve England's rhythm but steadily they did begin to push Uruguay further back. Wright-Phillips was certainly not afraid to run at the defence and his arrival seemed to energise Gary Neville who now began raiding forward with more conviction than at any time while his best mate was in front of him. On the other flank Joe Cole was becoming an increasing threat with his direct running and thoughtful prompting. There had been little hint that an equaliser was imminent, however, when there suddenly was one. Cole took the ball down the left flank before cutting inside to deliver a fine centre to the back post where Crouch got up early to direct a good header back across goal into the bottom corner. Doubtless inspired the beanpole striker than set Cole away with a neat piece of play and although Cole should probably have scored it did take a fine low save from Viera to deny him. Shortly before he was finally replaced by Jermain Defoe, Bent had his best opportunity of the night after a good move between Wright-Phillips and Neville saw the full back whip a dangerous ball into the near post. Sharp defending denied Bent his chance but it seemed typical of a sluggish performance. As the minutes ticked away and a whole spate of late Uruguayan substitutions disrupted the flow of the game still further tempers began to flare and a couple of ugly scenes were threatened. The Uruguayans seemed to take exception to Wright-Phillips for no apparent reason and we were treated to the bizarre spectacle of the referee bodily barging several Uruguayans in turn as they looked to argue with the tiny winger. Amid the unrest England conjured a fine last minute winner, just as they had in their previous match against Argentina. Carrick began the move by sending a quality crossfield pass out to Neville who moved possession on sharply to Wright-Phillips. This time the winger declined taking his man on and simply sent a quick ball into the near post where Cole arrived to score with a deft finish into the roof of the net. If England deserved to win then it was certainly an appropriate scorer. What Eriksson had learnt about his two most obvious fringe men you can never be sure. Carrick was excellent but this was also true on the tour of America last summer and that seemed to count for nothing. Darren Bent had a tough time on his debut, but that does not mean he cannot play at this level. South Americans know how to defend and he had a lot riding on his shoulders. Somehow, if Eriksson fancied Bent above Defoe, he should have been introduced earlier. For my part it all seemed very harsh on Defoe who has not let England down when called upon in the past. Bearing that in mind I feel he should have been given this chance to show his worth. Full Time: England 2 Uruguay 1

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