England scraped through to the World Cup second round with more relief than glory with a 1-0 win over Slovenia in Port Elizabeth after a performance that showed signs of quality and poise faded to a familiar panicky struggle.
There were times in Wednesday’s game when England, so pedestrian in attack and wasteful with possession in their two Group C draws against the United States and Algeria, looked comfortable on the ball and confident in themselves.
They seemed determined to keep the ball on the ground, feed their wide players and not give possession away.
[The United States, meanwhile, edged past Algeria 1-0 to win a place in the last 16 when Landon Donovan of the US scored off a rebound in injury time. It was his fourth World Cup goal, which is equal to Bert Patenaude’s US record.]
England, a team pilloried at home and whose former captain John Terry had to be slapped down by coach Fabio Capello for comments in the media, reminded everyone they could still produce the sort of authoritative form that took them through qualifying with ease.
With darting forward Jermain Defoe preferred to either of their big target men, England looked dangerous from the start and Defoe it was who gave them the lead midway through the first half, nipping in front of his marker to convert a Milner cross. There should have been more goals, too, especially when an unmarked Wayne Rooney hit the post from a dream position.
—Reuters