Scott Murray's Blog, page 201
June 14, 2014
US Open 2014: third round live!
Martin Kaymer leads after posting record 36-hole total
Official live scores from Pinehurst No2
Kaymers resurgence no surprise to friends on the Tour
The Joy of Six: Scott on US Open golfing glory
And feel free to email scott.murray@theguardian.com
3.20pm ET
Stenson ends up with a one-putt bogey after chipping a few feet past the flag. Kuchar manages the same. Not bad considering. Spieth scrambles a stunning par from a deep bunker to the front right of 4. On 1, Dustin Johnson sends his approach bounding through the green and down the back, makes a mess of the chip up, and then drains a 20-foot par saver. I love watching this man play golf. Though I say that because I never have any money riding on what he is going to do.
3.14pm ET
Rickie Fowler is motoring. A birdie at the 5th - the most generous hole on the course this week - and he's suddenly -2 for the tournament. On 3, terrible fortune for McIlroy, who looks to have stuck his second ten feet from the flag, but the ball suddenly takes one turn backwards and slowly picks up momentum, before falling off the green. What looked like a fine birdie chance now seems a bogey at best. That's the sort of outcome the US Open's detractors whip out as evidence before letting smug smiles play across their coupons. And more komik kutz on 2, where Stenson, playing three from the side of the green, chips up and then takes a step to the right to meet his ball, which is heading straight back down to meet him. Then Kuchar does exactly the same thing! So much so that he hits Stenson's ball. What a pair! To be fair to the USGA, that's poor execution more than anything else. But Rory's got legitimate grounds to grizzle.
3.04pm ET
A poor start too for Rory McIlroy. He saved par well on the opening hole with an as-nails putt, but he three-putts the 2nd and falls back to level par. Shiv Kapur, at one point -2 for his round and within a dimple of another birdie at 11, has bogeyed 12 and now 14, and he's level for his round again, and +3 overall. Shot of the day for the veteran US star Kenny Perry, meanwhile: he's in utter filth down the right of 14, behind a small tree. No matter, he batters his ball greenwards, guiding it round Mother Nature, then rolling it up onto the putting surface and into the cup. Eagle! He's been having a pretty miserable day otherwise, so that put a huge smile on his face. After a couple of double bogeys and three other dropped shots, he springs upwards to +8.
2.59pm ET
I can't concentrate until I tie up the loose end tagged 'Sergio'. He came back in 37 shots, dropping strokes at 13, 15 and 16. He was a turn away from birdie at the last, but the ball didn't drop, and there he was, looking as confused and pained as Iker Casillas. But never mind all that. On 1, Henrik Stenson appears to have come out in determined mood. He's found the middle of the green in two, then rattled in a 20-foot birdie putt. He's -3, the first to force an adjustment at the very top of the leaderboard. His playing partner Kucher, hassled by foliage, can only chip 20 feet past the hole, and fails to knock in the par putt. A poor start by the popular American.
2.54pm ET
The pin on the par-three 9th is positioned on the edge of a cliff. Pretty much. G-Mac hasn't been playing well, but he doesn't deserve this, landing his ball pin high, then watching as it falls off the back and miles from the green. He can't get up and down, and that's four bogeys on the bounce: he's +6 now. Back on 1, Matt Kuchar's out. He drives into the sand down the left, then flies his second straight through the green and into some real trouble at the back. His ball might be wedged under some shrub or other. He'll be keeping his fingers crossed. Meanwhile some better news: another par for Fowler on 4 that will feel like a birdie, rolled in from 20 feet. He remains at -1.
2.49pm ET
The thin lines between success, failure and Stuff Being Reasonably OK are on display down 1. Adam Scott goes aggressively for the flag, on the left of the green, but he dumps his shot in the sand. He only just gets out, the ball threatening to roll back into the bunker but stopping, Fred Couples at 12 in the 1992 Masters style. Then he rakes in the par saver from 20 feet! Par. Followed by another at 2. A steady start by last year's Masters champion. His playing partner Jordan Spieth hits a chip from the side of 2 straight through the green, and drops back to level par, alongside Scott.
2.44pm ET
Hello again, dear One Reader Who Isn't Out Drinking Heavily In Advance Of Tonight's Soccer. Sorry for the lack of recent communication: Nick's had to go away and smash a recalcitrant computer into pieces so small you could sieve it through a sock. I see he was riffing on clothing. Well, to continue that theme, Rickie Fowler's not just a pretty clothes horse. He's just birdied 3, a gorgeous approach to a couple of feet. G-Mac, also resplendent in shirt, trousers and shoes, isn't having such a good time of it. Putting onto the green at 7, his ball took a massive break to the left, and skittered off at an embarrassing angle, miles from the pin. Bogey, his second on the bounce, and one that was soon followed by another at 8, where he dumped a drive into the scrub, then topped his second. It's been a very forgettable 15 minutes or so for
the Guardian Sport IT desk
the 2010 champion.
2.21pm ET
In more clothing news, Kaymer is limbering up for a solid day's winning in a shocking pink top, a far cry from yesterday's more sombre black number.
As for the golf, Phil Mickelson recovers well from a very iffy spot on the 10th with a nice chip onto the green after over-shooting in a big way on his approach, then putting nicely to salvage a par, while Stuart Cink, erm, sinks one from just in the rough on 12 to take a birdie and edge up to +1.
2.15pm ET
Victor Dubuisson, clad in a pair of outrageous red trousers that wouldn't look out of place at Lord's today, holes for an eagle after a splendid approach that bally well near went in itself. Pip pip! The Frenchman joins Kapur as the only man under for the day, +1 for the tournament.
2.11pm ET
Evening. Nick Miller here to guide you through however long it takes Scott to wipe his lasagne off his boot soles and eat it. Or prepare an alternative meal. Hopefully the latter.
They showed an aerial shot of Pinehurst a bit ago, and the undulating fairways looked a little like a four-armed man shrugging. Or the cover from acid jazz (RIP) opus 'The Return Of The Space Cowboy' by Jamiroquai.
2.05pm ET
Right now, Shiv Kapur is the only player under par today. One way or another, this promises to be an entertaining third round. They call Saturday 'Moving Day'. Well, there's going to be a fair bit of movement all right. Just not all of it in the correct direction.
Anyway, before things get serious at Pinehurst No2, I'm going to throw my feet up on the desk for a few minutes. I'll suffer for my indolence, because my dinner - a homage to some stramash going on in Manaus later this evening - is sitting on that desk. Meawhile, Nick Miller's your man!
1.56pm ET
Mickelson holes out from three feet! It's only for par, at 8, and he's well off the pace at +3, but you know as well as I do that it's worthy of comment.
1.53pm ET
A fourth birdie of the day for Shiv Kapur, this time at 9. He's out in 33 strokes, and that after a bogey-bogey start. If anyone's showing the field that inroads can be made into Martin Kaymer's huge lead, it's Kapur. They'll need help from Kaymer, of course. Problem is, the television companies have just transmitted pictures of Kaymer making his way towards the player hospitality suite. He's not so much walking as hovering. It's not even a saunter. What coolness. Hoy, Martin! Field over here requiring a few shots chucking their way! Throw them a bone! A minor display of mild tremor will suffice!
1.47pm ET
A stunning scramble by Aaron Baddeley on 2, getting up and down from what looked like the surface of the moon. Par-par start for him, and he's still +1. No top-ten finish in any major for Baddeley, though he came close in the 2007 US Open at Oakmont. Leading by two from Tiger Woods going into the final round, he double-bogeyed the opening hole, then tripled the 7th. He ended the day with an 80, tied for 13th. Angel Cabrera won his first major, for the record, then ate a large steak and smoked a couple of packets of tasty cigarettes.
1.39pm ET
A birdie for Mickelson! He's waited 22 holes for that. He nearly drives the green at 7, but sends his ball the wrong side of a bunker. No matter, he clips it over with force, then uses spin to apply the breaks, a couple of feet from the hole. He's back to +3 for the tournament.
1.36pm ET
Sergio sees his three-foot par putt at 13 horseshoe out. Good lord. He's back to +4. I wonder how many majors he'd have won if he could putt? And had a different brain and head, with properly functioning connecting wires in it? Meanwhile Graeme McDowell dropped a shot at 2, but he's pearled a lovely fairway wood into 4, allowing the bank of the green to gather his ball towards the hole. He rams in the birdie putt from 15 feet, and that's a magnificent birdie. He's +2.
1.25pm ET
Patrick Reed from the middle of 5. He swishes a long iron to the front of the green. It hops onto the putting surface, and curls round to the left, where the pin is. It keeps going, and keeps going, and stops four feet from the cup. There's not been a prettier approach hit all week. He rattles in the eagle putt, and suddenly he's only +2. Later starters take note, this is how to worry Martin Kaymer.
1.23pm ET
We already know it's not Phil Mickelson's week, but if you were desperately clinging onto straws, let go now. It'll be OK. He got up and down from an awkward position in the dust to the left of 5 to save his par, a trademark Mickelson flop doing the business there, but now he's taken two to get out of the bunker at 6, and he's back to +4. Meanwhile it's been a difficult day for Paul Casey, who had dropped to +8 through 14, but he's just raked in a monster on 15 for birdie. He looks fairly happy with himself after that, and so he should: his game's not quite there yet, but there have been flashes this week, and it might not be long before he's back competing properly for major titles again.
1.15pm ET
The trials and tribulations of Toru Taniguchi continue apace. The Japanese veteran went out in a painful 44 strokes, and the back nine's not treating him much better. Another pair of bogeys, another pair of doubles. He's doubled 3, 7, 8, 13 and 14 so far. Let us cleanse ourselves with news of successes. Sergio stays in the red today with a magnificent up and down from a green bank to the side of 11. There are three other players also under par for their rounds right now: the 22-year-old Dane, Lucas Bjerregaard, who birdied the opening hole to move to +1. Cody Gribble is -1 through 11 today and, like Sergio, +3 for the tournament. And Shiv Kapur started with a pair of bogeys, but has just embarked on a magnificent run, picking up strokes at 4, 5 and 6. He's +2 overall.
1.04pm ET
A tedious bit of admin hanging over from yesterday. You'll recall Matt Kuchar, in contention and playing 6, addressing his ball only to pull away in horror, the ball having moved. Did he ground the club? Turns out that he didn't, so there's no retrospective penalty for him. He remains at -1, a mere nine shots behind Kaymer. "So the German leads in the VW golf?" quips Gary Naylor, with reference to the Beetlesque greens of Pinehurst. "Is this Le Mans?"
