No, sadly not. It was, however, the first time we have beaten a World champion side since 1980 and that was Argentina. I wasn’t wholly behind Capello going into the game and I never am. Nevertheless, going into this game, sat down on the sofa in a relaxed state, I was mildly optimistic. Within the space of forty-five minutes, that mild optimism turned to mild impression.
Capello’s Italian influence finally proved advantageous to England in a game where a shut-out was almost an expected necessity. The XI that started had, almost entirely, convinced me that we could get something out of the game, by half-time. Two players were my only cause for concern and, ironically, they set-up England’s goal 4 minutes after the break.
The English defence was standing firm; Joe Hart provided the confidence they needed and his quick distribution eased England’s relentless stream of Spanish attacks. Phil Jones and Frank Lampard were encouraging in bombing forward through the middle and Scott Parker, constantly releasing the former two, was the formidable rock that England were epitomised through.
A lynchpin is an anchor man, “a central cohesive source of support and stability,” and if you want a word for every player’s performance, lynchpin best describes Scott Parker’s. His tireless contribution to the cause earned him the Vauxhall Man of the Match and potentially the game for England. Not only did he sweep up in-front of the defence, but his spatial awareness was perhaps more akin to a Spanish team than The Three Lions and a last-ditch block in the closing stages of the game prevented Spain from possibly grabbing a share of the spoils.
Out of the front three the first half pitted Walcott was the most effective. His ability and fearless nature to take on his man was invaluable in easing the tsunami of attacks Spain were coming with. Taking the ball to the touch line and beating his man for pace played a role that we lacked on the opposing wing and it is no surprise that when Milner made haste for the substitute’s bench, after 75 minutes of donkey work, Johnson brought the same benefit to the left.
As it was to be though, Walcott made way at half-time and Milner, who was good at chasing down the ball, running his line and supporting Cole, stayed on the pitch alongside the, so far, ineffectual Darren Bent.
Bent was strangled out the game for the first half, but I felt his own performance was still partly to blame for his lack of influence in the first forty-five. I was left pondering how we could have best filled the void left by Rooney and the only solution I could find was Rooney. The set-up was perfect; we were narrowing Spain down and then quickly and efficiently pulling the play wide when in possession.
Some of our passing was lacklustre, but the speed at which we broke up the play to then spread the possession out wide was our best component. That was where Parker became invaluable, but, Bent wasn’t the man to strive under our set-up.