Injuries mar England’s stroll

ENGLAND’S satisfaction with an emphatic victory was tempered by injuries to Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole, who are in danger of missing the far more important World Cup qualifying tie against Ukraine at Wembley on Wednesday. Fabio Capello’s first- and second-choice centre-forwards had to be substituted in the first half, as did their eventual replacement, Peter Crouch, with Wednesday in mind.
On the credit side, England are in good heart, and impressive form, for the resumption of the World Cup qualifying campaign after winning with plenty to spare, with two goals from the pugilist-cum-predator they call Wayne Rooney and one apiece from Heskey and Frank Lampard.
If this friendly fixture is to linger long in the memory, though, it will be as the occasion when David Beckham, on as second-half substitute for Aaron Lennon, beat Bobby Moore’s record for an outfield player of 108 caps. Emotional as ever, old “Goldenballs” was in tears as he ran off, milking Wembley’s warm applause, at the end.
The past week has seen so much talk of Rooney’s combustible temperament that it would hardly have been a surprise had he taken the field wearing gumshield and boxing gloves. To universal relief, the Scouse scrapper was on his best behaviour. Afterwards Capello indicated that he would be happy to play Rooney as a lone striker. “He is my joker in the pack, he can play anywhere,” the head coach said. David James retained his place in goal, and Rio Ferdinand’s recurrence of groin and back trouble let in Matthew Upson in central defence. Ferdinand will be fit to return against Ukraine. Shaun Wright-Phillips’s calf injury saw Lennon on the right wing for his first cap since March 2007.
Steven Gerrard instigated the first goal. His pass released Rooney, who returned the compliment for Gerrard to make ground before crossing low for Heskey to shuffle his feet and turn the ball in with his left, from three yards. After nine minutes Heskey reacted horribly to Rooney’s inviting cross from near the byline on the left, heading over from a central position, four yards out.
With only 14 minutes gone, Heskey had to withdraw from the fray. Here was his career in microcosm — goal, fluffed chance, injured. He gave way to Carlton Cole, whose second appearance for his country lasted just 20 minutes. Cole collapsed with a muscular injury and was replaced by Crouch.
Slovakia’s first semblance of a chance came in the 20th minute, when Stanislav Sestak, under challenge by Upson, struck a volley from 15 yards not too far over James’s bar, from a right-wing cross. The lack of cover in front of Ashley Cole in this situation pointed up the problems inherent in allocating Gerrard a starting position on the left. He is allowed to roam when England have possession, but when they lose the ball he can be caught AWOL from his defensive station. Rooney’s attempts to shift across and fill the gap were not always successful.
On the other flank, Lennon, in splendidly resurgent form for Tottenham of late, came to the fore after 28 minutes, when his cross was cleared only as far as Lampard, whose shot was saved, unconvincingly, by Stefan Senecky. Almost immediately the Spurs flyer was set up on the left by Gerrard’s clever back-heel, only to cross wastefully behind the goal.
James was required to make a notable save after half an hour, when he plunged to his right to keep out Miroslav Karhan’s meaty drive from the 18-yard line, but England quickly resumed the initiative, and a trademark sprint on the right culminated in a shot from Lennon that Senecky beat out straight to Gerrard. The consequent header was repelled by the keeper at whites-of-the-eyes range. Senecky has yet to keep a clean sheet in Slovakia’s World Cup qualifiers, and was keeping England at bay as much by luck as judgment.
Ashley Cole, savaged in the past by the Wembley crowd for carelessly giving the ball away, probably expected censure again when he surrendered possession for Robert Vittek to get in a strong shot that James was happy to tip over.
The half-time reshuffle that is de rigueur in friendlies gave Ben Foster a rare chance in goal, and both wide players were replaced. The introduction of Beckham, flagged up as inevitable, was at Lennon’s expense, while Stewart Downing, who is considerably less dynamic than Gerrard, at least gave England a left-footer on the left. Beckham quickly delivered a trademark free kick, which came to nought. His appearance, and almost every touch, was greeted with an ovation from the adoring, near-capacity crowd, but whether he deserves his place right up there alongside Moore in the pantheon is debatable for those of us who were fortunate to see England’s World Cup-winning captain in his pomp. This peerless defender did not have the benefit of late appearances as substitute — he had to play the full 90 minutes, and sometimes more, for every one of his caps.