[Gary Naylor's topical email has not been vetted, cleared or approved by Volkswagen stablemates and 12-time Le Mans winers Audi]
12.50pm ET
Somebody's under par for their round! And it's Sergio!!! Marvellous. He's raked in a huge left-to-right breaker on 9, then carded another birdie at 10. This is some effort, actually, because true to form he'd made life difficult for himself from the off, with back-to-back bogeys at 2 and 3, but a birdie at 5, and now this pair at 9 and 10, sees him climb to +3 for the tournament. Just because this course is difficult, it doesn't mean it's impossible. Can someone higher up the leaderboard than Sergio get something going that'll give Kaymer pause for thought?
12.42pm ET
The only player out there who was under par, Nicholas Lindheim, is now +2 for his round, having double bogeyed 16 and dropped another at 17. Today promises to be pretty interesting / amusing / entertaining / irritating, depending on your view of punitive US Open golf. Personally, I love it, seeing you didn't ask and don't care; it makes a refreshing change from the usual birdie-fests of the year-round Tour. But each to their own. Phil Mickelson demonstrates just how irritating / entertaining this sort of thing can be on 2. The pin's right at the back, a stride or so away from a slope that leads the more aggressive / inaccurate golfer down into a world of pain. Sure enough, Mickelson is a bounce too long, and his ball is sent packing. But he putts up the hill, an almost perfect lag, and saves his par. That's a majestic scramble. Then on 3 he's clipped a gorgeous shot into the heart of the green to 15 feet, but can't make the birdie putt. A chance spurned, but proof birdies are there if the approach play is accurate enough. The putter's really let Lefty down this week: five three putts yesterday, some tiddlers missed that could be measured in inches.
12.23pm ET
History can be Martin Kaymer's friend. Here are the largest leads after 36 holes in US Open history:
6
Martin Kaymer (2014, Pinehurst No2)
Rory McIlroy (2011, Congressional)
Tiger Woods (2000, Pebble Beach)
5
Willie Anderson (1903, Baltusrol)
4
Jim Barnes (1921, Columbia)
Tom McNamara (1909, Englewood)
12.13pm ET
Here's why No2 is giving the players gyp. The USGA have pushed a few of the tees back, while the course hasn't had a drop of water sprayed on it. No hose, no sprinklers. And no rain: there were thunderstorms over North Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday night, but not last night. The course is as firm as it's been all week, and only likely to get even firmer as the day gets longer. And the wind's picked up a wee bit. Gulp, oo-er, cripes, lummee, etc. This is going to be a test, even for Martin Kaymer.
12.06pm ET
Kevin Stadler came home in 32 strokes yesterday, with birdie at 10 and eagle at 13 - pitching in from distance - and carded a very creditable 68. In doing so, he made the cut by a single shot. But he must be wondering why he bothered. An eight at today's opening hole - a quadruple-bogey eight - followed by a bogey at the next. Then pars all the way to the turn, but he's unlikely to feel much better about that. He's +10. This course appears to be playing hard in the good old-fashioned US Open style today.
11.54am ET
As for suffering, well, we're into the business half of the US Open, so there's already been plenty of that today. The Japanese veteran Toru Taniguchi is having a hellish time of it. He's propping up the entire field, in some style it must be said, at +14, having gone out in 44 strokes. He's +9 for the day already, with three bogeys and three double bogeys on his card. And there's him starting so well with a par at the 1st, too. Matthew Fitzpatrick, the 19-year-old amateur from Sheffield, appears a wee bit whacked out after his brave effort to make the cut: a couple of doubles on his card today already as he slips to +9, but the young man's a fighter, and true to form there's a birdie on there too, at Pinehurst's friendly 5th. Whatever happens to him this weekend, he's the low amateur at the 2014 US Open. What a way to end your amateur career before turning pro. I'd say he was one to keep an eye out for, only you've already all spotted him.
11.47am ET
The early scoring would suggest the USGA have decided to pull up the drawbridge. There are 23 players out there right now, and only one is under par. A round of applause please for Nicholas Lindheim. The American is playing in his first US Open, and making a decent fist of it, that much needs to be said. He's -1 through 12 holes, having sandwiched a bogey at 4 with birdies at 3 and 5. He's +4 for the tournament right now, the cut having last night sent home players at +6 or worse. Good news for Martin Kaymer, you'd have thought, although it's early of course to be drawing any daft conclusions. That Lindheim has a couple of birdies today is no surprise: as things stand, only eight players have made more this week: Kaymer, Brandt Snedeker, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, the amateur Hunter Stewart, Scott Langley, Danny Willett and Paul Casey (who has a couple himself today, too).
11.29am ET
Who'd have thought we'd see the likes of the Procession at Congressional again, any time soon? Not me. Not you, I'm guessing. And certainly not the USGA, I'll be bound. In 2011, Rory McIlroy broke the US Open 36-hole scoring record with rounds of 65 and 66. A mere 131 shots, which bested the mark set by Ricky Barnes at Bethpage Black in 2009 by one stroke, and the scoring of Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh at Olympia Fields in 2003 by three. It was astonishing. Prodigious. Homeric.
And then yesterday, Martin Kaymer came along.
Continue reading...
June 11, 2014
World Cup: 25 stunning moments No25: the Cruyff Turn is born in 1974
When Johan Cruyff sold Jan Olsson the mother of all dummies with the subtlest of swerves, the Dutch captains signature move became world-famous as the enduring symbol of Total Football
Its the defining image of the 1974 World Cup; the defining image of the great Dutch team of the 70s; the defining image of one of the most talented, enchanting and magical players to ever breeze around a football field.
Its the 23rd minute of the Group 3 game between Holland and Sweden at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, and Wim van Hanegem has the ball at his feet on the right wing. Hes about to be crowded out by Bjorn Andersson and Ralf Edstrom, so clips a pass back along the flank to Wim Rijsbergen, who in turn flicks the ball inside to Arie Haan, airily ambling through the centre circle. Haan takes a couple of quick, adroit touches to tee himself up, then wafts his right leg, spraying a long diagonal pass towards the left-hand corner flag, towards Johan Cruyff.
Continue reading...June 7, 2014
England v Honduras as it happened | Scott Murray
A damp squib in more ways than one, as England leave for the World Cup goalless, after a match delayed by an electrical storm
The best images from Miami
12.21am BST
So England go to Brazil having failed to put a goal past ten-man Honduras. But the 40-minute break in the first half knocked this game off kilter early on. And had Daniel Sturridge been in any semblance of form, they'd have won this game by a goal or two. But this is it. Off down to Rio, then. Not Reno, dummy, Rio. Rio de Janeiro.
12.19am BST
90 min +3: Figueroa tries to beat Forster from midway inside his own half! That's taken sauce to a new level.
12.18am BST
90 min +1: There will be four added minutes. In the first, Martinez comes on for Forster-baiter Izaguirre.
12.17am BST
90 min: Wilshere, gadding around in the left-hand portion of the Honduran box, nearly slips a ball inside for Lallana, but Valladares is out to smother. England so nearly robbed a victory there.
12.16am BST
89 min: Wilshere gives the ball away in the centre circle. Izaguirre strides forward into acres of space, then tries to beat Forster from nearly 40 yards! The keeper gathers with, one suspects, a frown. These two are team-mates at Celtic! A little respect, please, at least! I'd like to hear the conversation when the pair shake hands at the end.
12.14am BST
88 min: Cahill thinks about having a whack from distance. We've come to that. Here we are.
12.13am BST
87 min: Garcia comes on for Espinoza. This game's been a disjointed mess. I suppose the surreal interruption to the first half was always destined to jigger it.
12.11am BST
85 min: Wilshere's not looked himself for a long while now. All those injuries. But he's been pretty lively this afternoon/evening/night, and nearly breaks through down the inside left, a Gazzaesque slalom. But he's crowded out. Marks again for effort, though, which is all England's players have really earned in this game.
12.10am BST
83 min:
Carlos Alberto
Henderson is replaced by Lampard. "All I want is the England manager to agree exactly with me," insists Ethan Dean-Richards (72 min), one step away from telling the bartender, via the medium of swing, to give him a big pour for the road. "If that's considered unrealistic, it's political correctness gone mad."
12.07am BST
80 min: Barkley, in the centre, 25 yards out, rolls an insouciant pass to his right for Henderson, who has a pelt at goal. The ball flies over the crossbar. That's a very, very, very, very, very ersatz version of Pele and Carlos Alberto's wee combination late in the 1970 final.
12.05am BST
79 min: Lambert replaces Welbeck.
12.04am BST
78 min: Baines is booked for standing on Wilson Palacios's left toe. On the touchline, Roy Hodgson has the heat on. He loves bearing his teeth when the wildness descends, doesn't he? I wouldn't get in his road, put it that way. He felt a little frost around the gums when Sturridge missed that chance, too. I suspect, in the England debrief, the Liverpool striker will be getting telt.
12.01am BST
75 min: A change apiece. Jerry Palacios comes on for Bengtson, who was clattered by Henderson. And England let Fraser Forster get a little game time, Hart making way.
12.00am BST
73 min: Johnson whips a high ball into the area from the right. Sturridge connects with a header, six yards out, right in the middle. He should score, he really should, but whistles his effort over. That's a dismal miss. He's not had much of a match tonight.
11.58pm BST
72 min: Not much going on right now. But it's getting late back in Blighty, and as the witching hour approaches, folks are beginning to tell it like it is, the way they see it. Here's Gary Naylor: "In all sports, England are too keen on what a player has done wrong in the past and not what he might do in the future," opines Gary Naylor. "Ross Barkley has no ceiling on what he could achieve at the World Cup - but he might concede possession too. He must get more game time than John Barnes got in Mexico." And now here's Ethan Dean-Richards: "Hodgson keeps substituting Gerrard and Rooney first and England go on to play much quicker football. It's so frustrating, because it feels like we're so close to a manager knowing a decent, rational team to put out, but he can't make himself go all the way with it and start with that team. Surely the mythical 'experience' is useless if you can't run - or in Rooney's case, control the ball?" I'm just happy I'm not the only one who's tired and emotional.
11.56pm BST
70 min: Cahill is booked for a thunderously clumsy clatter into the back of Bengtson. This, you'll recall, is a friendly.
11.55pm BST
68 min: Henderson slides a glorious ball down the inside-left channel for Lallana, who has his back to goal as he meets the pass on the edge of the Honduran box. He attempts a drag-back and spin, with a view to turning Figueroa and getting a shot away, all in one smooth movement. But he falls over after about 90 degrees of the motion. I'm making it sound more clumsy than it actually was. Nearly a very smooth turn.
