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3 Lions back with a ROAR!!!


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Croatia demolished by a rejuvenated attacking England team..

 

Croatia 1-4 England: Walcott grabs hat-trick

 

Theo Walcott grabbed a stunning hat-trick as England heroically overcame the hostility of Maksimir Stadium to end in style Croatia's unbeaten record in home qualifiers.

 

The Arsenal teenager starred as the Capello's quest for World Cup qualification began in earnest.

 

Then just for good measure Wayne Rooney finally found the net for the Three Lions as Slaven Bilic's side finished in a demoralised state after the 53rd minute sending-off of Robert Kovac.

 

All Croatia could manage in reply in this group six clash was a late consolation effort from substitute Mario Mandzukic.

 

It was all so different to two years ago in the same stadium, when then England coach Steve McClaren opted for an ill-fated 3-5-2 formation and saw his side lose 2-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier.

 

But England appear a different animal under Capello and, although this was only the second step on the long road to the 2010 finals in South Africa, the signs are encouraging after one of their most convincing displays in living memory.

 

Capello showed positive intent with the line-up he sent out in the Maksimir Stadium and his players backed him up with a performance of grit and commitment harnessed to their attacking abilities.

 

Walcott will attract all the headlines and rightly so more than two years after being the shock inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson's 2006 World Cup squad.

 

He only made his full debut for his country in Saturday's 2-0 win over Andorra in Barcelona but did enough to again keep Beckham on the bench until the closing stages.

 

But he showed great composure in netting England's first competitive hat-trick since Michael Owen's treble against Germany in Munich seven years ago in another World Cup qualifier.

 

Now a question mark will inevitably hang over whether the 33-year-old Beckham will start another game for his country after this Walcott show.

 

Capello opted not to man-mark midfield play-maker Luka Modric and the Tottenham player saw plenty of the ball during the early stages as the focal point of his side's attacks.

 

David James needed two attempts to grasp a shot drilled straight at him by Danijel Pranjic and then failed to hold on to a deep corner from Darijo Srna and would have been relieved to see Vedran Corluka drill the loose ball into the side-netting.

 

The pressure steadily mounted on England although resolute defending denied the home side any clear-cut opportunities.

 

The visitors went ahead through Walcott in the 26th minute - but they were given a helping hand by the Croatian defence.

 

Pranjic's clearance rebounding off Josip Simunic into the path of Walcott but the teenager made the most of his fortune as he drilled a fierce low shot across Stipe Pletikosa into the corner of the net.

 

Walcott could have added a second from a similar position soon afterwards but this time Pletikosa was able to tip his effort around the post.

 

Mladen Petric had a fierce low drive blocked but the Croatians failed to cause any major problems in the opening 45 minutes.

 

And they became increasingly wary of the pace of Walcott who was cynically sent crashing to the ground off the ball by Simunic after one lightning run - a challenge which earned him a 38th minute yellow card.

 

England looked composed and Pletikosa did well to get his body behind a low, skimming free-kick from Frank Lampard.

 

Then after 53 minutes Croatia were reduced to 10 men when Kovac was sent off for an aerial challenge which left Joe Cole bloodied - and replaced by Jermaine Jenas.

 

England almost instantly made their numerical advantage count - with Walcott striking for the second time.

 

Heskey and Rooney were involved in the build-up before the overlapping Walcott had time to pick his spot and send a low shot across Pletikosa, mirroring his effort for the first goal.

 

England were now rampant and in the 63rd minute Rooney ended his 11 month international scoring drought.

 

Ashley Cole won the ball off Srna, picked out the run of Jenas and his low cross from the left flank was clinically despatched by the Manchester United star.

 

Lampard had an effort ruled out for offside before Mandzukic beat James from close range with 12 minutes remaining.

 

But Walcott ended any hopes of a late Croatian revival as he collected a Rooney pass and clipped the ball wide of Pletikosa for his hat-trick.

 

Source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=234427&cc=3888

 

Hopefully, this won't be a blink in their form..

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haha i know what you mean. england always over complacent and fumble against minnows.

 

but to be fair also, when england had a good manager at the helm, they don't usually lose to minnows. the least they did was to draw against minnows.

 

i hv much more faith in Capello. his previous record in Serie A and La Liga are impressive. plus, with almost the same but much more decimated team than the one manage by Mcclaren, Capello-led England manage to overcome a difficult opponent which had terrorised them in the past. This is not an easy feat.

 

Look at McClaren, humbled once by Croatia away, return to Wembley with the critical final Euro qualifying match against the then Euro-qualified Croatia and yet fumble again.

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Even if u get GOD to manager Eng, they also wont go far. There is this much a Manager can do to a team. Ultimately if the players on the pitch buay gan also no use right. Eng...... Over rated Team. One big win, paper start saying good things abt the team, wonderkid Walcott lah, Trio Walcott lah......... Sigh Eng team is never the same after WC 00

Edited by Kingcopa
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haha i nvr say england will win the WC or Euro ma......

 

i know what you mean. england players mentality got problem like singapore players also......never can be world beaters...

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yah lor...

england very erratic...

when u think they can win or thrash those minnows, they struggle...

when u think they will find it hard to overcome the opponents, they thrash for u to see...

 

that's why punters dun like england... haha [laugh]

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of course, but the mentality is the same....

 

everytime go into a critical semi final or what against a slightly poorer opponent they will still choke....keke

 

somehow even the imports (eg Li Jia Wei) that come to singapore also turn out the same way.

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yeah best league in the world also not their own merit.

 

is because of their strong colonial links in asia, that english premiership the most watch league. most watch then got more money from merchandise and tv companies. then only the clubs become rich can hire the best players.

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haha....our FT table tennis team also not paid that low hor....

 

our and certain FT in our soccer team also paid not bad.

 

of course that's with refernce to the standard of living in our country and the standard of living of the home country of these foreign talents.

Edited by Acemundo
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