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| Pictures will appear here when I can get onto the website! |
Time to go back to the drawing board, Kevin and lads! The only (real) joy I get out of England going home so soon, is that at least we are admitting now that we aren't as good as we kept saying we were! Tonight was certainly no exception. Romania deserved to win, without doubt. They played in a totally different league to England. And yet, up to 3 minutes before time, it was England who were going through to the quarter-finals and not Romania. This would've been a travesty, in my opinion. But how come the Romanians showed such little urgency; don't they fancy the Italians?? A massive cheer went up in the living room when they earned the penalty (including from my son, who was wearing an England shirt; even he realised England deserved nothing out of this sorry show).
So, Romania get their first ever win in a European Championship while, having banished the "haven't beaten the Germans for 34 years" tag; England must continue to carry the burden of "haven't beaten Romania for 30 years" one!! Can't win 'em all boys!! Here's to a big sit down, with a big thick book full of new ideas - and here's to a future when England can perhaps compete on equal terms with the truly good teams of Europe. Until then, at least Belgium has been rid of our hooligans.
(For anybody who is interested, there was an excellent programme cataloguing the English morons' movements for 8 days during the tournament (undercover of course) on the BBC last evening, after the match. It was a real eye-opener and sickened anybody who watched it. Comments (many) can be found here)
Teams and things
ENGLAND (4-4-2): 13 N Martyn (Leeds United) - 2 G Neville (Manchester United), 6 M Keown (Arsenal), 4 S Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur), 3 P Neville (Manchester United) - 7 D Beckham (Manchester United), 14 P Ince (Middlesbrough), 8 P Scholes (Manchester United; sub: 12 G Southgate, Aston Villa, 80), 17 D Wise (Chelsea; sub: 18 N Barmby, Everton, 75) - 9 A Shearer (Newcastle United), 10 M Owen (Liverpool; sub: 19 E Heskey, Liverpool, 66min). Substitutes not used: 1 D Seaman (Arsenal), 22 R Wright (Ipswich Town), 15 G Barry (Aston Villa), 16 S Gerrard (Liverpool), 11 S McManaman (Real Madrid), 20 K Phillips (Sunderland), 21 R Fowler (Liverpool). Booked: Shearer.
ROMANIA (4-3-1-2): 12 B Stelea (Salamanca) - 22 C Contra (Alaves), 6 G Popescu (Galatasaray; sub: 17 M Belodedici, Steaua Bucharest, 31), 4 I Filipescu (Real Betis), 13 C Chivu (Ajax) - 2 D Petrescu (Chelsea), 5 C Galca (Espanyol; sub: 16 L Rosu, Steaua Bucharest, 67), 8 D Munteanu (VfL Wolfsburg) - 7 A Mutu (Internazionale) - 11 A Ilie (Valencia; sub: 18 I Ganea, VfB Stuttgart, 74), 9 V Moldovan (Fenerbahçe). Substitutes not used: 1 B Lobont (Rapid Bucharest), 21 F Prunea
(Universitatea Craiova), 3 L Ciobotariu (Standard Liège), 14 F Petre (Dinamo Bucharest), 15 I Lupescu (Dinamo Bucharest), 19 E Linkar (Steaua Bucharest), 20 C Hildan (Dinamo Bucharest). Booked: Chivu, Contra, Ilie, Petrescu, Filipescu.
Referee: U Meier (Switzerland).
Match Report from "The Times"
England given no quarter by Ganea
FROM MATT DICKINSON, FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT IN CHARLEROI
ENGLAND 2
ROMANIA 3
SELF-DESTRUCTION had always threatened to force England out of this European championship, but last night it came from the players rather than the fans. Three minutes away from securing a quarter-final tie against Italy, they gave away the penalty that so many neutrals will have celebrated to send England and their hooligans back home.
Phil Neville was the culpable man for a rash tackle on Viorel Moldovan, but the truth is that Kevin Keegan's team were collectively vulnerable. The shock was purely in the timing of England's disaster and Keegan promised afterwards that there would now have to be changes.
