England 2 Hungary 1

Match 08/10/824 - Wednesday, 11th August 2010 - International

England (0) 2 Gerrard 69, 73
Hungary (0) 1 Koman 62
Att. 72,024

Entrance: £15
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/420

Match Report

Nobody quite knew what to expect, on or off the pitch, from England’s first outing since their World Cup debacle. A fortnight ago it was reported that the attendance could be as few as 40,000 and it was obvious that England’s World Cup failures were going to be in for a hostile evening.

As it was, 72,000 pitched up at Wembley and the reception they gave to the inglorious seven was mixed. Very fair ticket prices, school holidays and foreign tourists not only bolstered the attendance but also diluted the expected hostility.

Each one of the World Cup squad named in Fabio Capello’s starting eleven was booed as their names were read out prior to the game with varying degrees of volume. Ashley Cole, who always gets booed anyway, John Terry and Wayne Rooney were subject to the worst of the abuse. But as the teams entered the arena they were largely greeted warmly.

Capello gave first starts to Joe Hart and Adam Johnson and recalls for Theo Walcott and Phil Jagielka and with Walcott posing an early threat down the right flank the initial booing died a death as the watching public started to concentrate on the game.

Walcott set up a wonderful opportunity for Adam Johnson and Rooney had a goal disallowed for offside before England became subdued allowing the crowd to become restless once more.

Gerrard saw an effort tipped over the bar by Gabor Kiraly, of baggy trousers fame from his time at Crystal Palace, before the half time whistle brought the loudest chorus of booing so far. Those that had arrived at Wembley with the intention of making their indignation felt were oblivious to the scoreline being the only justification for the reaction.

The second half brought the introduction of Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs and Fulham’s Bobby Zamora for their international debuts alongside Ashley Young and Michael Dawson. Young continued the tormenting of the full backs in the manner of Walcott’s first half showing and chances fell to Gerrard and Zamora before Hungary took the lead with a disputed goal.

A Dawson error allowed Vladimir Koman a shot that was deflected goalwards by Jagielka. In a desperate attempt to atone for his mistake Dawson attempted to clear only for the linesman to adjudge that the ball had crossed the line. Television replays showed that this was clearly not the case.

The crowd was now full of dissenting voices that reached a crescendo with the substitution of Rooney, who responded to the booing with a sarcastic wave to his detractors. Strangely it was the catalyst of a stirring recovery from England and, in particular, Steven Gerrard.

A thunderous drive from 20 yards screamed into the top of the net and the uplifting manner of Gerrard's celebration brought the crowd back onboard. Three minutes later they were fully won over when the England captain jinked his way through several red shirted defenders to poke the ball home.

England and Fabio Capello had managed to survive a difficult evening with some positives. Walcott and Young had 45 minutes each of exhilarating pace with not quite the end product, but reason for optimism. Joe Hart was not greatly tested between the sticks but handled everything tidily and made a good save late in the game to prove his concentration. Adam Johnson, fluffed his lines slightly with his early miss but showed enough to warrant perseverance and, on the night, Gerrard was Captain Fantastic.

Capello, who clearly has plenty to do to win back the faith of the support, sat steadfastly in his seat, not once entering the technical area. Some would say, a cowardly way to avoid the inevitable abuse that would come his way. We now await with interest the upcoming European Qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland. Does he continue with the youngsters that have shown glimpses of their potential or will he play safe with the old guard that let him down so badly in South Africa? English football reached a dead end in Bloemfontein and the only way forward is to risk a qualification failure to promote the next generation.