11.52pm BST
65 min: RED CARD! Beckeles receives a second yellow for slapping his arm into the face of Baines, as the two challenge for a ball down the England left. That should probably have been a straight red, but it makes no odds. That's his game over. Honduras have been acting up since the enforced break in the first half, and that's been coming.
11.48pm BST
62 min: Lallana is booked for nearly planting his studs in Espinoza's chest, but failing to make contact. The referee deems it dangerous play, and that's fair enough. From the resulting free kick, Bernardez sends a rising pearler just wide right of goal from 25 yards down the inside left. A fine effort.
11.47pm BST
61 min: A change for Honduras, and an interesting one, as Chavez goes off for the promising Anderlecht winger Najar.
11.45pm BST
58 min: A Barkley-inspired melee on the edge of the Honduran area. He's in the mood today. The ball breaks loose. Welbeck pounces, and hammers a first-time slapshot goalwards. It pings off the chest of Valladares. A decent shot, a decent save. Good play all round.
11.43pm BST
56 min: Wilshere, launching a quick England break, rakes a pass down the inside left for the onrushing Barkley. The Everton youngster looks to prod the ball around Izaguirre. He'd be clear in the area, but the Honduran full back has timed his tackle to perfection, and robs Barkley. That's a fine break by Wilshere and Barkley, but an even better defensive block by the Honduran.
11.41pm BST
54 min: Sturridge attempts to recreate the goal he scored for Liverpool against West Bromwich Albion last season. Not quite. It drifts wide right of the target from his position to the left of the D. Marks for ambition. He's not quite been on his game tonight, Sturridge, having missed England's best opportunity.
11.39pm BST
52 min: Baines in a bit of space on the left of the Honduran area. His low cross is fairly aimless, though Bernardez takes no chances and slides it out for a corner. The set piece comes to naught. This isn't the greatest game of football that's ever been played, but it's the weekend before the World Cup, who had high hopes?
11.38pm BST
51 min: Another yellow for Honduras! Beckeles comes in late on Welbeck. It looked worse than it actually was - a mistimed lunge from distance - but they can't complain too loudly. Honduras are in danger of losing the head here, some of their challenges are borderline.
11.36pm BST
49 min: Bernardez is booked for hanging out a leg to stop the lively Barkley, who had turned him nicely. They certainly don't mind putting it about, Honduras. Mind you, here's Baines clattering into the back of Chavez. That could have earned a yellow on another day, but England get away with it. Honduras, to a man, have the funk on about that non-decision, coming a few seconds as it did after Bernardez's caution.
11.33pm BST
47 min: Barkley glides down the middle. He slips the ball to the left for Wilshere, who knocks it straight back to him. Barkley attempts to whip a curler into the top right from 20 yards, and isn't far off at all. Valladares was rooted to the spot there; if that was on target, it was in.
11.32pm BST
And we're off again! A couple of changes for England: Gerrard and Rooney are replaced by Barkley and Wilshere. And one for Honduras: Garrido is swapped for Claros. "Did Barry Bryan (10.47pm) record Eloise during one of those storms?" wonders Sean Moore, deliberately misreading this MBM for comic effect. And what effect!
11.19pm BST
Half-time advertisement: I had promised myself that I'd finally stop desperately pushing And Gazza Misses The Final, the World Cup MBM book I've co-written with Rob Smyth. But then I thought, hey, it's late on Saturday night, most of you will be half cut by now, if not nine-tenths along the way to achieving blackout. You'll be in the mood to purchase any old tat! So if you enjoyed our MBM of the 1966 final, or the epic 1990 semi between England and West Germany, you might like the other 20 matches in the book, which include the 1950 'final' between Brazil and Uruguay, the Battle of Santiago, the 1982 Schumacher-Battiston brouhaha, and many more. Seventeen more, in fact. It's the weekend, you deserve something special, so either treat yourself to it, or pour another large nippy sweetie. (I'd probably opt for the whisky, myself, but it's worth a try.)
11.15pm BST
Or the end of the second quarter, whichever way you want to look at it.
11.14pm BST
44 min: Chavez goes on a rococo wander down the right. He's crowded out by Baines and Jagielka, but the ball's recycled to Palacios, who aims for the bottom right from the edge of the D, only to see his shot deflected out by Cahill. Corner on the right, which Hart flaps at. Then a low fizzing corner on the left, from which Figueroa, at the near post, flicks towards the bottom left. It's not a subtle enough touch, and billows the side netting.
11.11pm BST
41 min: Welbeck and Henderson shuttle the ball down the centre of the field. Lallana flicks the ball from right to left foot with his ankle, a lovely sashay, then attempts to thread a shot into the bottom right. It's deflected out for a corner off Figueroa, and the set piece comes to nothing. That shot wasn't too far outside the right-hand post. England are the better team, without quite getting totally on top.
11.09pm BST
39 min: Johnson, Sturridge and Henderson triangulate down the right. Henderson breaks into the area, but is clattered by Figueroa before he can get a cross in. He looks up like a puppy, after a penalty, but he's never getting one for that.
11.07pm BST
36 min: Johnson is felled by Espinoza down the Honduran left, but there was no malicious intent. This is very bitty, and there's a sense it could all kick off with one extreme challenge.
11.04pm BST
34 min: Free kick for Honduras, 20 yards out, just to the left of goal. Chavez hits a decent enough effort towards the top left, but it's a little high, and Hart had it covered anyway.
11.03pm BST
31 min: This is getting a bit out of hand now. Sturridge is clipped to the floor, down the right, by Izaguirre. It's a foul. The ball rests just in front of the prone striker's trouser arrangement. Isaguirre hammers the ball straight into Sturridge's shorts, from close range. That's a great shot in billiards, but a really lowdown act on a football field. He's booked, but could easily have - probably should have - seen red. Sturridge jumped up with a view to clacking one on the Celtic full back, but thought better of it.
10.59pm BST
29 min: Sturridge earns a corner off Palacios down the right. It's fired out to the far wing, where Gerrard slips a pass down the flank to Baines. Bengtson clatters into the England full back as he earns a corner. Baines gets up without fuss and hits a corner that doesn't clear the first man. This has been awful since the restart, but you can hardly blame the players for that.
10.57pm BST
28 min: Sturridge is still limping around gingerly. Baines is robbed down the Honduran right, with the ball lumped straight behind Hart's goal. England then over-elaborate after the goal kick, and nearly gift the ball to Costly. Ah, Sturridge seems to be moving a bit better now, which is the only good news from a scrappy couple of minutes for England.
10.56pm BST
26 min: Sturridge turns his ankle down the left. Then Garrido lunges in on Gerrard and picks up a deserved booking for a fairly aggressive lunge. Raheem Sterling may have raised an eyebrow, as the Honduran had both feet off the ground and wasn't in full control there. England won't mind too much, though, as they'll learn bugger all playing against ten men.
10.55pm BST
25 min: Lallana miscontrols on the edge of his own area, under pressure from Costly as a long ball's lumped down the left. Bengtson nips in and prods a shot from the edge of the area, straight at Hart. Here's Matt Dony with an answer to Marie Meyer's question of a few minutes ago: "A bunch of Hondurans?" There's no arguing with that.
10.52pm BST
And we're off again! We're going to restart with the goal kick that would have been taken after Sturridge's miss from 12 yards. Valladares hoofs upfield, the ball's headed straight back to him. It's on! Again!
10.47pm BST
Action soon, by the looks of things! Joe Hart is out, warming up again on the now-greasy surface. Then the rest of the lads trot out for a few stretches. And it appears the referee has given the green light for the match to be restarted in ten minutes! Woo hoo. "Having lived in Florida for my high school years, I learned quickly that in the summer months that you can expect a lightning storm at four or five in the afternoon about six out of every seven days," writes fancy-fingered Barry Bryan, amazingly typing and keeping count at the same time. "What on earth was whoever planned this thinking? Acclimatizing to the humidity maybe?"
10.42pm BST
The stadium manager is currently being interviewed by ITV. It's not magnificent television, to be frank, but then here I am transcribing the desperate patter as Adrian Chiles scrambles to fill dead air, so I'm in no position to criticise. "This is not unusual," says the big guy. "We're accustomed to it. It's part of our weather pattern. We're used to it. It rains, it comes, it goes." Which does sort of beg one question, and US resident Marie Meyer is here to ask it: "Who but a bunch of Brits would choose to go to Miami in the summer?!"
10.33pm BST
It is tipping down in Miami right now. Roy Hodgson is in a surprisingly chipper mood given the irritating nature of this strange circumstance. "It's a surprise," he shrugs with a smile. "I've encountered it here in Florida on golf courses, when they're obviously very eager to get you back inside. We can only accept and appreciate the referee's decision. These are facts of life, we just have to get on with it. All we can do is wait."
There have been worries that any serious delay might play havoc with England's travel arrangements. They're due to fly down to Rio tonight. But Roy doesn't think it's such a whimsical notion. "
And I think I will travel to Rio, using the music for flight, there's nothing I know of in Rio, but it's something to do with the night
No, I think it won't be a great problem. It's a private plane, though I don't know how easy it is to get another slot. My only worry is, if this takes another hour, how many people will be left in the stadium."
10.23pm BST
Weather forecast, with referee Ricardo Salazar: He's just told the Independent Television service that there have been "lightning strikes two miles away", which is why the players were whipped off. Sounds fair enough to me. They're going to assess the situation in another 20 minutes, when they "may delay longer, but we may also be good to go". However, he's had a look at the radar, and says it's "getting worse". Hmm. Saturday night, I feel the air is getting hot, like you baby, as
Michael Fish
Whigfield once sang.
10.14pm BST
The players trudge off, and back to the changing rooms, with faces on. Nobody seems particularly happy about this break in play. It could be worse, they could be stopping for rain, as they did in the Stoke-Man Utd League Cup game last season, when Mark Clattenburg decided that a bit of water could have someone's eye out.
10.10pm BST
23 min: THUNDER AND LIGHTNING STOPS PLAY! Another clap of thunder, and the referee decides that safety is paramount. The players are taken off the field "due to the inclement weather", as the scoreboard screams - and we're told there'll be a 30-minute pause in play!
10.08pm BST
21 min: What a sweet, flowing move by England. England are three on three. Welbeck romps down the middle, then slides the ball out right to Rooney, who returns it immediately. On the edge of the area, Welbeck steps over the ball and lets it roll to Sturridge on his left. He's free on the edge of the area, and fires a low shot inches wide of the right-hand post. He should probably have scored there, but it wasn't a bad effort, and it was fine play by Welbeck and Rooney.
