Thursday September 11, 2008 12:26

England & Walcott Crush Croatia

Posted by The Soccer Blogger as International Leagues

Yesterday’s headline was “England Face Hostile Croatia Test“. Which at the time of writing I thought was pretty fair. It’s a good job that football (soccer) and sport in genreal isn’t predictable, isn’t it? I’ve just re-read what I wrote yesterday and boy was I painting a picture of doom and gloom for England and Capello’s prospects against Croatia last night. It was as if they would have done better not bothering to turn up. Well, show’s you what the hell I know! a 4 - 1 away “walk in the park” win against a really good team. Not only that, but did little Theo Walcott come of age last night? Maybe Sven did know something after all!

This was the best night for England since that unbelievable night of 1st Sept 2001, when England pitched up in Munich, went 1 - 0 down then proceeded to totally re-write the record books and thrash Germany 5 - 1.

And what another amazing night it was las t night for Walcott, Capello, England and all their fans. No one, not even the most ardent and optimistic of England fans would have predicted a 4 - 1 away win to a team like Croatia and in such a hostle environment. If you put any money on that result, I want to hear from you because next time I want a piece of that action!

What was so pleasing about last night for England fans wasn’t just the result, but the way the team finally played, actually like a team, they played some great football. A pleasure to watch. How many times have you been able to say that about England over recent times? If England had scored 4 goals against Andorra away, nobody would have batted an eyelid. Playing teams like Andorran are a lose / lose situation. Win 4 - 0 and it’s “of course you were going to win easy, in fact why didn’t you score more?” And as happened at the weekend, you play poorly, only score 2 goals and the inevitable knives are out.

But last night was different. For all the reasons the Andorran performance was a complete waste of time, this one was the complete opposite. Slaven Bilic and the rest of Croatia must have thought they were going to turn England over last night and after the game you couldn’t help feeling as though he looked like he’d been slapped in the face a few times with a dead fish. It was quite surreal and in the circustances a totally normal and suitbale way to end the night.

Hopefully Capello is finally instilling some true belief into these players. There is no doubt they are talented, Walcott certainly showed us what he’s capable of, but it doesn’t matter how good you are if you do not have the belief to go with it. Like a lot of things in life, I suppose if you have the mindset when you go out onto the pitch that you are probably going to lose, then chances are you are correct. Go out believing you can win and the same is true. Not sure what Capello told the players in the last few days, but whatever it was, it worked last night. All England fans will be hoping he keeps it going!

I think it’s also fair to say that Capello obviously has vast experience. I’ve said before, this guy is a winner. Guys like Capello don’t just give up. Hopefully the more his players work with him the more they will come to understand that and the more they will put it into practice for themselves.

England fans will be hoping last night just wasn’t another false dawn but the start of a bright new era.

Rik
The Soccer Blogger

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