Ioan Ganea's penalty not only brought an end to England's unpredictable campaign but also the international career of Alan Shearer. The England captain at least scored on his farewell appearance, but he was also booked for diving when he realised that his ageing legs could not carry him past his marker. His parting is not premature and he will be joined by Paul Ince, and possibly David Seaman and Tony Adams, in international retirement.
While England mourns, the rest of this tournament will celebrate their passing. The thought of their progression will have terrified the residents of Brussels, who would have been forced to host the country's hooligans for four days. England's players will be distraught at the manner of their exit. Uefa and the people of Belgium will breathe a sigh of relief.
A close, muggy evening had foretold a sticky time for England and it was apparent straight from the kick-off that they would be made to sweat. Romania made Keegan's team look clumsy, particularly in the opening period, when only one team was capable of treating the ball with loving care.
The tension that afflicted England provided further evidence for those who believe that Keegan needs to add another body to his midfield against more technically adept opponents, but, despite an experiment in training with the 3-5-2 system, there was to be no place for Gerrard or McManaman in the starting line-up as the head coach stuck by the team that had beaten Germany. Given that England had scored twice by half-time Keegan will argue that there is nothing missing, but it was impossible to escape the notion that he would not get away with only two central midfield players against stronger teams.
This England side, with the notable exceptions of Beckham and Scholes, surrenders possession far too easily and it is a tribute to their collective will that they can overcome that failing with grit. For the first 20 minutes they were on the ropes and ready to tumble, but they fought back with directness.
If they had not been helped before kick-off when David Seaman had been forced to withdraw after injuring himself in the warm-up, they were considerably aided when Gica Popescu, the former Tottenham Hotspur defender, limped away. A towering presence and a player capable of withstanding the battering of Shearer, it was no coincidence that England should force their way back into the game after he had departed in the 31st minute.
Without Popescu to protect them, the Romanians suddenly looked vulnerable and England took advantage with two goals in six minutes leading up to half-time to transform a game that told initially of a long and painful night for Keegan and his players.
Even before Chivu's goal, Romania had given Nigel Martyn a testing time as Ilie struck a ferocious free kick that he had to dive at full stretch to parry and Moldovan thumped a powerful drive. Keown and Campbell, so strong against Germany's pair of lumpish strikers, suddenly looked vulnerable when dragged around by nimbler forwards.
England were being stretched on the rack. The defenders were hanging off their opponents, afraid to dive in, and it was such a failing that allowed Romania to take the lead in the 21st minute. When a corner flew across the goalmouth, Phil Neville should have closed down Chivu. Instead, he gave him the yard of space that allowed him to turn and loop the ball across England's goal. As Martyn desperately retreated, the cross struck the inside of the far post and bounced in. It was a jolt that England needed. The chess game to which they are so badly suited had become an up-and-at-'em battle, just as they prefer. They had no option but to press forward and, with Beckham working tirelessly, at last they began to push Romania back. The surprise was that the equaliser should stem from a move down the left, because that flank appeared to be a dead end for England.
When Phil Neville threw the ball in to Alan Shearer, there did not appear an obvious option for the England captain. Fortunately, Paul Ince decided to give him one by bursting into the penalty area and as he attempted to bully his way past Romania defenders, Chivu stuck out a leg. There was certainly contact and Shearer gleefully whacked in the penalty for his thirtieth goal for his country.
England's tails were up and they might have taken the lead had the linesman not adjudged Owen to be marginally offside as he chased after a ball over the top. He was to get an identical opportunity moments before half-time when Scholes slipped him through and, this time, the linesman kept his flag down. Owen, so pricked by being substituted in the past two games, was not about to miss his big opportunity and he nudged the ball past Stelea before slipping it in from a tight angle.
The transformation had been as unexpected as it had been swift, but it was daft to expect that, against such clever opponents, England would be able to close down the game. Predictably, within two minutes of the start of the second half, Romania were back on level terms when Martyn proved why Keegan has been right to stand by Seaman. Coming for a routine punch, the goalkeeper bumped into Keown and directed the ball straight at the feet of Munteanu, whose instant shot carried the ball back past Martyn. England, like the rest of us in a sweltering city, were going to sweat.