10.05pm BST
19 min: Sturridge wins a free kick down the right with a determined run. Gerrard swings a not-very-good set piece into the area. Cleared, but only to Lallana, who scores three points that Stuart Lancaster's side could have done with this morning.
10.03pm BST
17 min: A loud clap of thunder above the stadium. Oo-er! Someone, somewhere applauding Adam Lallana's jink down the right, perhaps. He enters the area and pulls one back for Rooney, who has space, but faffs around a bit and Honduras eventually clear. Nearly an opening. Actually it was an opening, Rooney should have hit that first time rather than trying to shift it to the left.
10.01pm BST
15 min: Costly turns down the Honduran inside-left channel and looks to curl a spectacular one into the top right from 25 yards, but only succeeds in blootering a shot off the top of Bengtson's head and out of play. Goal kick. "Ye gods, when am I going to stop misspelling Sterling's surname?" shrieks Phil Sawyer of kick-off fame. "I mean, I'm a Liverpool supporter, I should have learnt it by now. At least I don't keep making the same mistake with Stephen Gerard."
10.00pm BST
13 min: Free kick for England, 35 yards out, a step or two to the left of centre. Rooney and Baines stand over it, doing that Cristiano Ronaldo wide-stance thing. Rooney loops a ball up over the wall and back down, the ball heading towards the bottom left. Valladares parries it. He should gather. That was hapless goalkeeping. He nearly punched the ball up into his own phizog! Dear me. It balloons off to the left, and Sturridge is onto the loose ball, but he's offside, the Hondurans benefitting from their own doziness, their static wall turning into the sort of offside trap that George Graham has warm, wobbly dreams about.
9.57pm BST
11 min: Gerrard whips a low ball into the area from the left, finding Welbeck on the spot. The pass is hit with such pace that it's hard for the striker to control and get a shot away, and he does neither. You can't really blame him for getting that one stuck under his feet. Gerrard's had a mixed start; he was a little late on Chavez a couple of minutes ago, and now, as if to prove my point while I'm writing this, he has a shot from 25 yards that flies 25 yards over the bar.
9.54pm BST
8 min: More snoozing from Johnson, who is caught flat-footed by Espinoza. The resulting cross, from near the left-hand corner flag, is easily gathered by Hart. But on the touchline, Roy Hodgson looks pensive, as well he might. Nobody does pensive like Roy Hodgson. Except maybe Scarlett Johannson in Lost in Translation, but it's a close-run thing.
9.52pm BST
6 min: A long ball's raked down the left wing. Johnson, who as Liverpool fans will confirm has been in a state of utter confusion since November, lets the ball clank off him and out for a corner. The set piece is only half dealt with by Cahill, and his glancing header flies to Bernardez, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out. He slashes an awful shot miles over the bar, and the effort's not that accurate either.
9.50pm BST
4 min: Welbeck has a thrash from distance, down the inside-left channel. Valladares makes a meal of gathering the ball, which was flying straight towards his startled coupon at some pace. Welbeck has taken a whack to the foot, but he looks like he'll run that one off.
9.49pm BST
3 min: Rooney earns himself a yard down the right, but his cross into the Honduran area doesn't beat the first man. Figueroa slices the ball up into the air, which leads to more whistling from the stand, though this time it's the more highly amused two-tone saucy trill.
9.48pm BST
2 min: England stroke it around the back awhile, Cahill and Jagielka finally living their dreams of being Franz Beckenbauer. Minus the striding forward and setting up attacks, that is. It's a start. This is the game management Roy Hodgson was talking about, presumably. The paying punters in the stadium don't like it much, and are whistling accordingly.
9.46pm BST
After what seems an interminable wait, the bore operating the PA system finally lifts the needle off his well-worn 7-inch of Seven Nation Army, and the players are allowed to kick off! Honduras get the ball rolling. "I don't think Raheem Stirling has necessarily done himself a disservice by getting sent off last match and therefore being ineligible to play tonight," opines Phil Sawyer. "It's possibly scuppered his chances of making the starting lineup next weekend, but I've seen good arguments this week for keeping the youngsters fresh to come on as impact subs in the heat of Manaus and hit Italy when they're knackered. I've also seen equally good arguments for England starting in the Liverpool fashion against Italy, loading the side with attacking youngsters to try to get early goals then shutting up shop later in the match by bringing yer more defensive, experienced heads on. In short, I don't know what to think. I admit this is not much help. It's still more analysis than Andy Townsend brings to the party, mind."
9.42pm BST
The teams are out, England in 1966 red, Honduras in blue, which is their second strip as well. And it's time for the national anthems! First up, the famous theme tune of the entertaining England Globetrotters ...
9.39pm BST
Roy speaks! And say what you like, but the man speaks sense. Can we assume this is the starting line-up for next week's game against Italy? "You can assume what you like. There's a lot of thinking to be done. Raheem Sterling would have been a starter today, but we can't use him.
In capitalist society, spare time is acquired for one class by converting the whole lifetime of the masses into labour time.
We're interested in game management in these hot conditions. Hopefully we can control the tempo."
9.32pm BST
No action tonight for either Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Raheem Sterling. The former is injured, the latter suspended, having been a naughty lad against Ecuador the other night. A shame for England, who would be a real proposition with these two hot talents in the starting XI. Still, it gives both Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana a real chance to make a bid for the Italy game this time next week. Roy Hodgson's named the same XI that beat Peru at Wembley. That was as hit and miss as a 3-0 win can get, so tonight should be interesting enough.
9.01pm BST
England: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Sturridge, Rooney, Welbeck.
Subs: Foster, Lampard, Smalling, Jones, Milner, Lambert, Sterling, Barkley, Shaw, Stones, Flanagan, Forster.
Honduras: Valladares, Beckeles, Figueroa, Bernardez, Izaguirre, Espinoza, Wilson Palacios, Garrido, Marvin Chavez, Costly, Bengtson.
Subs: Lopez, Osman Chavez, Montes, Juan Garcia, Jerry Palacios, Mario Martinez, Delgado, Oscar Garcia, Rony Martinez, Najar, Claros, Escober.
8.30pm BST
Honduras are, like England, on their way to Brazil next week. And here's another way they're like England: they'll not be returning home with the World Cup. Not if their past record in the competition is anything to go by. They've only qualified for the finals twice before, in 1982 and 2010, and have yet to win a single match. Last time round, they even failed to score a goal, though admittedly they were drawn in a tough group alongside Chile, Switzerland and the eventual champions Spain. Their performance in 1982 was a whole lot better: draws against hosts Spain (who they led) and Northern Ireland, and a late, late, late one-goal defeat by Yugoslavia added up to a brave performance from a nation making its debut on the biggest stage of all. But that's still a grand total of zero wins. Still, look at it the other way: it's about time Honduras broke their duck and did for someone. Switzerland, Ecuador and France could be forgiven for starting to worry at least a little bit.
Continue reading...June 6, 2014
The Joy of Six: tales from the Guardian and Observers World Cup diaries | Scott Murray
June 5, 2014
World Cup: 25 stunning moments No23: The 1966 World Cup
Random tales from the 1966 Football World Championship for the Jules Rimet Trophy that have absolutely nothing to do with Azerbaijani linesmen, Kenneth Wolstenholme or Pickles the Dog
1. The branding for the 1966 Football World Championship for the Jules Rimet Trophy was all over the shop. But at least Fifa were trying. The 1966 finals was the first to be blessed with a mascot, a small lion wearing a union jack shirt walking along with its eyes narrowed to the point of being totally shut. A myopic nationalist, whod have thought it. Willie was the creation of the freelance artist Reg Hoye, who had first considered a little man in a bowler hat and a man in a cloth cap but wished to steer clear of class issues. I dont think the results pompous, he insisted, its just to show that were not as clapped out as some people think we are. Hoye was paid a flat fee for his work while the FA creamed off all the profits from the various tat bearing Willies grinning boat. The enormous success of Willie has not made Mr Hoye bitter, reported the Guardian. Only a little unhappy.
2. Our man Eric Todds column on the opening morning of the eighth World Cup final series was a remarkably prescient piece of writing. I believe that the vacillations of temperament will play a crucial part, he predicted. Certainly they will be awaited with trepidation in some quarters and with undisguised relish in others where ugly scenes are the beginning, the middle and the end of any football match. Is it too much to hope that no player will be sent off, carried off, or escorted off? Not every guest will be well behaved, and I have no doubt at all that somewhere along the line discipline, judgment and manners, on and off the field, will be set aside.
Continue reading...June 4, 2014
England v Ecuador as it happened | Scott Murray
A highly entertaining game ended in a fair draw, with Lambert, Barkley and Oxlade-Chamberlain shining, and Sterling seeing red
In pictures: all the best images from England's draw4.50pm ET
Four goals, two of them absolute belters, and a couple of red cards. If the World Cup serves up a few matches like this, we'll be doing OK. A great evening for Rickie Lambert, Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a good one for Wayne Rooney, and one to forget for James Milner and Raheem Sterling. Roy Hodgson should be happier than he is sad. Anyway, at nearly 5pm in Florida, it's time to go home. Does anybody need a lift back to Del Boca Vista?
4.49pm ET
90 min +2: Arroyo tries to blast the ball straight through the England wall. Nope!
4.48pm ET
90 min +1: Ibarra races off down a blind alley. He's bodychecked by Milner, tracking back. That'll be a free kick for Ecuador, late on, in a very dangerous position just to the right of the England box.
4.47pm ET
90 min: Saritama replaces Gruezo. "Fair to say Jair Murrufo is nothing like Howard Webb (5 min). Mr Webb would have only sent off the Liverpool man." Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the possibly partial Ricky Gill, he's here all week, try the lamb stew.
4.44pm ET
87 min: Jack Wilshere is limping. Is this news? He's replaced by Lallana.
4.43pm ET
86 min: Today's early bird attendance is 21,534. The Miami Dolphins wouldn't stand for this.
4.43pm ET
85 min: Now it's England's turn to stroke it around awhile. They're going nowhere, but everyone seems happy enough with the draw. That double sending-off seems to have taken the wind out of everyone's sails.
4.41pm ET
84 min: And a double switch for England: Barkley and Lambert off, Henderson and Welbeck on.
4.40pm ET
83 min: Now the other Valencia departs, but not in shame. Enner is swapped for Ibarra.
