England's football aspirations were dealt a huge blow this evening with a 4-1 drubbing by an on-form, and motivated Danish team. It was England's worst defeat for 25 years. The Danes had far more purpose throughout the friendly match in Copenhagen, than the seemingly, at times, semi-comatose England players.

The first half of this game showed promise from both sides, however for considerable spells England dominated in attack. The main threat as ever was Wayne Rooney. Whenever he had the ball he was dangerous, and you could sense the anticipation of the crowd. However he was well covered by the Danish defence and on more than one occasion appealed to the referee, (who incidentally resembled a slightly overweight Pierluigi Collina). Beckham must have wished it had been the Italian referee, who's always proved lucky for England.

But, when Rooney scored a disallowed goal the referees decision went in favour of the Danish defender, who in replays looked to have fallen a little lightly. In another incident Gary Neville received the ball in a great position and crossed the ball into the box, Rooney arrived late in the box after a strong tackle was then held back by his shirt at the vital moment and missed a good opportunity. He appealed to the ref who wasn't in a position to give a penalty.

At half time England manager Sven Goran Eriksson elected to make a series of changes, which always makes both England players, and fans alike, nervous. The most significant change was to replace Spurs'goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who'd had a solid first half, with the ever unreliable David James.

If the first half was all England and Rooney, the second half was all Denmark and Gravesen. The Danish captain appeared to be enjoying himself and showed that he's been picking up a few tricks at Real Madrid. He displayed some deft touches, and commanded the field in a relaxed and confident way. At one point early in the game Beckham tracked all the way back to the area to dispossess Gravesen, they train together and know each others game well now. In the second half it was left to Liverpool's Steven Gerrard to tackle Gravesen.

As England pushed forward looking to score, they left too much space at the back. So, when Ashley Cole was the only defender in sight, with Jon Dahl Tomasson running in on goal, David James rushed off his line and out of his area leaving the goal totally vulnerable for Charlton Athletics Dennis Rommedahl to tap in. In fairness, Ferdinand and Johnson were in an advanced position providing no real cover in defence.

But this must have sapped James' confidence as his nightmare had only just begun. England became weary and with Michael Owen off form, and seemingly unsettled over his future, and the few chances he had linking up with Beckham and Rooney, he wasn't able to get a real shot off.

At the other end, Liverpool's Jamie Carragher and Joe Cole seemed to have a good second half. So when Owen Hargreaves came on it seemed to be damage limitation to bolster the defence in midfield but to the contrary he added a direct and skillful approach although he was unable to get an end result.

Ultimately, England were maybe guilty of a little complacency, but if we have learnt a lesson it is that Paul Robinson should in future be considered to be...England's number one.

Submitted by Thomas Balogh.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | google | yahoo | technorati