• England 1-0 Belgium (Welbeck 36)
Given that most people feel the present Belgium side is unlucky not to be involved in Poland and Ukraine this summer, and that there are unlikely to be 16 better sides competing at Euro 2012, this was really quite encouraging from England. There were plenty of royal lookalikes in the crowd for the cameras and giant screens to pick out before kick-off, and though not exactly majestic, England looked much more like the real thing.
People will say it is unwise to read too much into eve-of-tournament friendlies, yet critics would have been doing exactly that had Roy Hodgson's team lost. Instead they coped quite admirably, scoring a fine goal and defending capably against one of Europe's most fluid attacking lineups. There may be greater challenges ahead, and perhaps more motivated opponents, but this was a much more composed performance than last Saturday against Norway, and with two wins in his first week Hodgson and his players can travel to central Europe in good heart.
Belgium lost Vincent Kompany to a strain in the warm-up but otherwise were at full strength and looking conspicuously like a side that should have made it to the Euro 2012 finals. With Moussa Dembélé playing deep and Eden Hazard in a forward position, they stroked the ball around carefully for the first five minutes during which England found it difficult to get a touch, though once Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got his first run he brought the crowd to its feet by skipping past the first defender. Oxlade-Chamberlain had an excellent chance of opening the scoring moments later, indeed will never get a better chance of getting his England career off to a dream start, but when James Milner's cut-back from the right came through to him just asking to be hit at goal he made a dreadful mess of even managing a shot at all. If that suggested nerves, the Arsenal player hit a much sweeter drive with his next chance, after Danny Welbeck had rolled a pass back from the left. The shot flew narrowly wide, but at least it was cleanly hit, and it meant England could claim the first real attempt on goal.
The visitors had the ball in Joe Hart's net just before the mid-point of the first half, though Dries Mertens's cheeky effort was correctly ruled out for a blatant push on Gary Cahill. The Danish referee instantly produced a yellow card for the Belgian, which initially seemed harsh but was more than justified by the fact that Mertens's illegal challenge ended Cahill's participation. Mertens had not just pushed Cahill out of the way, his shove in the back propelled the defender straight into Hart, and as neither of the England players was expecting or braced for a collision the consequences could have been serious. As it was, Cahill had to leave the field after apparently losing a tooth, with Joleon Lescott coming on in his place.
Undeterred, Mertens made an outrageous meal of a foul by Glen Johnson to make sure a free-kick was awarded just before the half hour, and when the ball was crossed into the England area, Johnson had to be quick to clear, as Marouane Fellaini was lining up a shot from close range. The game became scrappy before the interval, with Scott Parker picking up a booking for an unnecessary foul on Jan Vertonghen, who may well be lining up alongside him at White Hart Lane next season, and Ashley Cole also in trouble for chasing Hazard a long way before clipping his ankle.
None of that seemed to matter when England took the lead 10 minutes before the break through a delightfully confident finish by Danny Welbeck. Cool though the striker was in chipping the ball over Simon Mignolet, he actually deserves extra credit for helping initiate the attacking opportunity. It was Welbeck and Steven Gerrard who ganged up on Dembélé to force him to surrender possession in a dangerous area of his own half, after which the Manchester United forward intelligently ran on to provide a target for Ashley Young, who was able to oblige with an instant and precise through-ball.
With Belgium's attacking threat subsiding alarmingly, England could even have been further ahead at the interval. After James Milner worked hard to bring down a high ball and keep it in play, Gerrard saw two shots in quick succession blocked on the six-yard line, first by Timmy Simons then by Guillaume Gillet.
Wayne Rooney came on for the last half hour, presumably to keep up his match fitness, though found little to do apart from running around. Even before the substitutions began in earnest, England had taken their foot off the attacking pedal, content to hold ground in midfield and let Belgium try the odd shot. Hart had second-half saves to make from Mertens, the disappointingly quiet Hazard and a scuffed shot from Fellaini, yet was never properly stretched. Romelu Lukaku offered a more direct threat when he came on for the last 20 minutes, and on one occasion was almost casually played into space near the penalty spot by his new team-mate Hazard, only to see his shot expertly blocked by an old colleague in Cole.
The nearest Belgium came to scoring was a rasping drive by Gillet that flicked off the outside of Hart's post without the goalkeeper knowing much about it, but even that was a speculative effort from 25 yards out. As if stung out of inertia, England went up the field and hit the post too, substitutes Theo Walcott and Jermain Defoe combining for the latter to shoot across Mignolet from a narrow angle. Cole hit the side netting before the end and Fellaini finally forced a sharp save from Hart in stoppage-time, but the score remained unaltered. "You only sing when you're winning," the surprisingly large contingent of Belgian fans trilled at the end. At this time of year, don't knock it. Read More
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