England - Wales

[GiorgioII]

The kick-off is in less than an hour now and who will Sven go for.

Without Gerrard, who IMO is one of our best players he should go for a 3 man midfield of Butt, Lampard and Beckham, with Butt anchoring them.

Up front it will be Owen, Rooney and Defoe.

I also want to see Wright-Phillips today if Becks doesn't impress.

At the back I don't think Campbell should play, he hasn't earned it. It should be a back 4 of Neville-Terry=Ferdinand-Cole.

How do you think the game will go?Without Gerrard we may lack some tempo in midfield, but we will win this match, but Wales will be fired up for it, will be close....2-1.

[Idiotbox]

Owen trying to claim Lampards goal lol

owen is a twat

Good shot by rooney that the goalie saved and hit of post, engerland playing good

[7becks7]

I think england played extremely well, I really liked the fact that they kept pushing throughout the whole game, so hopefully they learned from games against portugal and france, that holding on to a 1 goal lead for the whole game is risky.
Owen tried hard to impress, and had a couple of good chances. Beckham played a good game and got a great goal, the only downside was his immature retaliation that will force him to miss the next game. Overall, the game was enternaining and a great win for england.

[zenden9]

I think credit must also given to Rio! His present secures the defence!

[Will317]

Owen trying to claim Lampards goal lol
He had a fair enough appeal - came straight off his heel! But I still would agree the goal is Lampard's... :rolling:

[Will317]

I think credit must also given to Rio! His present secures the defence!
Yes, another solid defensive performance from him and Ashley Cole was great again at left back. A decent performance with two great goals and a very valuable three points in terms of qualifying and rivalry... :cool:

[mel81x]

a good win indeed... ashley cole has tightened his game up and unfortunate that Rooney never got a goal but oh well 3 is still three with or without an extra goal.

[GiorgioII]

Robinson 6/10 - He had little to do in this game, but when called upon did well.

Gary Neville 7/10 - Made some good runs, I was dissapointed at the way he just 'passed' the ball to Giggs in the first half, but a good game nonetheless.

Ferdinand 10/10 - He was so good. I can't even remember him playing this well before his suspension. He was calm and collected under pressure and was superb in the world. The best in the world?????

Campbell 8/10 - As solid as a rock, as usual. I felt Terry deserved to play more than Sol. But his partnership with Rio is so good, they read eachother superbly.

A. Cole 8/10 - Great stuff from the full back. He is so consistent these days. No faults in his game today :thumbsup: .

Beckham 7/10 - I felt he was quite quiet up until his goal. Also, got a needless booking which puts him out of action for our next clash. Dissapointing in a few areas, but what a goal :thumbsup: .

Butt 8/10 - He is no Gerrard in our CM, but he did a good anchoring role for us today. He can now make this position his own, great stuff.

Lampard 8/10 - Good runs down the left, but he can't cross with his left foot. He definately isn't the solution to our left sided problems. But a good performance. I don't see how his goal could ever have been credited to Owen.

Rooney 8/10 - 8 is a good rating. But I was left dissapointed with Rooney's overral performance. On several occasions he shot when he should have passed it. He was very greedy today and I didn't like it. Great runs though. I'm not thoroughly convinced about his deeper role, I'm not so sure that he is as effective.

Owen 9/10 - I think he had a great game. He really deserved a goal, but we can't credit him with Lampard's strike. He looks like the Owen of old, the only thing missing is that extra bit of pace, but hopefully that may just come.

Defoe 6/10 - Ultimately dissapointing. He didn't have the impact we were all hoping for, but never mind. His chances in the future will come. Owen-Rooney is much more effective though.

2-0, a good result....

