Thursday, 15th June 2006
Rooney or Not To Be
England vs Trinidad & Tobago
N�rnberg
Previous Encounters:
Although most of the players in the Trinidad and Tobago World Cup squad play their
football in England or Scotland, the two teams have never met before the Germany 2006
World Cup Finals.
The Match:
Japan's Toru Kamikawa became the first referee to officiate his second match at the 2006
World Cup Finals; during Poland vs Ecuador he only dished
out three yellow cards.
The first chance for England came when Peter Crouch, on the left,
pulled the ball back for Frank Lampard in the middle. Shaka Hislop couldn't hold the
Chelsea midfielder's shot but Michael Owen wasn't alert enough to the rebound. 5 Minutes
gone.
Ten minutes later, the Chelsea pair of Frank Lampard and Joe Cole
combined together on the left, before Cole sent in a cross to Peter Crouch at the far
post. Crouch slid in to get to the ball before Hislop but his touch rolled wide.
After twenty minutes, with two yellow cards to their credit, Trinidad
& Tobago decided to try and push forward and attack the England goal.
England fans sung a chorus of the National Anthem to try and lift
their team.
Otherwise, a fairly non-eventful first half-hour; as Wayne Rooney
warmed up on the touchline.
If England failed to get out of first gear against Paraguay, they were
struggling to knock the lever out of neutral here.
Trinidad & Tobago didn't show the same early energy as they did
against Sweden but as the half wore on, they started to feel they could get something out
of the game; maybe not just a draw.
Just before half-time, John Terry had to do an overhead-kick to keep
Trinidad & Tobago from going into the break one goal up.
Half-time: (0:0).
Finally, the moment all of England had been waiting for, apart form
Sir Alex Ferguson (but he's Scottish); Wayne Rooney took a deep breath and entered the
cauldron; just before the hour.
The first 'almost' world class move I've seen England put together, so
far this tournament, happened in the 77th minute; when Peter Crouch chested the ball down
to Wayne Rooney, on his left, who passed straight back. Crouch then flicked the ball into
the box for Lampard to shoot; sadly, straight at Hislop.
Finally, with seven minutes left, Beckham's right-wing cross floated
onto Peter Crouch's head. As a couple of defenders can testify, you don't have to do much
for the goal to go into the net when 'Becks' gets the right spin on the ball.
In the last minute of the game, Steven Gerrard's left foot made the
scoreline look respectable; although Stern John would still get a goal ruled out for
offside.
Final Score:
England 2 - Trinidad & Tobago 0
 Goalscorers:
1:0 Peter Crouch (83)
2:0 Steven Gerrard (90)
And the England Fans could sing with more conviction: "Football's
Coming Home!"
Then of course, the national anthem to follow.
Teams
England: (Captain David Beckham)
1 Paul Robinson; 3 Ashley Cole, 5 Rio Ferdinand, 6 John Terry,
15 Jamie Carragher; 4 Steven Gerrard, 7 David Beckham, 8 Frank
Lampard, 11 Joe Cole; 10 Michael Owen, 21 Peter Crouch.
Trinidad & Tobago: (Captain
Dwight Yorke)
1 Shaka Hislop; 5 Brent Sancho, 6 Dennis Lawrence, 7 Christopher Birchall, 8 Cyd Gray; 9
Aurtis Whitley, 11 Carlos Edwards, 18 Densill Theobald, 19 Dwight Yorke; 14 Stern John, 15
Kenwyne Jones.
Referee:
Toru Kamikawa (Japan)
 Substitutions:
58 Mins (England) - 9 Wayne Rooney on for 10 Michael Owen
58 Mins (England) - 19 Aaron Lennon on for 15 Jamie Carragher
70 Mins (Trinidad) - 13 Cornell Glen on for 15 Kenwyne Jones
74 Mins (England) - 20 Stewart Downing on for 11 Joe Cole
85 Mins (Trinidad) - 16 Evans Wise in for 18 Densill Theobald
 6 Yellow
Cards:
18 Mins - Densill Theobald (Trindad & Tobago)
19 Mins - Aurtis Whitley (Trindad & Tobago)
45 Mins - Kenwyne Jones (Trindad & Tobago)
47 Mins - Shaka Hislop (Trindad & Tobago)
56 Mins - Cyd Gray (Trindad & Tobago)
64 Mins - Frank Lampard (England)
 0 Red Cards.
2006 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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