A freescoring England, still with a 100% record in their World Cup qualifying campaign, took on the minnows of Andorra at Wembley. Having scored 20 goals in their previous 6 qualifiers, many predicted that England would sweep past the part timers of Andorra. But England manager Fabio Capello would take nothing for granted; the Andorrans defensive styles caused him and England severe headaches in his first competitive game as manager back in September. Only a few days ago, England’s cricket team had suffered a humiliating defeat to part time opposition in the Twenty20 World Cup. England’s footballers were looking to avoid an even more spectacular slip-up.
England named 3 changes from the side which had beaten Kazakhstan 4-0 four days earlier. Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey risked being suspended from the next qualifier if they picked up another yellow card, so were replaced by David Beckham and Peter Crouch respectively. The other change saw Joleon Lescott replacing Matthew Upson at centre back.
Looking to settle their nerves early on, England, and Wayne Rooney in particular, made a blistering start. After having 1 effort saved and a header hit the crossbar, it was 3rd time lucky for the Man United man, as he headed home Glen Johnson’s right wing cross after just 3 and a half minutes. That early goal immediately dispelled any fear that the Andorrans would frustrate England as they had done in the previous match. More chances soon followed for the home side. Peter Crouch headed over a Beckham free kick from only a few yards out, whilst Steven Gerrard’s low drive was turned away at the near post by Andorra keeper Koldo. Just as the game began to enter a bit of a lull, a second England goal sparked things into life again. Neat interplay between Johnson and Theo Walcott led to Walcott bursting into the penalty area, whipping the ball back from the by-line to Frank Lampard, who hammered in England’s 2nd goal, putting them in the comfort zone. Andorra’s only shot of the entire match came from a long range Moreno strike, which went harmlessly wide of Robert Green’s goal. 6 minutes before half time, England got their 3rd. Johnson was once again involved, supplying the cross which Rooney sublimely volleyed home as England moved further ahead. It could have been 4 had Koldo not kept out Beckham’s free kick. At half time, it was not a question of if England would win, but how much they would win by.
Rooney and Gerrard were both replaced at the break. Rooney’s substitution was particularly surprising as he was on a hat trick and looked capable scoring several more goals. However, his replacement, Jermaine Defoe, carried on where Rooney had left off. Firstly, he fired across the face of goal after he had been threaded clean through. Then, he headed a cross by Ashley Young wide. Lampard nearly added his 2nd when his low swerving effort was well saved by Koldo, and Walcott tamely wasted the rebound. Captain John Terry headed just wide from a corner, before England finally got their 1st goal of the 2nd half. Once again, Glen Johnson supplied the cross, and this time, Defoe was on the end of it to head home England’s 4th. That goal opened the floodgates as, barely 2 minutes later, a Beckham free kick was hopelessly fumbled by Koldo, and Defoe was on hand to tap in goal number 5 of the night. Peter Crouch, who has a fine international goal scoring record, couldn’t quite turn in Walcott’s low cross. Only a few minutes later, he did add another goal to his international tally, taking advantage of dreadful Andorran defending to just about walk the ball over the line for England’s final goal of the night. A 6-0 win represented an absolute hammering by England, dispatching their opponents with ease as the 3 Lions recorded win number 7 of this World Cup qualifying campaign.
Despite playing a side that resembled nothing more than a pub team, England went about their task impressively. To show that they have returned to the international elite, minnows like Andorra need dispatching comfortably and England did that. Their 7t win of the qualifying campaign maintains the impressive resurgence England have had under Fabio Capello. There is a 2 month break in international matches, with fixtures resuming in August when England travel to Holland for a friendly. Their final 3 qualifiers take place in the autumn. England go into them know that they need just 1 more win to secure their place in the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer.
By Chris Sykes
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