[Will317]

Good work with the ratings there, Giorgio! :thumbsup:

[Will317]

Not the best of matches, but it's the win that counts!
Match report of the game:

BBC Sport
England 2-0 Wales

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40160000/jpg/_40160622_beckham_owen270.jpg

David Beckham scored a spectacular goal to seal England a comfortable World Cup qualifying victory over Wales.
England were ahead from their first attack as Frank Lampard's shot flew in off the heel of Michael Owen.
And Beckham put the gloss on the tie when he curled a shot into the top right-hand corner of Paul Jones' goal.
Jones was outstanding, producing fine stops from Owen, Wayne Rooney and Beckham, whose late booking rules him out of Wednesday's game in Azerbaijan.
Otherwise, there was little to complain about for England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was able to recall fit-again Rooney and Sol Campbell, as well as Rio Ferdinand following his eight-month ban for missing a drugs test.
All three went straight back into the starting line-up, Campbell and Ferdinand effortlessly resurrecting their central defensive partnership for the first time in 20 internationals and at the expense of the unfortunate John Terry and Ledley King.
Rooney was confirmed as a deep-lying striker behind the pacy partnership of Owen and Jermain Defoe.
And, despite playing only twice this season after injury, the teenager ran the game from the off.
Wales, whose preparations were rocked by an injury to Andy Melville during the warm-up, looked on edge every time Rooney got the ball and England's confident start was underlined by a goal inside four minutes.
Nicky Butt's neat ball to the edge of the penalty area was laid off by Owen into the path of Lampard, whose shot clipped Owen's heel and flew past the helpless Jones.
Rooney nearly made it 2-0 after 12 minutes when he eased past Mark Pembridge and sprinted towards goal, before unleashing a low drive that Jones pushed on to the post and behind.
Vindication of Eriksson's decision to field three strikers was served midway through the first half when all three combined in a sweeping England move.
Defoe's deft flick set Rooney free and he teed Owen up for a shot which produced an unorthodox save with his legs by the befuddled Jones.
At the other end, England keeper Paul Robinson was virtually redundant.
He would have been relieved to see Gary Speed's clever flick, turn and volley
sail over his crossbar from John Hartson's knock-down on 25 minutes.
And Wales captain Speed was again unfortunate not to test the keeper more
when his diving header from a Ryan Giggs free-kick flew straight into Robinson's hands.
But, despite enjoying spells of possession around the half-way line, Wales hardly threatened in the final third, while England looked menacing every time they attacked.
Rooney could have eased the home side into the comfort zone 10 minutes into the second half as he burst into the penalty area after outmuscling Mark Delaney.
But, with Owen and Defoe in space to his right, Rooney opted to shoot from a tight angle and produced a fine save from the alert Jones.
The Wolves keeper also did well to read a Beckham chip after another patient England build-up had threatened a sublime goal for the captain.
But Beckham was not to be denied his moment of glory and he sealed England's win with a superb strike 12 minutes from time.
Butt again provided the pass, easily holding off Hartson's challenge and feeding Beckham for a chip beyond Jones and into the top right-hand corner.
Beckham might have had another two minutes later, only to be denied by a superb point-blank save from Jones after Danny Gabbidon's mistake.
Gabbidon blocked Rooney's goalbound follow-up and then denied the striker with a desperate last-ditch lunge after Rooney had breezed past three defenders.
Beckham limped off injured in the closing stages, but not before a reckless challenge on Ben Thatcher that earned the England captain the booking that means he will be suspended for Wednesday's game against Azerbaijan.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

England: Robinson, Gary Neville, Campbell, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Beckham (Hargreaves 85), Lampard, Butt, Rooney (King 86), Defoe (Smith 70), Owen. Subs Not Used: James, Terry, Joe Cole, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Beckham.

Goals: Lampard 4, Beckham 76.

Wales: Jones, Delaney, Gabbidon, Thatcher, Davies, Koumas (Earnshaw 73), Speed, Pembridge (Robinson 59), Giggs, Bellamy, Hartson. Subs Not Used: Collins, Crossley, Fletcher, Oster, Melville.

Booked: Pembridge.

Att: 65,224.

Ref: Terje Hauge (Norway).