4.38pm ET
80 min: All that nonsense has no bearing on the World Cup. Still, what a pair.
4.37pm ET
78 min: A PAIR OF RED CARDS!!! Antonio Valencia can't get clear down the right again. Sterling slides in, getting a little bit of the ball, but more of the man, straight through from behind. Valencia springs up and clatters Sterling on the back of his neck, then grabs his throat. The pair are shown red, and rightly so: Sterling had both feet off the ground and didn't look in total control of that rash challenge, while Valencia raised his arms. Liverpool and Manchester United, eh? What can you do?
4.34pm ET
76 min: Ecuador are pinging it around in a very attractive style right now. Antonio Valencia seeing an awful lot of the ball down the right, but Stones sticks to him well. He can't get clear.
4.32pm ET
74 min: Shaw is replaced by Stones. England are being pushed back right now, struggling to retain possession. Important to remember that this is being treated as a run-out for a sizeable proportion of the squad.
4.32pm ET
73 min: Ecuador have the old tails up now. Antonio Valencia nearly breaks clear down the right, but Shaw does well to hold him off. Arroyo then performs an elaborate stepover down the left, and is hacked unceremoniously to the ground for his cheek by an irate Milner. What buffoonery from Milner, who has had a shocker, admittedly out of position. He should be booked for that, but the USA's Howard Webb (see 5 mins) keeps his card in his pocket. Lucky Milner.
4.29pm ET
The ball at the sub's feet, just to the right of the England D. He's barely been on the pitch a minute. Milner doesn't close him down. Arroyo drops a shoulder, nudges the ball an inch to his right, and with next to no backlift, blasts a rising shot into the top right. We'll do well to see a better goal at the World Cup. That was simply astonishing, because in truth Milner hadn't given him that much space to work with.
4.27pm ET
68 min: Arroyo comes on for Montero, who may soon receive a shoeing from his manager.
4.26pm ET
67 min: England are lucky to still be ahead. Montero streaks down the left in acres, past a flat-footed Smalling. He should shoot, but with two players to his right, lays off. Problem is, his pass across is worse than useless. Enner Valencia, the ball behind him, drags a shot onto the right-hand post, and Jones slides in to bundle clear. What a defensive farce. And not much better from Ecuador in attack, truth be told.
4.24pm ET
66 min: Another lull. Everyone's still in credit.
4.22pm ET
64 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain is replaced - Roy Hodgson wrapping his star performer in cotton wool, as to be fair to the lad he might have twisted a knee - by debutant Jon Flanagan. Seconds later, Rooney is also taken off, Sterling coming on in his stead.
4.21pm ET
62 min: Some komik kutz as Gruezo kicks the back of Oxlade-Chamberlain's ankle, then rolls into the back of the England winger. Both adults, grown men remember, roll around on the floor like they're in a playground sandpit. Get up, please!
4.19pm ET
61 min: The Milner-as-right-back experiment hasn't worked. He plays an awful blind pass back down the Ecuadorian left, and nearly lets Enner Valencia clear on goal. He'll need to thank Smalling and Jones after the match, if not sooner, for closing the Ecuador striker.
4.17pm ET
60 min: A bit of a lull. To be fair, this has been a pretty entertaining friendly. Both sides are doing their best to turn it on. They've earned their wee breather.
4.15pm ET
57 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has been brilliant tonight. He shows the ball to Gruezo down the left, then turns the burners on and leaves the hapless midfielder bouncing around on his buttocks as he makes off along the touchline. He looks to have won a corner, but the referee's not giving that one either.
4.13pm ET
55 min: Montero jigs down the left. He's in a lot of space. He stands one up in the middle, but Foster clears. England fly up the other end through Oxlade-Chamberlain, who tries to feed Barkley down the right, but his pass is pinballed back to Lambert on the left-hand corner of the area. His confidence flying, Lambert sends a fast first-time curler towards the bottom right, but the effort's an inch or so wide. Fingertipped by Banguera? Not sure. Who'd be a referee? England don't get the corner, anyway.
4.11pm ET
54 min: That goal really was a belter. Rooney runs at Ecuador while they're still reeling, but gets nowhere fast.
4.10pm ET
What a goal this is! It's mainly about Ross Barkley, but then again it's not. You'll see what I mean. He turns down the inside left and goes on a George Best-esque saunter down the channel, before gliding infield. He shapes to shoot - it would be some solo goal - but decides to lay off to the right, where Lambert stands waiting. Lambert takes one swing of his right leg, and launches a low fizzer into the bottom left, across the keeper, with the outside of his boot. What a finish! But what a run by Barkley. Who to give the most credit to? Good luck with making that decision.
4.08pm ET
50 min: Mendez replaces Noboa.
4.07pm ET
48 min: A nice ebb and flow to this half already. Oxlade-Chamberlain nearly sashays his way into the Ecuadorian area, but is bundled off the ball at the last. Then Antonio Valencia attempts a cross from the right, not once but twice, but his Manchester United team-mate Jones clears with a John Terry style diving header (i.e. he's oscillating horizontally about a foot off the ground).
4.05pm ET
47 min: Barkley looks to burst forward but he's bundled over by Gruezo. Lampard's quick free kick is a nonsense, but England regain possession. Rooney whipped a cross in from the left for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who twists at the far post but can't wriggle free to get a shot away. The Arsenal winger has played well tonight. "Congrats to Ox on earning a starting place against Italy," writes Steve Dickens, "and to Jones on blagging a free holiday to Brazil."
4.02pm ET
And we're off again! England are out early, and are made to wait by Ecuador. They eventually turn up, having made one change: Caicedo off, Rojas on. England get the ball rolling again. "If you didn't go with the Timberline chilli and sweet potatoes," writes Erik Petersen, "you're a damnable fool."
3.53pm ET
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3.47pm ET
And that's that. A half of football that was very much a mixed bag for both sides. The pair of them look decent on the attack, not so great when they have some mopping up to do. "I blame Paul Scholes, England have clearly listened his call for them to play like Liverpool," writes Nick Honeywell. "Silly England."
3.46pm ET
45 min: Milner might not be much cop as a full back, but he knows what he's doing down the other end. A lovely reverse pass down the right releases Oxlade-Chamberlain into the area. Oxlade-Chamberlain hammers a low shot towards the near corner, but Banguera parries and Erazo hacks clear.
3.45pm ET
44 min: Rooney, who isn't exactly sticking to his left-wing beat, has a dig from distance down the inside right, but his shot, drifting towards the top left, is plucked from the sky by Banguera.
3.44pm ET
43 min: Milner and Barkley both snooze in the middle of the park. The former's lazy pass doesn't reach the latter, who fails to react in any way. Ecuador flood upfield. Enner Valencia should do better down the inside-left channel, as he reaches the area, but Smalling tracks back and tackles before the striker can get a shot away. Valencia should have made Foster work there.
3.42pm ET
40 min: Antonio Valencia sprays a long diagonal pass, right to left, and nearly releases Montero down the wing. Milner is all over the shop, miles out of position. The ball's too heavy and flies out for a goal kick, but Milner, who is in fairness a midfield player, is getting bossed here. Those wishing for the demise of England's Glen Johnson should be careful what they wish for.
3.39pm ET
37 min: Lampard hesitates to the right of the England D. Suddenly surrounded by Caicedo and Enner Valencia, he's fortunate the former gets impatient and decides to hack away at his ankle. For a second, England looked like they were in trouble, and once again it would have been self-inflicted. From the free kick, England flood up the other end, where Barkley fizzes a low shot inches wide from 25 yards. This game is a lot of fun. More fun for the neutral than any supporters of England or Ecuador, I'll be bound, as they might have spotted one or two flaws with their respective teams. But the overall point stands.
3.36pm ET
35 min: Not that it necessarily matters, of course. Shaw makes good down the left and slips a low cross into the area. Rooney slides in with peg out, but can only guide the ball wide right of the target. More than half a chance to give England the lead there.
3.35pm ET
33 min: Let's not forget the state of this England defence. Barkley is robbed in the centre circle, and the ball's hoicked down the middle. Smalling is playing Enner Valencia onside, but miles from the play. Valencia is one on one with the advancing Foster, who comes out from his box at the speed of Toni Schumacher but happily without the murderous intent. Valencia tries to loop the ball over the keeper from the edge of the area but his effort is well wide right. The England back line is a complete joke tonight.
3.31pm ET
Oxlade-Chamberlain, fed into space by Milner, whips a ball into the Ecuadorian area from the right. A scramble by the left-hand post. Lambert, with his back to goal, chests down - or does he use an arm? Anyway, he backheels against the left-hand post from six yards. Unlucky. He's about to sweep home the rebound when Rooney gets there first, and smacks the ball home professionally. Rooney might have been a smidgen offside there, but there's no flag.
3.28pm ET
28 min: For those of you who prefer pictures to words, there's some Looking Fun to be had here, in our ever-expanding gallery.
3.27pm ET
25 min: Lampard, 30 yards out, fires one towards the top right. Banguera is behind it all the way, and turns the ball over the bar. The corner's easily dealt with. "The retired denizens (c/k/a 'seniors') of 'Greater' Miami are preparing for 'supper' at one of the endless buffets set up to cater to their weird schedule," suggests Lou Roper, re today's attendance. "Who has time for James Milner at right back or Rooney on the left when when you have to in bed by 8pm?"
3.24pm ET
23 min: England may have decided that the best form of defence is attack. Barkley goes on a long, determined slalom down the inside-right channel. Upon reaching the area, he feeds Oxlade-Chamberlain, who goes on a baroque ramble. He turns around and around, and eventually bursts into space along the byline, pulling the ball back for Barkley, who has been lurking and is preparing to shoot from 12 yards. But Montero, tracking back, slides in to deflect the pass away from Barkley and out for a corner. Rooney plants a header well wide right of goal from the set piece. That's much better from England, who have looked fresh in attack. Let's just ignore what's going on down the other end of the field.
3.21pm ET
21 min: Montero zips past Milner down the right. He's clear in the area. Foster comes out to smother a shot from a tight angle. This has been a pretty good game for the much-maligned Glen Johnson so far.
3.20pm ET
19 min: Milner falls over while jogging up the right wing. Montero makes off with the ball. Ecuador are three on two, but Montero plays a pass inside behind Caicedo. All-round haplessness, but it's England who will be more concerned about the way this is panning out.
3.18pm ET
17 min: More information you're already fully aware of: England are a shambles at the back. Smalling drifts an uncertain header back down the Ecuadorian right. It's not reaching Foster, who has come to collect. Enner Valencia nearly rounds the keeper, but has to check. The ball's shuttled back to the edge of the area, where Gruezo takes a batter. Foster smothers a shot that'd have crept into the bottom-right corner.
