England 3-0 Ukraine

[4me2]

England 3-0 Ukraine



Photos from England's victory



Shaun Wright-Phillips scored a brilliant debut goal as England cruised to victory against Ukraine.

Manchester City's youngster, on as a substitute, crowned a solo run with a stunning finish after 71 minutes.

It sealed England's win, set up by goals from the new Real Madrid pairing of David Beckham and Michael Owen.

Beckham diverted in John Terry's cross after 28 minutes and Owen headed home a centre from the England captain five minutes after the interval.



England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was delighted with the outcome after recent speculation surrounding his future.

But it was Wright-Phillips who will grab the headlines, stealing the show in a low-key friendly at St James' Park.

England made a sluggish start and survived a scare after only three minutes, when goalkeeper David James fumbled a drive from Oleg Husev and was fortunate not to be punished.


England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson



And the visitors squandered another early opportunity when Andriy Shevchenko set up Ruslan Rotan, but he side-footed wastefully over the top.

Beckham was anxious to make headlines for the right reasons after his miserable summer at Euro 2004 in Portugal.

And he almost created the opener for Alan Smith with a cross that brought an over-head kick from the Manchester United which flew wide.

Beckham turned from creator to goalscorer after 28 minutes to put England ahead.

The goal owed much to a large slice of fortune, with Terry's misplaced cross landed at Beckham's feet at the far post for a simple finish.

England coach Eriksson made three substitutions at the interval, replacing Gary Neville, Steven Gerrard and Smith with Jermain Defoe, Glenn Johnson and Kieron Dyer.

Dyer received a hostile reception from his own fans, who jeered him after a reported bust-up with Newcastle manager Sir Bobby Robson.

Full story:
Dyer booed at Newcastle



It was the new Real Madrid pairing that doubled England's lead after 50 minutes, with Beckham crossing perfectly for Owen to head home from eight yards.

Eriksson decided it was time to send on Wright-Phillips for his debut - and he responded in style with a brilliant goal with 19 minutes left.

He ran from inside his own half before pulling a right-foot shot across Alexander Shovkovsky.



England: James, Neville, Terry, King, Cole, Beckham, Butt, Lampard, Gerrard, Owen, Smith. Subs: Johnson, Robinson, Upson, Jenas, Carragher, Wright-Phillips, Hargreaves, Vassell, Dyer, Defoe, Kirkland. Ukraine: Shovkovsky, Federov, Rusol, Yezerskyi, Nesmachny, Tymoschuk, Shelayev, Vorobey, Rotan, Husev, Shevchenko. Subs: Gusev, Rebrov, Voronin, Kormiltsev, Zakarliuka, Nazarenko, Radchenko, Matiukhin, Reva. Referee: M McCurry (Scotland)



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ls/3573542.stm



Our jocks are quite tonight ! I wonder why ? :whistle

Scotland 0-3 Hungary

[Makaveli]

Why cant we play like that in tournaments?

[CBo]

I don't think it's quite the same as winning against France or Portugual Still it's a postive result and lets hope it continues with a good world cup qualifying campaign.

As to Scotland.... it just doesn't get better for them. Not a lot you can do without some good players to choose from.

[redarmy]

Makes you wonder why Phillips was not taken to euro 04 by the great Mr Sven :nowords: or did he have other things on his mind ..............................

[honestDave]

Wright-Phillips should definitely have gone to the Euros. Would have made an excellent high impact sub, eg against Portugal in the quarters.

That said, I doubt Sven would have used him seeing that he likes to only put on defensive midfielders as subs during matches that actually count.

Hargreaves etc :nowords:

[big man]

I forgot this was on last night, so only caught some of the second half, but wright-phillips goal was a cracker - he's a great little player. Had to laugh at his old man's reaction - going nuts in the crowd

[daz73]

No point going on about what we should have done at euro's cos nothing will change.. fact is we now have all witnessed the talent coming into the England team and hopefully look forward to a much more fast-paced England squad than we are used...

PS.. Ian Wright was well chuffed & so he should be, Great Goal!

How long did it take beckham to get the smile off his face after he scored!!!! :thumbs I said he come back better than ever and he has!

Great display lads...

[WalterPill]

It was the Ukraine and a Ukraine without Schevchenko. Typical England, you're your own worse enemies, one half decent display against mediocre opposition should not be enough to wipe away the memories of Euro 2004 and in particular the managerial choices made by Sven and the dire performances of Beckham. Regarding Becks I do think that he is professional enough and has the strength of character to use his poor form in the tournament as a catalyst to get back to his best and perform for England to the best of his abilities (whether his abilities are as world class any longer remains to be seen) but Sven is a real hamstring.

I fancy England to take the world cup qualifying group but we'll (Wales) run you close if you're not on your game but with Sven at the helm I can't see you getting any further than the 2nd round or the quarter finals of the World Cup.

[WalterPill]

Schevchenko actually played I've been told.

[4me2]

Dont you just love gobshite experts who comment on games they didnt even watch ! :nowords:

[pratman]

yes shevchenko did play, but i mean when he did play he did show what a quality player he is, he did find the gaps in teh england defence and if he was season fit then he might have surprised england by putting one of them away, but promises to his club meant he had to be subbed for the second half.

[Makaveli]

Nevermind who we were playing, there was a determination in a lot of the players eyes that i believe has been sadly lacking for a while now.

The passing and movement in the first half was great, and most of the squad was pretty young.

[WalterPill]

Dont you just love gobshite experts who comment on games they didnt even watch ! :nowords:

The crux of my point was the response to the result and I still maintain that it was a poor Ukrainian side who still only had a half fit Schevchenko for only half a game.

Don't you love gobshites that comment on the most easilly attackable aspect of a post as opposed to taking the time to formulate an opinion on the real meat of the subject.

[4me2]

The crux of my point was the response to the result and I still maintain that it was a poor Ukrainian side who still only had a half fit Schevchenko for only half a game.

Don't you love gobshites that comment on the most easilly attackable aspect of a post as opposed to taking the time to formulate an opinion on the real meat of the subject.

Stop talking Poo !

England played very well .

[WalterPill]

That's nice.

[Roty]

U can only beat the team the opposition put out, admittedely Ukraine are exactly world class but England played well and showed some determination unlike in other freindlies.
Imagine what would of been said if England were below par after recent events. :nowords: