I agree with you there, HoH - it was a shame that Donovan wasn't playing. I was quite looking forward to watching him, as I've heard quite a bit about him.
I was surprised when I heard that McBride had retired. IIRC, he was very much a key player during the World Cup.
As for the match, I made notes on each half I did.
Just to bullet point what I thought at different points:
- Right at the start the comentators threw out the fact that Capello had a squad of 29, 18 of which were subs!! It amused me.
There was another fact later on that the FA brpught in the 6 sub rule because Sven used to make 11 substitutions in matches.
- The anthems... I thought the US one was poor, in all honesty. Not the anthem itself, but the person who was singing it, and the fact that I heard very little noise from the Americans at the ground (13,000 I think there were). The English one, in contrast, seemed to be a singer on the pitch with a choir of nearly 60,000 supporters in the stands. Then again, it's not a big surprise - England fans are well-known for making a
lot of noise.
- In the first 10 minutes or so, the US team was very good in the air, particularly the Midfielders.
- Shame about the ref at 11 minutes - Gerard's run in and cheeky flick into the net from Beckham's first free kick was barely picked up on by the American defence, who seemed very surprised by Beckham's second sudden low, fast ball straight through them. Shame it didn't go in.
- There were a shitload of Rooney and Defoe breaks in the first 30 minutes, and quite a few spots of bad defending -- Defoe, Rooney and Gerard seemed to have free passage into and around the box a lot. Defoe's chance at 33 minutes shouldn't have happened, though there was some good pressure by Pearce, which might have led to Defoe spooning it.
- Terry goal at 38 minutes.. great header. The power behind it to send it straight into the bottom corner was immense. Becks showed he still has moments of genius with the ball in that allowed that, too.
- More attacks from Defoe and Rooney, who made quite a good pair. Well, I'll rephrase that to: "Defoe was very good at supporting Rooney." The front two are usually "Rooney plus one".
- At Half Time I was thinking that the US defence wasn't too good, though the Midfield was tight to a point, and the team managed to hold their own. There didn't seem to be much from the forwards, though.
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- Second Half, we were given a shot of the ground, and I couldn't help whistling at the beauty of Wembley.
- Johnson's chance at 45 minutes was very good. England were still to settle down, and he came put of nowhere.
- At 50 minutes, I laughed at Rooney's missed overhead kick.
It's one of those things that looks brilliant if you can pull it off, and amusing if you don't. One of the best overhead kicks I've ever seen was a Crouch one in a friendly, I think it was, a few years ago, from which he scored.
- Gerard and Defoe showed a good partnership at 50 minutes, and Defoe's chance at 51 wasn't bad. The US goalie, though, was superb. I can' spell his name, but he was a damn sight better than the fella in the first half, and he showed it all throughout the second half. "Guszack"?
- At 57 minutes, I wrote down that the US were paying a lot better than they were in the first half... though Gerard's goal at 59 minutes was handed to him on a platter. The defenders were nowhere to be seen. They should have at least picked up on his run straight up from left to right. Good ball from the substitute Barry to Gerard, though.
- Also at 5 minutes was a fantastic Rooney break from a US corner.
- More examples at bad defending, though I was happy to see a greater number of times when there were two people staying at the back.
- By the time 70 minutes rolled by, England had a very big space in midfield, and could take all the time they wanted on the ball.
- 67 minutes - "Yay! Crochie!
". 6' 6" ish, such an inelegant player, yet very good. Shame he didn't show more of it tonight -- I'd have loved to see another rendition of his robot.
- 68 minutes saw more bad defending, with Rooney able to slip around the back, and the 72nd minute saw a 71,000 strong Mexican wave!!
- The 75th minute US free kick... buh?!
- At 80 minutes Eddie Lewis kicked in a beautiful cross, which James just about managed to get a hand to.
- Gerard was given Man of the Match at 86 minutes, and Crouch executed an overhead kick at 88 minutes. He got it right, but I still laughed.
And that was about it... I did think that the US picked up at the start of the second half, and put on some more pressure in the last 10 minutes, but they were generally lacklustre, gave the ball away easily, and defended badly. I will say that I thought Dempsey, Bradley, Lewis and Johnson played well, though.
As for England, it's been a long time since I saw a good second half performance. Under McClaren it was but a legend, and even under Sven in the later days it seemed to be falling into a Myth-like status. Good passing by England, too.
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Sorry if the post seems a bit biased, and doesn't touch much upon the US squad, but I am English.
There were some good US chances from a few free kicks and the odd attack, but otherwise I didn't think the team that good.
Oh, and the ref irritated the balls off me, constantly blowing his damned whistle. Apparently he was using the Eruo '08 rules. Which reminds me, "Burn in hell, Steve McClaren".
EDIT: I'll be interested to read your views on the entire thing, HoH.
Oh, and Terry is tough as boots, he is. By far one of our best, most consistent players... though not enalty taker.
I think he had to step up and take it because Drogba, the usual taker, had injured himself in the last few minutes. Something like that.
In England, we hold a stiff upper lip and just carry on, don'tcha know?
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