 The pressure for England to perform was immense coming into this match. England's Euro 2008 qualification campaign had been pretty much an embarrassment so far. They were sitting 4th in the Group E table, behind Croatia, Russia and Israel. Anything less than an England victory would surely result in manager Steve Mclaren receiving his marching orders.
Mclaren had caused some controversy earlier in the week when he recalled Emile Heskey to the England squad. Many believed Heskey to be well past his prime and with only 5 goals from this previous 44 international appearances it was difficult to see why Heskey had been chosen.
A surprise starter was also Gareth Barry, who started in the middle of the park in replacement of an injured Frank Lampard. David Beckham and Wayne Rooney were also out through injury and Peter Crouch was out due to suspension.
The last game in Tel Aviv had resulted in Israel frustrating a toothless looking England side for 90 minutes for a 0-0 draw.
The Match
Right from the get go England looked strong, pressing an Israel side that looked at full stretch every time the ball got into their final third. It didn't take long for England to go ahead, with Shaun Wright-Phillips beating the offside trap to knock home Joe Cole's cross. For the rest of the first half England had chance after chance, but couldn't seem to find a second goal.
A few minutes into the second half Michael Owen hit a brilliant shoot on the turn to make it 2-0. England were now cruising and Israel started to rack up the yellow cards as their frustration continued. Finally Micah Richards, who had looked great the whole game, put the icing on the cake by heading home Barry's corner.
Overall Match Rating: 4 out of 5 |
