FIFA 2010 & English Cricket Team; England - A Battle won, A Battle Lost – Analysis
The 27th day of July in 2010 would be remembered in the sporting arenas of England for two varied reasons. First it was the very day that a toothless England football team was knocked out of the round 16 of the football World Cup, losing by four goals to one against a German side that seemed more determined, more attacking and more committed. Yet it was the very same day that a courageous England cricket team managed to beat World Champions Australia for the third consecutive time in as many one day matches to clinch the five match series 3-0.
Let’s talk about the football match first, since bad news is bigger news everywhere. There was little England's Italian coach Fabio Capello could have done after his side was labelled Fabio’s Flops by the local press. The presence of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Jeramin Defoe as well as the experienced David James couldn’t help England qualify for the quarter finals simply because they played bad throughout the tournament.
There was lack of co-ordination amongst the mid-fielders, the strikers seem to be aiming for the post than the net while the defence was as toothless as a baby tiger. There were loopholes in the English attack which featured great club names but lacked good country footballers. They could have topped the group and played any team but Germany in the round of 16, had goalkeeper Robert Green not let the ball through his hands in the first match against United States, but luck was clearly not on Capello’s side.
There were times in the four matches the English team played in when Capello would have thought of using David Beckham or regular skipper Rio Ferdinand in place of his star footballers. While Beckham was in South Africa as Capello’s assistant after injury ruled him out of the mega event, Ferdinand decided to stay back despite getting injured before the first match.
Then there is also the age factor. Like Italy, England has more seniors than juniors and the fact cost them the place in the last 8. Germany, on the other hand, fielded a youthful side that overwhelmed arch-rivals through goals from Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Muller.
They might cry foul for the rest of the year, since they were denied a goal on Lampard’s hit but the fact of the matter is, the English side wasn’t ready for the mega event and they had no intent of playing to win, so it seemed.
On the other hand, the English cricket team had a contrasting day as they downed world champions and arch-rivals Australia in one of the most thrilling one day matches ever played. Led by Andrew Strauss the host won the toss and elected to field hoping to restrict the World Champions for a low score. They did just that with James Anderson and Graeme Swann dealing decisive blows when it mattered. Not even a half century from Shane Watson, who scored 61 runs, could save Australia from faltering for just 212 in 46 overs. Swann was the pick of bowlers with 4 wickets while Anderson ended with 3.
Chasing 213 to win, England was cruising towards a target when Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood were batting. However a late order collapse brought Australia back into the game. Strauss managed 87 while Collingwood could score just 40, and in all this excitement, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting erred by bowling out his main bowlers Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris. With England needing 3 to win off the last over, Ponting called upon the most-expensive bowler of the match, James Hopes to deliver the final blow. Hopes hopelessly bowled one outside the off-stump, giving Tim Bresnan the chance to edge the ball past the wicket keeper and win it for England.
The win over Australia might not overshadow the loss in football, but 27th June is most likely to go as the day when English football was kicked off, while English cricket reached sky high!
Tags: