England (1) 3 Crouch 4,76 Wright-Phillips 59
Belarus (0) 0
Att. 76,897
Entrance: £43
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/3,238
Match Report
Plan B didn’t quite work, Plan C fared a little better as England finished their World Cup Qualifying campaign with a 9 out of 10 record.Shorn of the talents of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, this was the opportunity for several of the fringe players to stake a claim to be on the plane to South Africa next June.
It all started promisingly with a fourth minute goal fashioned by a superb Gareth Barry through ball to Gabby Agbonlahor who cut a pass back from the byeline for Peter Crouch to scramble the ball home. Unfortunately the first half went downhill from that point. The low boredom threshold of Wembley surfaced as early as 25 minutes when the first half-hearted Mexican wave took place before taking a grip on the stadium a few minutes later. Whilst the act is tedious in the extreme it is difficult to criticise on the strength of the lack of entertainment being placed in front of the paying public.
The Belarusians were a neat and tidy side but carried little threat, Foster making just one comfortable save before the break. The half time verdict on Fabio Capello’s Plan B was one of disappointment.On the hour, B was sacrificed for Plan C and the introduction of Wembley’s demi-god David Beckham, as always greeted with a rapturous reception. Aaron Lennon was forced to make way for the bearded one and in the blink of an eye the game was made safe. Beckham played a short corner to Shaun Wright-Phillips whose drive beat the despairing dive of Zhevnov rather too easily. James Milner and Beckham both hit posts before a Carlton Cole shot was parried by the keeper only for Crouch to snaffle his second of the evening.
Bizarrely Beckham was given Man of the Match for his 30 minute cameo and if England’s dressing room is anything like the one I was a part of in park football, then I can only imagine the piss-taking he took for the honour.
So how did the pretenders shape up in the quest for a plane ticket.Ben Foster: One minor excursion into no-man’s land that caused a ripple of anguish, but was otherwise assured and made one very good save from Omelyanchuk. Whether he will acquire the game time with Manchester United following Edwin van der Saar’s return could be the defining factor for his inclusion.
Wayne Bridge: Didn’t do a lot wrong and will almost certainly go as Ashley Cole’s back-up.
Aaron Lennon: Didn’t impress greatly on the night and his chances would have been damaged slightly by Beckham’s successful cameo. But still towards the front of the queue as far as the flyers are concerned.
Shaun Wright-Phillips: Despite his goal, his chances lessened with a rather ordinary performance.
Peter Crouch: His hold-up play is not as good as Heskey, but his goal ratio just cannot be ignored. It could come down to who plays the most for their clubs as neither is an assured starter in the Premiership.
Gabriel Agbonlahor: Had a reasonable game, but probably not enough to break into the small group of strikers.
David Beckham: He was always going to go, wasn’t he? But he must get the loan spell at AC Milan or the Premiership.
Carlton Cole: On the very fringe, best hope is an injury to somebody else.
James Milner: I can see him making the squad, do we read anything into him finishing the game as left back?
Four friendlies from now we will have all the answers. Will anybody from the treatment table, Joe Cole, Theo Walcott, Stewart Downing or even Owen Hargreaves regain their fitness and impress Fabio enough for inclusion. My money is on Joe Cole.
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