How ironic that the Three Lions needed three goals scored by the other team to win their friendly with Group E longshots Japan. Flying high through their qualification, the Queen's boys looked destined to vie for the golden trophy, but their performance against Mexico and today's PATHETIC display leave big doubts in my mind that they can go the distance.
Soccernet's headline said it all, "Limp England Ride Their Luck." When countries are involved in a world sporting event psychological tactics are every bit as important as the physical ones. You want to arrive strong showing your opponents that you are in form and ready to roll. England is limping in to South Africa and you KNOW that the other favorites are taking notice.
Fabio Capello hasn't yet picked his 23-man team, and if I had to make a guess I would say that when he walked into the tunnel after the match he still didn't have a clue who he would pick.
Yes, there are certainties for this team. Rooney is going. Ashley Cole is going. Rio Ferdinand is going, etc. But for some positions today, neither starter nor sub looked like a lock for the squad.
Marcus Tulio Tanaka (sounds kind of Roman) started it off for the Japanese in the 7th minute with a strike that should have been cleared by the English defense.
Poor little Tanaka also had the dubious distinction of scoring in the 72nd minute for the wrong side. Joe Cole ripped in a rocketed cross and Tanaka put it in the goal.
After Fabio had exhausted all of his subs, I can't say that England played any better...or worse. They looked lazy and uninterested at times.
Frank Lampard had a chance to score for the Three Lions when a Japanese player obviously handled the ball during a freekick. Lampard missed. He also missed in the FA Cup final. Note to Fabio: Don't let Frankie take the pens in South Africa!
It is fortunate for them that Japan was scoring...for the wrong team. Again in the 84th minute, Nakazawa slid in to clear a primo low cross by Ashley Cole. The Japanese defender instead knocked it straight into the goal. Sad as it was for Japan, it was even sadder for England, as the two Japanese defenders were the only ones even close to the ball. WHERE WERE THE ENGLISH? Shouldn't someone have been mirroring Ashley?
I think that's what has me perplexed the most. They're acting as if they don't know how to PLAY footy. These are basic things, not something that has to be learned at this point. They haven't switched positions, the pitch isn't different, they're not playing blindfolded...SO PLAY ALREADY!
Some will say, "Susana Susana Susana, it's only a friendly and they don't want to get injured." And to that I would say, "Bollocks!" I was a dancer for years and if I learned one thing it was that "you dance how you train." If you laze around and don't do the real dance in training, that's exactly how you will look when you perform it.
If they're not careful, the group stage could be England's last dance.
I'm not sure what they were celebrating...they didn't deserve to win
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