England 2 Poland 0
Rooney 40
Gerrard 87
Raise the banners, cue the optimism, for England have
finally qualified for next year’s World Cup.
Can they win it? It
remains unlikely, although this time people are actually admitting it. But at
least we’ll be there and have the chance to relive the hope, the drama and the
frequent heartbreak; it just wouldn’t be the same without. Who knows they may
even surprise us.
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| Steven Gerrard celebrates the goal which sends England to Brazil |
There were no excuses or what if’s from manager Roy Hodgson
and his players last night as they booked their ticket’s to Brazil next Summer
with a 2-0 victory over Poland at Wembley, to conclude an up and down
qualifying campaign which England finished unbeaten.
Yes it was tense for most of the night; it was always going
to be. England needed to win to top group H anything less would result in the
unpredictability of a play-off.
They led through Wayne Rooney’s header five minutes before
half time. However it wasn’t until the 87th minute when Captain
Steven Gerrard shrugged off two Polish defenders and converted England’s second,
that the nation could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Hodgson later described the victory as the “proudest moment”
[of his career] that was clear from the beaming smile on his face at the final
whistle.
“We knew how important it is to so many people England is a
very big football nation. So many people are desperate to see England
participate and hopefully do well in a world cup so we knew it was on our
shoulder’s to make certain we didn’t disappoint them.” Hodgson said after the
match.
The England manager only made two changes from the side that
conquered Montenegro on Friday night. One was enforced as Chris Smalling
replaced the suspended Kyle Walker at right back, while Frank Lampard dropped
to the bench and made way for Michael Carrick.
After a cagey opening the game suddenly sprung into life.
England made the first move when Leighton Baines whipped a low cross from the
left which required a vital interception from Poland defender Grzegorz Wojtkowiak who prevented the ball entering the heart of the penalty
area.
Then it was the visitors turn. From the resulting
corner Poland’s most recognised asset, Borussia Dortmund's Robert
Lewandowski, launched an immediate counter attack. Urged on by the 18,000
Poland fans inside Wembley he charged to the edge of the England box however
his tame shot was straight at keeper Joe Hart.
An end to end game must have been turning into an
entertaining spectacle, for the neutral at least. England’s new wonder kid
Andros Townsend backed up his man of the match performance on Friday night and
brought the first save out of Poland and Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczęsny.
However the hosts were left exposed
at the back once again with twenty minutes on the clock, Jakub Błaszczykowski’s
clever dummy fooled the England defence, the ball fell perfectly at the feet of
Lewandowski but with only Hart to beat the Polish number nine dragged his shot
hopelessly wide.
England had been let off the hook; however they soon
regrouped and dominated the remainder of the half.
Townsend was at it again and nearly opened the
scoring when he cut inside from the left before unleashing a spectacular effort
which arched towards the goal but cannoned back off the cross bar.
Chances continued to come, Welbeck fired wide after
a scramble from a corner, Sturridge then scuffed one past the post from the
edge of the box, before Rooney forced Szczęsny back
into action.
It could have quite easily turned
into one of those agonising nights where England just couldn’t score. However
those thoughts were abolished five minutes before the interval, Baines yet
again found space on the left, his ominous cross fell perfectly onto the head
of Rooney who glanced the ball into the far corner of the net for his 38th
international goal.
England had seized momentum before the break but
seconds after half time they nearly handed it back. Błaszczykowski’s low cross
from the right picked out Mateusz Klich, who had just come on as a
substitute, fortunately for England his shot was blocked by the outstretched
leg of Gary Cahill.
At 1-0 the situation was far from comfortable in a
nail-biting climax. England came close to folding when a pass over the defence
was controlled by Lewandowski however he couldn’t beat the outrushing Hart who
made a critical block with his right arm.
A substitution saw Lampard replace Carrick as England looked
to put the game out of sight. It was agonising for both Hodgson and the fans,
both Rooney and Sturrridge came close but both had efforts impressively saved
by Szczęsny.
However with three minutes to go
the long road to Brazil was completed in style, Gerrard latched on to a loose
ball with only one thing in mind, determined to send his country to the World
Cup finals, he brushed aside two Polish defenders before poking the ball
past Szczęsny causing Wembley to erupt.
The countdown for next summer starts
now, so let the excitement begin!
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