3.17pm ET
16 min: A couple of corners in a row for Ecuador, down the left. The second forces England into Keystone Kops mode, Smalling and Wilshere taking wild hacks at the ball to clear a Guagua lump into the box, which they eventually do.
3.15pm ET
14 min: England are passing it around, a lot, without really going anywhere. Then, all of a sudden, they spring Ecuador open with a bit of Barkley brilliance. He's got his back to goal, to the left of the D, and backheels a pass down the channel to release Rooney. England's all-new ersatz winger whips a ball through the six-yard box with the outside of his boot, but there's no England attacker gambling. So close to the equaliser. Telling you nothing you don't know already, but Ross Barkley is a player.
3.12pm ET
10 min: England respond well, back on the front foot. Rooney pitching-wedges a pass down the left, and nearly releases Shaw, but the Saints-for-now youngster is a foot offside, and can't quite control anyway. England will wonder how they're behind, because they've had most of the play. The sublime beauty of soccer, right here.
3.10pm ET
This goal is brilliant, and as English as they come. Ayovi makes a bit of space for himself down the left, and whips a ball into the area. On the penalty spot, it's Enner Valencia, who thumps a header into the top-left corner. That's a stunning header! Foster stands around spinning for a while. When he stops, he looks confused. Either that, or dizzy. Possibly both.
3.08pm ET
7 min: Lambert and Oxlade-Chamberlain exchange passes down the right. The Ox pulls the ball back from the byline for Lambert, who flips it inside for Lampard, racing into the area. Lampard tries to steer one into the top left from the inside-right channel, but the effort flies wide left.
3.07pm ET
6 min: A bit of time for Lambert to take possession of the ball, turn, and slide a clever pass down the inside-right channel. He releases Barkley into the area, but the Everton prodigy is an inch or two offside. The correct decision, but that's nice football from England. That's nice football from England: we have to say it while we can.
3.05pm ET
5 min: It's all England right now. Ecuador have hardly touched the thing. France, Switzerland and Honduras, Ecuador's Group E opponents, can simmer down. "Jair Maruffo? Really?" splutters Daniel Stauss, taking one look at the name of tonight's official. "How are referees for international friendlies chosen? Maruffo works in MLS, and he's one of the better MLS refs, but I'm not so sure I'd want him in charge of a friendly right before a World Cup. He has a tendency to let a lot go right up until the last 15 minutes or so, when he discovers much to his chagrin that he has a whistle in his hand and feels the need to make up for lost time." He sounds like a more entertaining version of Howard Webb, of tinpot nation England, and a cards-when-the-mood-takes-him approach hasn't done him any harm. Hopefully this'll develop into a free-for-all, then. A few haymakers and chest-high tackles, please! Everyone loves a donnybrook.
3.03pm ET
2 min: England have started strongly. Barkley works a ball down the inside-left channel for Wilshere, who'd be clear on goal were it not for a last-ditch slide from Gruezo. Another corner on the left, another spectacular punch from Banguera.
3.03pm ET
30 seconds or so: Lampard hoicks the ball forward, straight down the middle. Rooney finds himself clear in the area, but his lack of confidence becomes immediately apparent, as he lets the ball roll under his feet, allowing Erazo to slide in and bundle the ball out for a corner on the left. Banguera clears with a spectacular punch.
3.01pm ET
And we're off! Ecuador get the ball rolling, as a few cheers echo round this great stadium. "Don't blame my fellow Americans for not showing up to a friendly between England and Ecuador," writes Bryan Tisinger. "It's a 3pm start local time. Who in their right mind would take off work on a Wednesday to see James Milner at right back?' It's a fair point, well made. I'm getting paid cash money to sit here watching this, and even then it doesn't seem like a very good deal. However, LA resident Ian Copestake has another theory: Given the retiree contingent of Miami, won't they all just be getting up?
2.58pm ET
The players are out, England in red, Ecuador in yellow, and it's time for the national anthems. The English one, aye well, y'know. As for Ecuador's effort, musically it's a typical South American presidential stomp, give or take one or two piccolo trills during the chorus. Military jazz. The lyric begins in that manner too, before drifting into the realms of C86 indie.
We greet you, oh Fatherland, a thousand times! / Oh Fatherland, glory be to you! Glory be to you! / Your chest, your breast, overflows / Your chest overflows with joy and peace / And your radiant face, your radiant face is brighter than the shining sun we see / And your radiant face, your radiant face is brighter than the shining sun we see.
2.41pm ET
The Ecuador team: Banguera, Paredes, Erazo, Guagua, Walter Ayovi, Antonio Valencia, Gruezo, Noboa, Montero, Enner Valencia, Caicedo.
Subs: Bone, Ibarra, Mendez, Rojas, Castillo, Arroyo, Jaimen Ayovi, Bagui, Saritama, Martinez, Achilier, Domiguez.
And your referee tonight, ladies and gentlemen: Jair Murrufo (USA)
2.22pm ET
In lieu of hot Ecuadorian chat, a little bit about the weather: It's cloudy. Dark clouds. The stadium, meanwhile, which holds 75,540 paying punters on a good day, is expected to be roughly a quarter full. Sporting fever sweeping the States, with the
US Open golf
World Cup just over a week away.
2.17pm ET
The England team's in. And here it is, with Wayne Rooney in exile on the left, and Luke Shaw and Ross Barkley making their first international starts: Foster, Milner, Jones, Smalling, Shaw, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lampard, Wilshere, Barkley, Rooney, Lambert.
Subs: Forster, Henderson, Sterling, Welbeck, Lallana, Flanagan, Stones.
1.47pm ET
England don't have much of a history with Ecuador. But what's there is worth recalling. The two teams first met in Quito in May 1970, as Alf Ramsey's England embarked on a mini-tour of South America in order to acclimatise to altitude ahead of the World Cup in Mexico. England won impressively, 2-0 thanks to goals from Francis Lee and Brian Kidd, while their B Team were running out 4-0 winners against Liga Deportiva Universidad, Jeff Astle scoring a hat-trick and setting up the other. Not bad, seeing the matches were being played at 9,300 feet. "I thought the talk about altitude was crap, me," admitted a gasping Alan Ball after the game, his eyeballs rolling around in his skull. "I thought I could run for a week. But I found out different today." A fine performance by the reigning world champions, then. And a particularly impressive one by their captain Bobby Moore, who was playing with more than football and air pressure on his mind. England had just played Colombia in Bogata, where Moore had been accused of attempting to half-inch a bracelet. He'd be thrown in Colombian clink en route from Quito back to Mexico City, but that's another story. What a player. Ice in the veins.
Back to the subject of Ecuador, then. England have a 100% record over the South Americans, because the only other game between the two countries was played at the 2006 World Cup. Nothing exciting occurred in a common-or-garden 1-0 win for Sven-Goran Eriksson's side, though in retrospect there were a couple of notable landmarks. David Beckham scored what would prove to be his final goal for England, a curling free kick. And as things stand, it's England's last win in the knockout stage of a major tournament. Grim match, but there's something for the English to take away from it.
Continue reading...May 30, 2014
England v Peru as it happened
Daniel Sturridge was the star as England leave for the World Cup having registered a comprehensive victory in the end
9.52pm BST
A brilliant individual strike by Daniel Sturridge, goals for both first-choice central defenders, promising cameos from Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, and a pleasingly solid display by Joe Hart. Not such a brilliant evening for the defence collectively, mind you, and Wayne Rooney will probably be in a bit of a funk. A typically English mixed bag, then. But a 3-0 win's a 3-0 win, they're off to the World Cup, and in any case, you wouldn't have England any other way, would you?
9.51pm BST
90 min +2: There will be four added minutes. In fact, we've already had two. But this has been over ever since Cahill scored England's second. Probably best not to dwell too much on the state of the defence before that point, let's not poop the farewell party.
9.50pm BST
90 min: Wonderful skill from Wilshere, now, as he dinks the ball round a highly confused Ballon and nearly releases Milner into space down the right. Milner can't control and runs the ball out of play for a goal kick. England have got quite a few fine young players, haven't they? Just don't lumber this generation with a collective nickname. They're not golden, they're just very talented boys.
9.47pm BST
88 min: Sterling moves with purpose down the left, and wins a corner. The ball's fed to Barkley, who attempts a curler into the right. Blocked, but he gets the ball back. This time he hits a first-time cross onto the head of Smalling, free at the far post. He looks for a white shirt in the centre, but his header is directionless. Barkley's a rare player, though! What readjustment, what quick thinking.
9.45pm BST
86 min: Flores comes on for Carrillo.
9.45pm BST
85 min: Anyway, Barkley is on for Sturridge. He's soon involved in the action, rolling a delicious pass down the left for Sterling, who looks to first-time a flick into the top right, but gets far too much on the ball, and it sails out of play, well wide of the far post.
9.43pm BST
83 min: I really hope I didn't mishear that. I've been on some entertainingly strong opiates recently due to a back problem. I'm beginning to doubt myself already. A paper plane, though!
9.42pm BST
82 min: The roof comes off Wembley. A huge roar. Haven't seen it, but the chappie on the Independent Television channel informs us that this is because Riojas has been hit on the head by a paper aeroplane. Haw! If that's the case, that's a lovely moment, a bit of harmless fun. Let's hope there's some footage somewhere of a sharp paper tip crumping into the unsuspecting Peruvian's lug.
9.39pm BST
81 min: This is all over, and everyone's swanning around accordingly.
9.38pm BST
78 min: Advincula is replaced by another Peruvian debutant, Velarde. "Since The Guardian was probably still based in Manchester in 1966 and I was a three year-old in Liverpool, I could have opened the window and shouted my comments," writes Gary Naylor re Marie Mayer's worries of 53 mins. "And if you don't believe me, you haven't heard a Liverpudlian three year-old in full cry." The Guardian had already moved south to Farringdon by then, Gary, though I don't doubt that you'd have found a way somehow.
9.34pm BST
76 min: Wilshere rakes a long ball down the right for Milner, who can't beat the last man but retains possession, and then wins a corner for England with the next phase of play. Before the set piece, Baines is replaced by his Everton team-mate John Stones. Then the corner, which finds Smalling's head, but there's no power on the effort and Peru clear.
9.31pm BST
73 min: A couple of English changes: Lallana and Jagielka come off, Milner and Smalling come on.
9.30pm BST
72 min: Sterling - still only 19 - is a magnificent talent. He turns in the centre of the field through 180 degrees and buys himself an acre of space. He then picks a pass down the wing for Baines, who wins a corner and takes it himself. This comes to nothing, but England are in the mood now.
9.29pm BST
... clatters into Callens. He drops the ball at the feet of Jagielka, who sidefoots strongly into the unguarded net. Who needs in-form No10s when you've got central defenders banging them in every five minutes or so?
9.28pm BST
69 min: An instant impact by Sterling, who bustles with purpose down the inside right after a long ball and wins England a corner. Baines takes. Fernandez comes out to claim. And ...
9.27pm BST
68 min: This is a subfest now. Ramos is replaced by Riojas. "It's been said that England's best chance at the WC is to play like Liverpool; well it sounds like they've got the defensive end of that sorted," quips Ray in Houston.
9.26pm BST
66 min: A couple of changes. Deza is replaced by Ruidiaz. And for England, a shot across Wayne Rooney's bow: he's hooked in favour of Raheem Sterling. Rooney's been poor tonight, and though he's hardly alone in that respect, Hodgson makes it clear that reputation will only get his players so far.
9.24pm BST
... Baines whips the corner onto the head of Cahill, who bundles the ball into the top left! Not a pretty strike, like the majority inside Wembley care!
9.23pm BST
64 min: Baines wins a corner down the left. Before the corner can be taken, the captain Gerrard, who has looked off the pace, is replaced by Wilshere. And then ...
9.21pm BST
63 min: Johnson needlessly gives up possession down the Peru left. Carrillo makes for the area, then slides the ball forward for Deza, who is about to crack a shot goalward when Jagielka gets involved. England are a nonsense at the back.
9.20pm BST
61 min: A brilliant atmosphere in Wembley, despite England's slightly stuttering performance. The sight of Sterling and Barkley warming up might have stoked their passion.
9.19pm BST
60 min: Peru have been the better team since the restart. They're stroking it around with some confidence right now. Can the visitors put the hurt on England? They can put Hurtado on, that's for sure: the winger replaces the impressive Ramirez. The very promising Deza will be the focal point of their attack now.
9.16pm BST
57 min: Rooney gives the ball away in midfield, attempting to find Lallana. Peru flood upfield. Ramirez scampers down the left, and is upended by Rooney, who slides in. Crump. That should be a free kick, but it's only a throw for Peru. Danger over. England can't afford to be as clumsy as this when the real action starts, I can tell you that for the knockdown internet-only price of FREE.
9.14pm BST
56 min: Corner for England down the right. Baines takes. Fernandez comes off his line and haymakers the ball clear. England haven't showed much up front since the restart.
9.13pm BST
54 min: This Deza, on his debut at 20, looks the business. He's four steps out of the centre circle, and decides to take a whack at goal! It's not far off, either, with Hart slightly off his line, in no man's land. The effort dips and curls and only just clears the crossbar, landing on the top netting. Not 100 percent sure the keeper would have got to that if it had dipped in time.
9.12pm BST
53 min: Carrillo has a blooter from distance, coming in from the right, but it balloons up into the air and down into the hands of Hart. "That 1966 MBM is a fake, isn't it?" suggests Marie Meyer. "The clue: no comments from Gary Naylor. I reckon even back then he would have been teletyping them in." Either that, or he'd have had a well-drilled fleet of carrier pigeons that'd have put Coronation Street's Jack Duckworth to shame.
9.10pm BST
51 min: Lallana, Rooney and Johnson all take turns in attempting to bundle down the inside-right channel and clear into the area using brute force. It's nearly working, this tactic. The ball breaks to Gerrard, who has a lash from 30 yards. Nope.
9.08pm BST
49 min: A slow start by Peru, but England do their best to kick-start them into action. Jagielka faffs around on the ball down the inside-left, deep inside his own half, and is charged down by Ramirez. The striker nearly latches onto the loose ball as it bounds down the right wing, but the ever-alert Hart is out quickly to close down the danger. The keeper has been England's man of the match so far. Only Sturridge, for his moment of brilliance, could argue with that.
9.06pm BST
48 min: Lallana goes on a power run down the inside right, but is halted unceremoniously by Rodriguez. A slow start to the half by Peru.
9.05pm BST
46 min: Good combination play between Rooney, Johnson and Lallana down the right. Peru are nearly prised open, but Lallana can't get a cross away as he breaks into the area. Peru are pretty well organised in defence. Here, Ian Copestake's back. "It was exactly for those reasons (43 min) that I moved to Los Angeles, as I figured I was about as likely to get wet here as to be at the epicentre of an enormous earthquake." Ladies and gentlemen, he's here all week, try the In-N-Out Burger.
9.04pm BST
And we're off again! Peru get the ball rolling once more. No changes for either side, which is strange in a friendly like this. It can't be long. It surely can't be long. Expect the seats behind the benches to fill up again around the 73-minute mark.
8.53pm BST
Half-time entertainment: Tonight's virtual pie-and-pint replacement comes courtesy of Jeronimo Pimentel, who sends footage of Peru's 4-1 victory over England in 1959.
8.48pm BST
England just about deserve that lead, partly as they've had more of the possession, but mainly because Sturridge's goal was simply outstanding. But Peru had a couple of chances themselves. That England back line can be sliced in half easily enough. Could be an interesting second half if Peru decide to step it up a wee bit.
8.46pm BST
45 min: A rare bit of controlled possession for Peru. And suddenly, with England seemingly waiting for the half-time whistle, and Johnson sleeping in the deep, Ramirez is sprung clear down the right! He's one on one with Hart, and should really score, but the Manchester City keeper comes out to save brilliantly with his feet. Hart's been brilliant since Manuel Pellegrini gave him a mid-season rocket, hasn't he?
8.44pm BST
43 min: Welbeck tries to get himself going, embarking on a brave run down the inside-left. He's eventually bundled off the ball by Ballon, but carried it for a good 30 yards there, and for a second looked like breaking dangerously towards the Peruvian box. Much better from Welbeck, who has been very quiet. "A quick thinking assist - and nearly another - for Johnson," notes Phil Sawyer (14 min). "Looks like the Sawyer form observation barometer's in its usual working order going into the World Cup." Be thankful you're not Ian Copestake (32 mins). I wonder how often he gets caught out in the rain with neither hat nor brolly?
8.41pm BST
40 min: The busy, bustling Sturridge is brought down by Ramos, 30 yards from goal, as he juggles the ball in the 'Confident' style. Free kick. Baines whips this one in. Welbeck heads over, never getting the ball down. Another player in search of a wee bit of confidence.
8.39pm BST
38 min: Peru have visibly deflated since the goal. They were, if not exactly in command, in total control at the back, and comfortable enough containing England in midfield. Now none of their passes are sticking. Callens, in a panic, bundles Sturridge over down the England left. Gerrard hoicks the free kick over the crossbar for three rugby points.
8.36pm BST
35 min: Never mind England, that's given Johnson succour! He's suddenly back into Maraud Mode, cutting in from the right, slaloming down the flank and sliding the ball forward to Lallana, who shapes to shoot in the area but has to settle for a corner. The set piece, from the right, finds the head of Rooney, whose effort flies over the crossbar. Goals change games. They've certainly given Johnson a lift. Magnificent play.
8.34pm BST
England have been highly average up to this point, but what a goal this is! Johnson throws in from the right, having tenaciously kept the pressure on Yotun. Great work. The ball finds Sturridge, on the right-hand corner of the area. He takes a touch inside, and curls an up-and-down stunner into the top left. That was sailing in from the moment it left his boot, Fernandez had no chance whatsoever. Wembley erupts!
8.32pm BST
32 min: England are enjoying most of the ball, but they're doing next to nothing with it. Peru - a properly young and experimental side, remember - are looking very comfortable right now. "Poor Johnson got the Downings at some point, becoming adept at the sideways pass in preference to once marauding wing play," opines Ian Copestake. "Did Downing do all his marauding in his career at Villa Park? Anyway, is not great to get a reminder of him in an England team."
8.31pm BST
30 min: Gerrard, so recently the victim, is now in the book himself, coming straight through the back of Deza. No need for that, either. Friendly international here, people! The clue's staring you right in the face!
8.29pm BST
26 min: Gerrard is clattered by Cruzado, who scissors him to the floor, wrapping both legs round the England captain's right, standing leg. Ugh. He's quite understandably booked for that nonsense. No need for it.
8.28pm BST
25 min: Not a great deal going on right now. Both sets of fans entertain themselves with a rousing rendition of Seven Nation Army. Jack White must dream of a world in which crowds have to cough up royalties.
8.25pm BST
23 min: Rooney looks like he's fannying around down the left, going nowhere, but suddenly he springs into action and clips a diagonal pass forward for Sturridge, who is breaking into the area down the right channel. Rooney's pass is a wee bit too strong, but it was the right idea. Sturridge acknowledges the ball with a wave of his hand. "The Peru's substitute goalkeeper is called George Forsyth," notes Adam Preston. "Did one of the travelling Tartan Army find solace back in '78?" They may well have done, but if so we're looking at a 48-month pregnancy, he was born in 1982. Is there a doctor in the house who could clear this matter up, once and for all?
8.21pm BST
19 min: This match has suddenly sprung to life! First Deza takes a hack down the inside-right channel. His shot from 25 yards balloons off Cahill's ankle, and looks like looping over Hart and into the top left. But the keeper scampers back and claws it out of the air. England go straight up the other end, with the now-awake Lallana sashaying down the right, the ball eventually breaking in the area to Sturridge, who whips a low, hard shot across Fernandez and wide of the left-hand post. So close at both ends!
8.19pm BST
18 min: Henderson slips a fantastic pass down the right channel. Lallana should collect, just to the right of the D, but the Saints player is asleep.
8.18pm BST
16 min: Ramirez slides a dangerous ball down the inside right channel. Deza looks, just for a second, like getting to it before Hart, but the England keeper's off his line quickly and gathers. Just. The first real half-chance of the match. In fact, looking at that again, Deza was entitled to go for a 50-50 ball, but pulled out of the challenge, perhaps not wanting to needlessly crock someone in a pre-World Cup friendly. There's nice!
8.15pm BST
15 min: Peru have a free kick just inside the England half, and play it straight to Lallana, who quickly loses possession himself. This match hasn't quite taken off yet, it would be fair to say. Plenty of time, though, plenty of time.
