World Cup Day Two 10/06/2006

England 1-0 Paraguay

Around 35,000 England fans gathered inside the Waldstadion in Frankfurt, and thousands more gathered in the streets of the city, as England opened their World Cup campaign against Paraguay. These fans left the match satisfied on the whole, as England beat Paraguay by a single goal, despite a nervy and uninspiring second half display.

One of the main talking points during England’s pre World Cup friendlies was David Beckham’s superb crossing of the ball from set pieces. And within four minutes, there were signs of this, as England took the lead. David Beckham floated a beautiful free kick into the heart of the Paraguayan penalty area, and defender Carlos Gamarra headed into his own net, under pressure from Michael Owen.

With six minutes on the clock, things went from bad to worse for Paraguay. Their goalkeeper, Justo Villar went to clear the ball, with Michael Owen in hot pursuit. The keeper slid in, and blasted the ball up field, but was injured in the process. A substitution had to be made, and Paraguay’s back up keeper, Aldo Bobadilla replaced him.

England continued to press forward, and dominated large parts of the first half. Plenty of corners were made, but to no avail. Midfielders Lampard, Gerrard and Beckham all attempted long range efforts from outside the penalty area, but all of them missed the target.

Paraguay, on the other hand, were on the back foot throughout the first half, and their chances were few and far between. Their only real effort before the break came in the second minute of first half injury time, when Nelson Valdes’ shot was saved by Paul Robinson.

The teams went into the break with England winning by a goal to nil, and looking relatively comfortable.

The second half, however, was a very different story. Paraguay looked a lot more dangerous, and created a number of chances early in the second half, which was a worry for the England players and fans.

Ten minutes into the second half, Sven decided to take Michael Owen off, and replace him with Left sided midfielder Stuart Downing. England changed their formation to a 4-4-1-1 with Joe Cole playing just behind Peter Crouch. This formation looked ineffective, and limited England’s attacking options.

It also pushed England further back, and Paraguay capitalised on this, and continued to press forward in the second half. Their efforts nearly paid off with 64 minutes played, when Nelson Valdes, who looked like Paraguay’s best player by a long way, cut into the England box and hit a swirling shot at Paul Robinson. Despite chances like this, Paraguay still seemed unable to get their star striker, Roque Santa Cruz involved in the game.

Unlike in the first half, England had very few clear cut chances. Their only two real attempts on goal were by Frank Lampard, both of which were tipped behind by the Paraguayan keeper.

The referee didn’t help England’s cause either, making one or two controversial decisions in Paraguay’s favour, and not being afraid to brandish his yellow card.

With 82 minutes on the clock, Sven made another substitution, this time bringing on Owen Hargreaves to replace Joe Cole. This limited England’s attacking options even further, and looked to be a poor tactical decision.

Eventually, England managed to hold on and win the match by a single goal, despite a very nervy second half. It was far from the best England performance, but nevertheless, a win is a win, and it is a big step towards progressing from Group B. However, every England fan will be hoping Sven sticks to his tried and tested 4-4-2 formation for the rest of the campaign.

England 1-0 Paraguay
Gamarra O.G 4'

Trinidad and Tobago 0-0 Sweden

Today will be remembered as one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, and a day of great embarrasment for Sweden, as the Swedes were unable to beat the 10 men of Caribbean minnows Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago are the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup, and were rank outsiders in this match. However, a battling performance was enough to see them through, helped greatly by the heroics of West Ham keeper, Shaka Hislop.

The Swedes were the better of the two teams, and put a lot of pressure on Trinidad and Tobago right from the start. The Swedes created endless opurtunities, and fired cross after cross into the Soca Warriors' penalty area, but all were cleared by the determined efforts of the Trinidad and Tobago defence. Shaka Hislop kept the Soca Warriors in the game with some key saves, much to the frustration of the Swedish players and fans.

Trinidad and Tobago created several chances themselves, and certainly did not look out of place at the World Cup. Their best chance fell to substitute Cornell Glenn, who smashed his effort against the Swedish bar from the corner of the Swedish box.

The Caribbean side were reduced to ten men within a minute of the second half. Left back Avery John was sent off for a second yellow card. Despite their numerical disadvantage, the players battled on and held out for a draw, which will go down as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

This scoreline is also great news as far as England are concerned, as it significantly increases their chances of finishing top of Group B. But perhaps Sven will have to think long and hard about tactics ahead of the next game against the team from the Caribbean, who may be harder to beat than first fought. All in all an amazing result for the underdog, and there will be endless celebrations in the Caribbean tonight.

Trinidad and Tobago 0-0 Sweden

Argentina 2-1 Ivory Coast

West African debutants, the Ivory Coast, gave Argentina a run for their money in Hamburg in what proved to be a very open and very entertaining match. Two first half strikes from Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola were enough to seal the win for Argentina, although Didier Drogba scored a late goal for the Ivory Coast to give them some hope.

Argentina took the lead on 24 minutes when Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo scored from close range following some good build up play.

14 minutes later, Argentina doubled their lead. A beautifully timed and disguised through ball from Juan Roman Riquelme found the feet of Javier Saviola who tipped the ball past the Ivorian goalkeeper.

The Ivory Coast refused to give up, and created plenty of chances of their own. In the end, their efforts paid off when Chelsea striker Didier Drogba pulled one back. Some excellent attacking play from the Ivory Coast culminated in a cut back pass which found Didier Drogba who scored from around the penalty spot. This set up a tense finish to a great match.

Five minutes from the end, Argentina had the ball in the net for third time in the evening, although it was disallowed for offside. Nevertheless, the advantage they had was enough to carry them through to the final whistle and seal three points. It was a very convincing display from the Ivory Coast in their first ever World Cup match, and some may deem them unlucky to lose what was a relatively open match. Argentinian class and experience seemed to come through in the end as the South American former champions take first place in the infamous 'Group of Death.'

Argentina 2-1 Ivory Coast
Crespo 24 ..... Drogba 81
Saviola 38