England beat local side Platinum Stars 3-0 in the Three Lions' final warm-up match for the World Cup, Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole and Wayne Rooney grabbing the goals. Defoe finished from close range in the opening minutes, Steven Gerrard pulling back from the by-line after Shaun Wright-Phillips had sliced open the Stars defence with a through-ball. Soon after the South African club side won a penalty when Glen Johnson was harshly penalised for a foul. Bradley Grobler blazed the spot-kick over. His team were mainly restricted to long-range strikes, but caused Joe Hart and Robert Green - in goal either side of the break - one or two problems with those. Crouch and Wright-Phillips both saw first-half goals ruled out for offside as England attempted to prise apart their opponents, with less success than in the opening minutes. Fabio Capello changed his entire line-up at half-time, with the exception of Joe Cole, who completed 90 minutes. And it was Cole who scored the second, finishing with aplomb from Rooney's ball through. The Manchester United striker and Emile Heskey had replaced Crouch and Defoe, and there was a great contrast between the pair. While Rooney looked lively, Heskey was lethargic. Rooney even tried to set up his partner when it seemed easier to score - and the Villa man made a mess of trying to find Aaron Lennon in turn, who had instigated the move. With the sun fading as the second period wore on, the intensity of their play increased. Heskey, Milner and Joe Cole should have added further strikes as the Three Lions began to dominate in midfield. Before the Cole chance Rooney did however make it three, lashing home James Milner's ball across in the last five minutes. Defoe removed his right boot and limped slightly as he left the field at the break, but England appear to have come through the match without any genuine injury worries ahead of their World Cup opener against the United States
Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe.
so joe cole is playing on the left wing for them so we're going to see many incisive runs into the heart of the defense from joe cole he's going to beat defenders with ease with step overs and brilliant pace joe cole lol joe cole
I say user thg05 should take a lol Joe Cole sign to Craven Cottage....it would be so awesome if somebody was going to the actual game in SA and could make a lol Joe Cole sign
Well for starters, they're overrated... and I have a sneaking suspicion that they don't like Capello.
CR9 or not they shouldn't be at a scoreless draw with Mozambique at halftime. You're such a bandwagoner! ARGH! You're not allowed to like Mozambique.
im suggesting brazil portugol will advance spain chile will advance brazil vs chile portugol vs spain portugol/spain vs brazil in the quarterfinals
anyone gonna be watching spain vs. poland? im interested to see how spain will look. will they be playing basically their starting 11?
I wanna see who they send out as well. Torres is said to be practicing and even scored in a game they played at training. I assume we should see most of the A team with some either playing the first 45/60 or the last 45/30 minutes of the game.
oh then damn whoever wins group c has an easy as shit draw into the semi's but then likely has to play brazil
4-5-1 again for Spain with only Villa up top. Casillas Arbeloa Puyol Pique Capdevilla Busquets Alonso Xavi Iniesta Silva Villa
that second goal was like shit we do on the FIFA club. Iniesta's pass was dirty and then Villa volleying it back to Silva. Worst thing is that this is still not Spain's best team. Imagine both Villa and Torres up top.
nah i think this is the best team they can throw out there silva is just too damn good and in better form than torres i would say plus torres is more of a true #9 than a through ball striker like villa
You wouldnt take out Silva. Instead of running a 4-5-1 they go to their normal 4-4-2. Just take Busquets out of the game and ask Alonso to play a more defensive role in the middle.