Gerrards Win Gives English Fans Hope
Steven Gerrard has brought smiles back to the faces of English fans by winning the friendly against Hungary. Scoring a questionable goal against a team that is ranked 62nd in the world, made it seem as though he has brought the team back from its World Cup hangover. This was on the same night that Fabio Capello indicated that the end of David Beckham’s international career was nearing.
The match showed some decent performances from most of the players in the team, with Bobby Zamora, Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs who came astonishingly close to scoring their debut goal, there was also a brilliant save from Joe hart who denied Zoltan Gera’s from shining and scoring an equalizer.
This has given the team and the fans some optimism for the future, and has been a first after the World Cup fiasco that led the team out at the Round of 16 stages, when they were brutaly demolished by Germany.
Capello, summarized Fabios plans to move his team forward, even though his tactics are in question by experts. He stated that there would be no glory for the time being even if his side moves to reach the finals and wins all matches in a row without conceding goals.
There would be no talk of a golden federation or any one building any one up. There was definitely some reserved booing that was unleashed for the players of the World Cup and this is exactly what Steven Gerrard pointed out.
Gerrard said that it was going to take weeks if not months and numerous matches to restore the trust that the Three Lions have lost after the World Cup.
But still, if the goal that Wayne Rooney scored in three minutes would have been given, then it could have been a very respectable match for the English. Unluckily though, when trying to score, Rooney was only about half a yard beyond the last man and because of this the goal was disallowed.
If Walcott had showed some good running in the match, as he has done many times before, he would have left the team in awe. It was Walcott’s cut that gave Adam Johnson the ball, which allowed him to make a clear shot at the goal posts. He had enough space but pounced at the opportunity and netted the ball.
Still it was in the second half that a major shift for the English took place, as Capello talked about removing Beckham from the scene. Capello made a few substitutions and gave Kieran Gibbs, Bobby Zamora and Michael Dawson their team debut. Capello was left with seven out of his eleven players; with a comination of just 21 international appearances.
When Dawson slipped and gave Gera the opportunity to attack, this ended with Phil Jagielka turning this ball into his own goal. The supporters booed but if they were shown a replay of the match they would clearly see that Dawson had actually cleared the line.
Inconsistencies like these may have been going un-noticed by Capello, judging by the way he was sitting blankly on his seat. Gerrard superbly swivelled and shot another ball into the net for the second goal from the English side, this seemed like a proper captain’s response.
The last time Liverpool’s skipper, Gerrard had raced away after scoring for the Three lions was back in the World Cup when the goal against United States gave them a great kick start in the FIFA 2010 World Cup. It seems as though things are getting back to normal for the English side, but only time will truly tell.
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