England brought Croatia’s fine home record to an end last night as they defeated the home side 4-1 at the Maksimir Stadium in impressive fashion.
England, who thoroughly deserved the win, played the attractive football that we have known they are capable of, but haven’t shown in recent displays. Theo Walcott was the star in front of goal as he grabbed himself a hat-trick and his provider, Wayne Rooney, also got on the scoresheet.
Rooney, who played just behind Emile Heskey upfront, was in my opinion man of the match as he created two great opportunities for Walcott who duly delivered the finish. Steven Gerrard’s absence was unnoticeable as Rooney picked out some nice passes and worked tirelessly when Croatia were in possession. Frank Lampard gave as good of a performance for his country as I have seen in a long time – his retention of the ball took the pressure off the England Midfield and his quality goal was unlucky to be ruled out.
Gareth Barry’s influence can not be underestimated as he was the gave balance to the midfield and was the foil for a solid looking England defence. The Croatians created very little and their goal should have been ruled out for a high boot on John Terry. Srna put his boot in the defender’s face as he went for a header and the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder kept his composure as he squared the ball to Mario Mandzukic who tucked the ball benieth James.
The match was marred by what at first seemed a very bad injury to Joe Cole as Robert Kovac caught him with an elbow which earned the midfielder a straight-red card. Cole, who went in for a header on the half-way line, rose to his feet after the challenge but collapsed after realising there was blood pouring from a large gash on his head. However, it appears that Cole made a quick recovery as he was seen back in the dugout towards the end of the game.
The win for England comes after the Croatian national manger, Slaven Bilic, claimed England do not match their off-field talk with their performances on the pitch. Ironically I think what he said can be very true, but on this occasion England took apart his well drilled side who he has taken to fifth place in the FIFA rankings.
A great performance from England will leave the fans expecting more great things, but it does appear Cappello has started to instill some belief in his players who underperformed under the leadership of Steve McClaren.
My final words have to go to Theo Walcott. Eriksson was criticised for taking Walcott to the World Cup finals in 2006, but it appears the former England boss could well have had ideas that Walcott could be such a great threat on the World stage. His selection for that squad may have been premature, but if he continues to give the assured performances of last night’s game we could see him star in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
