World Cup - Day 12

6/20/2006: England 2 – Sweden 2 (Group B)

England paired Rooney and Owen for first time and sat Crouch and Gerrard. Unfortunately, the new striker duo, which when paired in qualifications scored many goals, didn't have time to show the world what they coulddo because Owen’s knee buckled on an unchallenged play in the 3rd minute, forcing Crouch to come in and become the World Cup’s fastest substitution ever.

England played the first half as if it were a true favorite, completely dominating the Swedes with one of my favorites players Lampard, celebrating his 28th birthday, shooting and unfortunately missing from just about everywhere. Rooney had one good attempt in the 25th minute, latching on to a perfectly placed 50 yard ball from Beckham, before producing a shot that was blocked. Joe Cole, likewise, terrorized the Swedish defense with his endless running and control on the left-side. In the 34th minute, Cole chest trapped a Swedish clearance and fired a dipping shot that surprised the Swedish keeper and ended up in the back of the net.

But this game was certainly a tale of two halfs. If England dominated the first, Sweden came out desperately trying to win the game with the knowledge that a tie would only net them a date with the Germans in the next round. Just 6 minutes into the second half Sweden's pressure paid off as they scored on a wonderful header from Allback off a swerving corner that just about took Ashley Cole’s head off at the far post. The Swedes continued mounting the pressure by winning numerous corner kicks and on another swerving corner kick, Robinson was barely able to deflect a header into the crossbar.

In the 72nd minute, a despondent Rooney was taken out in favor of Gerrard. This substitution turned out to be crucial for England for two reasons: a) Gerrard clears a ball off the line two minutes after coming in and b) he scores the go ahead goal in the 85th minute on a header from a nice cross from Cole.

With the win almost secure, England commit a horrible defensive lapse at the 90th minute when Terry, Campbell, and Robinson all failed to a bouncing ball that two Swedish players manage to tap into the net. The play was started on a bullet throw-in that came in with the velocity of a kick and completely befuddled the English defense.

As it turns out, England wins the group and avoids Germany in the next round (getting Ecuador instead). Sweden isn’t so lucky.

6/20/2006 Germany 3 – Ecuador 0 (Group A)

Great performance from the hosts, who dismantle Ecuador completely. Two more goals for Klose and one goal by Lucas Podolski on a sliding shot from a lightning fast breakaway. They win the group and no face Sweden in the knockout phase. Eduacor must play England (see above). Germany looks very very tough.