Going to Germany? | England B 1 Belarus 2 | | Print | |
| Thursday, 25 May 2006 | |
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England lost 2-1 to Belarus in a B international at Reading's Madejski Stadium tonight. The match was a chance for injured first choice players Michael Owen and Ashley Cole to get some much needed match action, as well as a chance for squad players to impress the manager in the run up to the World Cup. Owen lasted an hour before being replaced by youngster Theo Walcott, and Cole played the whole 90 minutes. England started brightly, with the impressive Aaron Lennon looking like he could beat his full back at will. On eight minutes Lennon's cross was turned in by Peter Crouch, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside. The linesman made a mistake in England's favour shortly after the half hour, when an offside Michael Owen headed on Carrick's free kick. Jermaine Jenas reacted quickly as the ball rebounded to him, to give England the lead. HT England 1 Belarus 0. England made one change for the start of the second half, with Robert Green replacing David James in goal. Green's time on the pitch not only cost England the lead, but also looks like costing him his place in the World Cup squad. The Norwich goalkeepr fell to the ground injured as he took a goal kick on 50 minutes, the ball went straight to Kutusov who had the easy task of putting the ball into an unguarded net. Green was replaced by Scott Carson after receiving treatment, and his injury seems certain to keep him out for some time. England's game became disjointed after the Belarus equaliser, with several substitutions also breaking up the flow of the game. Lennon continued to impress when he was given the ball in wide positions, and he was repeatedly fouled as he took Belarus defenders on. Omelianchuk received a red card for two bookings in quick succession, but England didn't make use of the extra man, in fact it was Belarus who scored the winner, Sergey Kornilenko's run into the area went unchallenged and his shot into the bottom corner was beyond Carson's dive. On the whole this was a poor performance, but if Cole and Owen have come through the match unscathed and ready to step up to the first eleven, that will be more important than the result. TEAMS: England B: James, Hargreaves, Campbell, Carragher, Ashley Cole, Lennon, Jenas, Carrick, Downing, Owen, Crouch. Subs: Carson, Green, Bridge, Walcott, Phil Neville, Defoe, Johnson, Dawson, Joe Cole. Belarus B: Zhevnov, Kulchy, Lentsevich, Omelianchuk, Shtanuk, Korytsko, Yurevich, Bulyga, Romaschenko, Kalachev, Kutuzov. Subs: Khomutovsky, Shagoiko, Pankovets, Kornilenko, Kontsevoy, Kashevsky, Sulima. |
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