The temperature in Miami didn't rise to the levels that Roy Hodgson and his team would have wanted it to in order to test his players, however the game did not disappoint and was about as entertaining as you could expect from a pre season friendly. A draw with Ecuador means that England have lost their 100% record over the South American club. Surprisingly, England have only ever played Ecuador once officially, a game which England won 1-0, Beckham's free kick his last ever goal for his country, and in fact, England's last win in a knockout stage of a major competition (hopefully not ever).
The England line up was experimental, it is a guarantee that the starting eleven tonight will never be used in a world cup game. Wayne Rooney was placed on the left of the attack, making way for Ross Barkley to gain his first international start along with Luke Shaw. It is clear that English "soccer" does not bring much excitement to American's as the stadium was only quarter full with empty seats a plenty.
England's first big test of the day came before the game had even kicked off. Lining up in red it was time for the England national anthem. Did Oxlade Chamberlain belt it out as loud as he could? Did James Milner open his mouth? Can Wayne Rooney even read? No, no and probably not. Hodgson had made it clear that he wants his players to sing the anthem loud and proud, however, today they were unsuccessful.
England started the game on the attack, a seemingly different mentality to the game against Peru in which they were not quick to get forward. Frank Lampard had a glorious opportunity to show Chelsea fans what they would be missing next season. Rikki Lambert slotted the ball in to the path of the onrushing Lampard after some good work by Chamberlain. However Lampard scuffed the shot sending the ball a long way wide.
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| It has been suggested these two would do a better job than Jones and Smalling. |
Despite going behind, England did not look like they had lost hope unlike many England fans had on twitter, although how some people are only just realising England won't win the world cup is beyond me…
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| Rooney was delighted with his tap in |
Despite being placed on the left wing, it was clear that Rooney was not playing in that position. The United striker was constantly coming inside and playing almost alongside Rikki Lambert up front which did not do too much good for the shape of the England side, however this is not Rooney's fault, the man is not a winger.
Half time came about and England would have mixed feelings about how they had played. Having been on top for pretty much the whole half it was surprising that it was England who had to come from behind. Although not that surprising, this is England.
The second half also started with a good tempo, however this time the attacking threat was coming from both sides. The Ox provided the danger for England, while Antonio Valencia was whipping in some good balls at the other end. One particular stand out was Phil Jones producing a Terry style salmon dive in order to head the ball away, good effort, but a bit of a copy.
Two individual moments of class put England ahead in the 52nd minute. Ross Barkley charged forward, nutmegging an Ecuadorian. Everyone was waiting for a finish similar to his goal against Newcastle and it looked as though he was shaping up to hit it that way, however he laid the ball off to Rikki Lambert who struck the ball first time with the outside of his boot fizzing the ball in to the bottom corner from a reasonably tight angle. £4million? Bargain.
Despite being in front, there was bad news for England as Roy Hodgson's nightmares were met. Alex Oxlaide Chamberlain went down injured after winning the ball back for England. It is thought that he may have ligament damage meaning he would miss the World Cup, now how will we win it!? To make matters even worse, the referee gave Ecuador a free kick for the challenge. The Ox will have a scan on Thursday to assess the full extent of the damage.
Things were getting worse and worse for England as what can only be described as tactical genius from the Ecuador manager, saw Arroyo score a terrific goal just moments after coming on. Despite Clive Tyldesley's claims that England gave the man far too much space, in truth James Milner didn't give him that much room for manoeuvre, however, the Ecuadorian did not need much room, nudging the ball an inch to the right before shushing the ball past the helpless Ben Foster to level the score once again. When Paul Scholes said England should play like Liverpool, I am not sure he quite meant defensively as well.
The goal seemed to give Ecuador a boost. Antonio Valencia was the constant target on the right to try and get balls in to the England box. On one of this occasions Raheem Sterling flew in with a challenge, going straight over the ball but not really catching Valencia. A challenge probably worth a yellow card. However, Valencia took huge offence to the challenge, getting straight up and grabbing Sterling by the back of his neck. The referee seemed to deliberate for a bit before very proudly lifting two red cards in to the air, sending the Liverpool and United rivals for an early shower. But don't worry you Ecuadorian fans, Valencia will not be suspended for the world cup. And unfortunately England fans, neither will Sterling.
Full time and the score was 2-2. The game will have taught England a few lessons. The main one being that James Milner is not a very good right back. He is only marginally better than Glen Johnson, without being too harsh on Milner. Wayne Rooney got his goal, Lambert, Barkley and Chamberlain played blinders. Let's just hope that The Ox is not as injured as Hodgson fears, as I don't think Ben Foster is a good enough back up keeper.
COME ON ENGLAND!
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