Wales 0 England 2

Match 58/10/876 - Saturday, 26 March 2011 - European Championship
Qualifying Group 12

Wales (0) 0
England (2) 2 Lampard 7 (pen), Bent 14
Att. 68,959

Entrance: £15
Programme: £5
Mileage (to Cardiff and Cheltenham): 265/8,807

Match Report

The delicious Miss Wales may well have belted out the national anthems with everything her lungs could muster, we will never know. Such was the welcome from the hillsides that the booing led to not a note being heard, as England fans responded likewise Land of my Fathers was similarly noteless. Sadly for Wales this was where hostility started and finished as their footballers capitulated without too much of a fight.

The atmosphere was altogether less intense than our meeting in 2005. Gone was the restrictive policing, we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to depart the fan zone and head towards the town where England supporters were walking about in their colours with no hint of trouble.

A week of controversy surrounding the reappointment of John Terry as captain had threatened to derail England’s preparation for their visit to the Millennium Stadium and the Welsh fans attempted to make capital from the situation by booing the skipper from the outset. Terry responded in the manner one would expect, he thrust out his chest and his surge out of defence in the seventh minute led to Ashley Young being upended in the box and Frank Lampard’s penalty conversation settled any concern that the bottom team in the group might draw strength from the home support.

Another seven minutes passed before Darren Bent swept in Young’s cross and the dragon was already slain. The crowd’s hostility subsided into a deathly silence and England’s vast superiority turned the game into nothing more than a training session. Scott Parker was outstanding in a midfield three that excelled as a group, with Jack Wilshire belying his years and Lampard proving that there is life in the old dog yet.

Wales rallied very slightly after half time and had an element of possession but by the time the final whistle sounded they had failed to muster a single shot on target. A rash, unnecessary tackle by Wayne Rooney earned a booking that will keep him out of the next qualifier against Switzerland in June, but this was the only blot on a satisfactory afternoon.

Any threat that Wales might have been able to mount was probably lost a couple of days previous when Gareth Bale was forced to withdraw through injury and the difference in experience between a captain of Terry’s stature and Aaron Ramsey highlighted the gulf between the sides.

One could not help but be impressed by the Millennium Stadium on our visit in 2005 but that was pre-Wembley and these days it pales in comparison, but in fairness to the Welsh Stadium, Wembley benefits from an extra £800 million spend. There are zero food and drink outlets after climbing the staircase to your entrance but once inside the viewing is good even in the corner position that the England fans occupied. The Millennium must also be the home of the most deafening sound system in the world, it rattled the eardrums in a manner that the Welsh succeeded in doing during Miss Wales’ efforts but turned into a whimper within a quarter of an hour.

For England this was a case of Easy, Easy.