 |
England v Sweden
Sunday 2nd June 2002 10.30 BST, Saitama |  |
England 1 Sweden 1
Campbell 23; Alexandersson (yeS!) 59
People in this country didn't go to church this morning - some churches changed the hours of their service to the afternoon, but I doubt they would've got in many punters (probably all drowned their sorrows and gone to sleep). There's something not quite right about a Swedish man leading an England team against Sweden - and am wondering how much "faking" our Sven had to do throughout this game? He sure as heck lied through his teeth when asked questions (by a Swede) at the end of it. "We had other chances in the 1st half", he dared, though the observant would've noticed the swerve in his eye. Gary Lineker was quick to question this, "I didn't see any other chances in the 1st half". Off with his head!!!
This game was absolutely awful. Sweden were dire in the first half and England were no better and their *only* chance at goal was the one that resulted in the Campbell headed goal. In the 2nd half, England disappeared altogether (please let this be the end of the OTT patriotic nonsense) and Sweden ran the show! A final score of 4-1 to Sweden might've been a fairer reflection of the game. Alexandersson! A wonderful shot, past 5 defenders and the flailing Seaman! Lucic missed a golden chance and Larsson could've arguably done a lot better when shooting wide of the post in injury time. Woe betide you against Argentina, England! And Nigeria come to that! A very poor show - even worse than I had anticipated. Beckham said afterwards (as he'd been subbed) that he'd been tired. TIRED?!?! Only yesterday he was saying (although I think he was possibly exaggerating) that he had been having his foot massaged for 8 hours a day - how can that wear you out???? Anyway, I am happy!
England had a fairly robust following in the stadium (*bang bang on the blasted drum* Rule Britannia *yawn*) but the majority of their fans were Japanese!!!! Japanese MU fans though, no doubt - and Japanese MU Beckham fans at that. They went very silent when Becks went off. That's not football supporting, peeps - that's idol worship - the stuff of film stars and Britney Spears. Somebody called me an old fashioned "idealist" the other day. Well, what's wrong with that? Certainly I am as far as football is concerned. May the best team win and the best players be praised for playing well. OK, so perhaps *some* of the worshippers like Beckham because of his footballing skills - but I reckon more like him because he has a stoat on his head and gets in all the papers. I'm all for going for the team with the best shirt though! :) Sweden had the Adidas mesh - but it was a lovely shade of blue. England's Umbro was just dungy.
Teams:
England: Seaman, Mills, Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Campbell, Beckham (Dyer 63), Scholes, Hargreaves, Heskey, Vassell (Joe Cole 74), Owen.
Booked: Campbell.
Sweden: Hedman, Mellberg, Mjallby, Jakobsson, Lucic, Linderoth, Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Magnus Svensson (Anders Svensson 56), Allback (Andreas Andersson 80), Larsson.
Booked: Allback, Jakobsson.
Attendance: 52,721
Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil).
I found out who Darius Vassell was too! I'd rather I hadn't. "Head down and run straight on". Unfortunately for him, there was little chance of that with the tactics of "hoof" - just like Wimbledon. What point that when there are two titchies up front?