Euro 2012 Qualifying
Switzerland (0) 1 Shaqiri 71
England (1) 3 Rooney 10, Johnson, A 69, Bent 88
Att. 39,700
Entrance: £50
Programme: Free
Mileage: 1,074/2,786
New Ground: 238 (35th abroad)
There is a very good argument that could be made that goes along the lines that after just two games England have already qualified for Euro 2012.Arguably the best of the opposition has been despatched with relative ease and the only question to answer is how many points they are going to amass in the winning of the group. Arrogance? Following the World Cup, nobody should be counting any chickens, but if this is the best we are going to face, then more than a toe is already in the door.
And after the first two games, who would have thought that Montenegro would be emerging as the serious threat to England following wins over Wales and Bulgaria.
Sunday morning had presented lurid headlines of Wayne Rooney and a pair of hookers that threatened the player’s marriage and more immediately his appearance in Basel for the potentially awkward encounter with Switzerland. The jokes would abound that he hadn’t scored for a year in an England shirt, but perhaps he had!
A early arrival at St Jakobs Park ensured that we were under the cover of the stadium roof when the heavens opened prior to kick off. The Swiss supporters, each one waving their national flag that had been left on their seats, were being whipped up by a medley of Status Quo songs. It was effective and also very amusing.
They may well have sang along heartily to “Whatever You Want”, but it was the England support that got what they wanted when Rooney made light of his off-field problems with a goal after just ten minutes, converting Glen Johnson’s cross from close range. Theo Walcott, who had enjoyed a bright start to the game, was injured at the near post in the move and had to be replaced by Adam Johnson, who went on to be many people’s man of the match.
The first half was as one-sided as an international match could be. England created so many chances the game should really have been put to bed long before the half time whistle with Jermain Defoe and Adam Johnson the wasteful parties.
Although England’s dominance continued, the sending off of Stephan Lichtsteiner in the 65th minute for a scything tackle on James Milner was the catalyst for the eventual burying of the Swiss. Two minutes later, a sublime pass from Steven Gerrard sent Adam Johnson clear to round the goalkeeper and calmly fire into the empty net.
Any room for complacency was nipped in the bud when FC Basel’s young prodigy, Xherdan Shaqiri smashed a brilliant shot into the top corner after 71 minutes. I would imagine there were plenty of Premier League scouts pencilling the youngster’s name into their notebooks as Joe Hart clutched at thin air.
Darren Bent, on for Rooney, calmed the nerves with a couple of minutes remaining with his first goal for England with a well taken shot at the near post to complete a long weekend of European Qualifying with maximum points.
The three points with which we returned to England was in exchange for the wallet-full of Swiss Francs that had been emptied in this exceptionally expensive country. Where else, but in the world’s healthiest economy, would Burger and Chips and a Beer set you back £25? Where else, would a 200 metre stretch of motorway driving cost another £25 and where else would a beaker of water set you back £4?
To drive on Swiss motorways, visitors have to obtain a vignette which is bought at the border. It is not necessary to purchase this licence if your driving is not going to involve motorways. But at the border, you only have the choice of whether you have already bought the vignette or not, and for our journey once we had paid our money we could actually see the exit we were going to take, as said 200 metres away.
But at least we had the mercy of a trouble-free journey to and fro Basel unlike the Binman and Juppo, who suffered a horrendous coach journey. A twist of fate had put our two friends alongside each other, unaware that they had mutual friends. The first text that indicated their problems told of a burst tyre at Metz that delayed their arrival in Basel by over three hours. But it was on the return journey that things went from bad to worse. Drivers’ hours delayed their departure until 3 a.m. and then on their first service stop the driver fell over and was sent to hospital. They even managed to run out of diesel as the journey amounted to something like 22 hours!
We enjoyed Basel, a less sterile city than we had encountered in Geneva and Zurich, with a tram service that shuttled us from sight to sight courtesy of a free ticket. St Jakob’s Park is hidden from view on the outside by a shopping centre and a block of flats that is an old folks’ home. Inside, we were thankful to have a position in the upper tier that offered a view that was acceptable in comparison to the lower tier and a damn sight drier! The Swiss created a good atmosphere prior to the game, but it went very quiet once England got on top. Not an attractive ground by any means.
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