A Game of Madness

Everyone knew that England crashed out of the World Cup in the most pitiful way. England was up against Portugal. The match started well for both teams throughout the first half. Both teams got wonderful chances but were unable to break the deadlock. Soon it was half time. The interesting part begins in the second half. As usual, both teams did well. David Beckham got a knocked and was replaced by fast Aaron Lennon. He got a couple of chances himself too. Now we get into the interesting part. Wayne Rooney was controlling the ball when a few players came in and fight for the ball. It seems that Rooney got through and Ricardo Cavalho was on the ground. Rooney had no space to go because he was surrounded by opponent players. He accidentally stepped on Cavalho and referee stopped the play. I thought Rooney was getting a freekick because he was tackle unfairly by a Portugal player. Suddenly, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney’s clubmate, ran from a distance to protest about the foul. Rooney with a moment of madness pushed C.Ronaldo away from the referee. The referee harshly takes out the red card and sent Rooney off.

After Rooney got sent off, Peter Crouch came in for Joe Cole. England seems to played well even after Rooney got sent off. They practised close-marking, giving Portugal no chance. Although England were under constant bombardment, Portugal never really trouble the keeper. I can say that Portugal played a bad game. Given 60 minutes to attack (plus extra time), they didn't really make use of their chances. Thanks to Portugal's brilliant goalkeeper and defenders, England were not able to score. Portugal's forwards were not trying to get into the penalty box. Instead, they passed around outside the penalty box and shot from there. That's why Paul Robinson was no really troubled at all. England's hope of winning the match seems to be over when Rooney got sent off. But England defenders really kept tight and not giving Portugal any chance. Owen Hargreaves was brilliant in the match. England wasn't sitting back to defend. Everytime they got the ball, they tried to attack. This is also the first time, I saw Peter Crouch playing quite ok (he had a terrible World Cup campaign).

When it's time for penalty shoot-out, I thought England had a chance. England is very poor in taking penalty shoot-out. Remember, they lost to Portugal in the European Championship by penalties. England again killed their chances with only Owen Hargreaves scoring. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed their chances (all saved by brilliant Ricardo). They had to work on the penalties if they want to win anything in future days. Frank Lampard had a terrible World Cup campaign. He did so well for his club, Chelsea and England in the qualifyings but you just can't believe how not in form he is in the World Cup. He had the most shots in the World Cup but there's something in his mind that prevented him from scoring.