World Cup - Day Seven

6/15/2006: England – Trinidad & Tobago (Group B)

Trinidad & Tobago, a fomer England colony, with virtually no professional league, and whose best players have played at one time in England, frustrated England for 83 minutes. With a huge advantage in possession, England was unable to crack the Trinidad and Tobago despite numerous opportunities. In the first half England seemed to retreat to their own bad past habits of dump and chase as their only tactic seemed to be deep balls to Owen and Crouch into the corners. Things changed a bit in the second half, especially when Rooney and Lennon came in (Lennon had the bigger impact with threatening runs down the right flank constantly putting a very well organized Soca Warrior defense) as England attacked down the wings with thru balls on the ground rather than in the air.

But Trinidad and Tobago continued to stimy England’s hopes and as time ticked, even had some chances of their own on counter attacks. For a team with so much promise, England seemed to be on the verge of a result which would put them in a very precarious situation. England’s main culprits were Crouch and Lampard, both of whom had numerous chances to score but could simply not finish.

The breakthrough for England finally came through in the 83rd minute, when T&T just could not contain Crouch any longer. A cross from Beckham (who else) found Crouch at Hislop’s far post. Crouch rose above his defender and vigorously headed the ball home. Even then, my immediate thought was England now has 6 points but with the minimum scoreline in each match, not exactly the performance of a team with real aspirations of winning the World Cup.

Then in the 89th minute, my boy Steven Gerrard (Stevie Me as a fellow Barley Boy brother Jim has informed me he’s known back across the pond), took a pass just outside the penalty box, dribbled his man, and with his left foot scored a “cracker” of a goal. When the FA Cup was all said and done, I became a Steven Gerrard fan for life after his incredible performance saved Liverpool. My advice for Sven Goran Ericksson is to let Gerrard play offensive midfield and drop Lampard back. Playing up front, Lampard left a lot of goals on the field today (So did Crouch, but at least he converted the all important first goal). Gerrard, with only second chance, scored what for me is the 3rd best strike of the Cup.

6/15/2006: Ecuador 3 – Costa Rica 0 (Grupo A)

No pudo resolver un partido que debia ganar el equipo Tico para quedarse en el Mundial. Con desventaja de 2 goles por 0, el animo de Costa Rica de apago en dos jugadas en los ultimos diez minutos: una clara opcion a gol despues de Buena jugada elaborada que se estrello contra el poste. Varios minutos despues, Kaviedes convierte un centro con elegancia para liquidar el partido. Costa Rica se despide del Mundial mientras que Ecuador se pone frente a Alemania por mayor diferencia de gol. El ultimo partido entre Ecuatorianos y Alemanes entonces tiene importancia aunque los dos ya estan en la segunda ronda.

Notas:
Marcaron por Ecuador C. Tenorio (9) y Augustin Delgado (55)
Wanchope, el autor de 2 goles contra Alemania, se vio desgastado en este partido.