Beckham and Rooney

The first quarterfinal of Euro2004. Between hosts Portugal and England. The pub was full of both sides' fans and the atmosphere is just amazing. England took a quick lead when Owen profited from a Costinha header that went wrong. BoyWonderRooney was again running at it and Owen seemd to play much better. Then Rooney had to leave the pitch after 26 minutes because of a broken metatarsal bone. Sven put in Vassell and then the problem started. Vassell is just like Owen. Both can't hold the ball, they can only run at it or with it. Rooney can hold the ball. The other option is Heskey, but even Sven wouldn't put him in again. So Sven told his team to defend, Italian-style.

For 80 minutes England defended. The possession was about 65% for Portugal. First rule of football: to score a goal you need the ball. If you give your opponent the ball, they will go for goal. If you take the ball away and keep it, the opposition will not be able to score. Something that Sven needs to learn again or have it written with capital letters on the bench. Portugal kept on attacking, Big Phil even took out captain Figo and put in Postiga. Postiga duly scored and it was 1-1.

Extra time. Portugal kept going, while England was still backtracking. Rui Costa turned around Phil Neville and *boom*, 2-1. Lampard equalised after Terry set him up from a Becks corner. All tie, so the match goes to penalties. Beckham miss, ball flies high over. Goal, goal, goal, goal, Rui Costa miss, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, Darius Vassell steps up and Ricardo saves, Ricardo steps up and scores.

England out. Even though they had boywonderRooney, they also had Beckham. Some say that he belongs in that small group of outstanding players in the world, but what we have seen during Euro2004 is that he is average. As a captain he wasn't leading the players enough on the pitch. His crosses were a bit wayward. His free kicks nowhere and he missed two penalties in the tournament. He should show more will to fight - like his teammates - and this is one factor why England is coming home now. That and Sven insisting on playing Italian cattenacio style football. It didn't work against France, why should it work against Portugal?

Oh well. Spain, Italy, Germany, now England. Tonight France?