8.14pm BST
14 min: Johnson attempts to round Carrillo on the right wing, but he's easily brushed off the ball. "Johnson's been doing that - or perhaps more accurately not been doing that - for Liverpool all season," reports Phil Sawyer. "Whether he's lost pace or it's a confidence thing I don't know, but he seems to have forgotten that the primary aim of an attacking fullback is to attack. It's not like he's in either team for his defensive capabilities. And I say this as a Liverpool supporter. He'll probably get a hat-trick now." Glen Johnson: the Jimmy Greaves de nos jours. We'll truly have seen it all if that's how this match pans out.
8.13pm BST
12 min: More England possession. A lot of it, and for some time to boot. All very patient. That is until Henderson decides to Gerrard a pass down the right wing. It flies miles over Lallana's head, and out for a goal kick. I suppose someone had to try something at some point.
8.11pm BST
9 min: Welbeck controls a raking Baines pass down the left, but he's bundled over by Ramos before he can do anything with it. Free kick, 30 yards out on that wing. Baines whips the ball into the area, and it's one of the worst free kicks he's ever hit. To be fair, Baines has set his personal bar pretty high, but that one brings his averages down. Peru clear with a yawn.
8.08pm BST
7 min: A bit of the ball for Peru now, with Deza jigging down the inside-left channel before pulling the ball back with a view to retaining possession. Eventually a pass is slid down the inside-left channel for Ramirez to chase. Hart comes out to claim, but Ramirez wasn't far from getting there first. Cahill might just have got there ahead of the Peru striker too, but it would have been a close call.
8.05pm BST
5 min: Sturridge drops a shoulder and cuts in from the right. He's closed down quickly, before he can shoot, so lays off to Rooney, who sprays a pass out left to Baines. No accuracy with that one, but England are on the front foot here.
8.04pm BST
3 min: Gerrard quarterbacks one down the right for Johnson, but the full back - who looked pretty shaky for Liverpool during the Premier League run-in - opts not to tear down the wing, and checks back instead. A fine player, Johnson, but he could certainly do with a confidence boost before the World Cup.
8.02pm BST
2 min: A fairly nondescript start. Hence this MBM taking a similar form.
8.02pm BST
And we're off! England get the ball rolling, and stroke it around the back a bit. There's a rare old atmosphere at Wembley, a real party atmosphere. Another 89 minutes of this*, please!
* Apart from that bloody brass band
7.57pm BST
The national anthems. England's is the usual needy nonsense. God's busy, lads, it's a Friday night, he's out on the lash like everyone else. If the Queen needs saving, you'll have to do it yourselves. As for the Peruvian number, well, it's your usual Latin American fare, a classic militaristic stomp. Not a million miles from the Josef Locke classic Goodbye, in fact.
7.55pm BST
The teams are out! England are, of course, kitted out in their white shirts, so no chance for Peru to give their famous red sash a run-out. They're bedecked in all red. Bah.
7.53pm BST
England: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge.
Subs: Foster, Wilshere, Lampard, Smalling, Milner, Lambert, Sterling, Barkley, Stones, Flanagan, Forster.
Peru: Fernandez, Rodriguez, Callens, Ramos, Advincula, Yotun, Cruzado, Ballon, Ramirez, Deza, Carrillo.
Subs: Forsyth, Gambetta, Hurtado, Ruidiaz, Velarde, Trauco, Flores, Riojas, Gallese.
7.49pm BST
Hodgson speaks! He's "not prepared to say" whether tonight's starting XI will be his selection against Italy. "There's a lot of football to be played, and a lot of training to be done before we name the team in Manaus." Should he have gone with the in-form Raheem Sterling instead of the less-in-form Danny Welbeck? "We trust and believe in Danny Welbeck, irrespective of his club season." Has the Rooney-and-Sturridge partnership any chance of working out? "If they both play their individual games, the combination will take care of itself." You can perhaps file that last one alongside yesterday's "Peru hasn't really featured in our thinking". It's nice to see Roy kicking back, hopefully the players will pick up on that relaxed vibe and knock it around tonight in the carefree style. It's on!
7.33pm BST
The Peruvian team is in, too. Here it is: Fernandez, Advincula, Ramos, Rodriguez, Callens, Yotun, Ballon, Cruzado, Carrillo, Ramirez, Deza. Anyway, the 1970 World Cup quarter between Peru and Brazil, and here's Justin Kavanagh: "Allegedly, when swapping shirts post-game, Pelé is believed to have said to the Peruvian man mountain Cubillas: 'Good match, you peach, you'." A lovely turn of phrase, that, right up there with Arnold Palmer referring to Jack Nicklaus before their 1962 US Open play-off as a "big strong happy dude". There's a beautiful innocence in the generosity of spirit. Kids, regarding these concepts, ask mum or dad.
7.13pm BST
England's starting XI is in, and it might be a guide to who'll be trotting out to face Italy in Manaus in a couple of week's time: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Welbeck, Rooney, Sturridge. So much for experimental. The rest of the squad will have to wait until the friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras. Or perhaps the second half tonight. Let's see.
6.59pm BST
England's all-time record against Peru makes for some very strange, lop-sided reading. The countries have only played each other twice, both times at the Estadio Nacional in Lima. The first meeting was back in 1959, and Walter Winterbottom's side were spanked 4-1, the winger Juan Seminario helping himself to a hat-trick. Seminario then headed off on a European tour, spending the best part of the 1960s turning out for the likes of Sporting of Lisbon, Real Zaragoza, Fiorentina and Barcelona. Jimmy Greaves got England's only goal that day, and he'd help Winterbottom's team gain revenge three years later, scoring three himself in a 4-0 battering of Peru just before the 1962 World Cup in Chile. That was the last time the teams met, 52 years ago. It's about time. Another hat-trick hero today, please! Daniel Sturridge, Luis Ramirez, anyone, we're not fussy.
6.30pm BST
So thoughts turn to a World Cup finals in Brazil. Of course, if you're actually from Brazil, thoughts have been turning to a World Cup finals in Brazil since approximately 4.45pm on 16 July 1950, when 210,000 residents of Rio began looking tearfully forward to one day avenging the Maracanazo, but for the rest of us, we start considering it now. This is England's first warm-up game for the 2014 World Cup, as well as being their celebratory send-off, the final fixture at Wembley before the team naffs off for sunnier climes. It's nearly on!
Roy Hodgson promises to select a young, experimental side against Peru tonight, one that could include captain Steven Gerrard (34), Phil Jagielka (31) Glen Johnson (29), Leighton Baines (29), Wayne Rooney (28), Rickie Lambert (32) and the 35-year-old Frank La... ah, just a little light patter, suitable for all the family. Of course, Hodgson's preliminary World Cup squad also features the youthful talents of Raheem Sterling (19), Ross Barkley (20), Phil Jones (22), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (20), Jack Wilshere (22), Daniel Sturridge (24), Danny Welbeck (23), Jordan Henderson (23), Chris Smalling (24) and Luke Shaw (18). Roy's not looking to change the world, or looking for another girl, he just wants a new England. Depending on how many of these superkids step up to the plate in the three-match run-up to the opener against Italy in just over a fortnight - and only Wilshere and Shaw are doubtful tonight - he might just get one.
Continue reading...World Cup final 1966: England v West Germany as it happened
The minute-by-minute report of England's proudest day, from the pages of And Gazza Misses The Final, a collection of MBMs from World Cup matches by Rob Smyth and Scott Murray
1.08pm BST
This report is one of 22 MBMs featured in And Gazza Misses The Final by Rob Smyth and Scott Murray. Relive the goals, the genius, the farces and the fistfights, including the 1962 Battle of Santiago between Chile and Italy, the 1970 World Cup final, Archie Gemmill's wonder goal against Holland, Maradona's Hand of God, every kick of the seismic 1950 Maracanazo between Uruguay and Brazil - and of course Gazza's tears in Turin. Thanks for reading and commenting.
PS. Hugh McIlvanney's match report has been sent over by telegram and can be read here: Hurst's hat-trick wins the World Cup
1.05pm BST
Traffic update: Roads in the West End of London have ground to a halt, with thousands of punters milling around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. "Its like VE night, election night and New Years Eve all rolled into one," says an Automobile Association spokesman in his steel helmet and gas mask.
1.04pm BST
As England troop up the stadiums famous 39 steps to the Royal Box, Ramsey shakes each of his players warmly by the hand. And heres something: hes smiling. Aw, bless. Moore lifts the trophy. Three irate peelers have to batter a path back down to the pitch for the team, so many folk are leaning into the stairwell hoping to slap the new world champions on the back. And now Stiles has started skipping around in the sort of big-leggy fashion that suggests he might have seriously chafed his inner thighs. In fairness, he has put in quite a shift.
1.02pm BST
122 min: ITS ALL OVER!. Hurst barely has the energy to jog round in a small semi-circle but hes got to support Ball, who races up to congratulate him. And its the final act of the game! The Wembley pitch floods with well-wishers. England, just as Alf Ramsey said they would, have won the World Cup!
1.01pm BST
121 min: THE GOAL THAT MAKES IT CERTAIN ENGLAND ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!
... he launches an exhausted but brilliant pinpoint pass down the left channel for Hurst. Whos clear! The striker looks like hes wading through treacle on the heavy, cut-up pitch but he makes it to the area and, a millisecond before Overath completes a futile pursuit, lashes an unstoppable shot into the top left! "Thats it,"says the ITV commentator Hugh Johns. "That. Is. It." I wonder what Wolstenholmes saying over on the BBC?
1.00pm BST
120 min: Haller sprints to the corner flag and takes. He whips the ball in. Banks punches clear. The ball lands 30 yards upfield at the feet of Hunt, who rather brilliantly rotates through 180 degrees, drops a shoulder and leaves Schulz, sliding in, for dead. Thats as good a piece of skill as weve seen all afternoon. Unfortunately, his attempt to release Ball down the right with a raking crossfield pass is abysmal, trickling along the ground and easily intercepted in the centre circle by Höttges. The balls sprayed right to Schulz, who curls a desperate last cross into the area. Moore chests down, and ...
12.59pm BST
119 min: This is more like it from Germany, though. Schulz, deep on the right, sends a diagonal ball into the area for Haller to head down into the path of Seeler. Moore has allowed the little German to nip in front of him, but the balls whizzing through the air too quickly and Seeler is forced to scamper towards the corner flag after it. He pulls the ball back to Schulz, who crosses deep again. Cohen calmly heads behind for a corner. He looks calm, anyway.
12.58pm BST
118 min: Its attack versus defence now. "This is Held," says the BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme, though his received pronunciation sounds suspiciously like "this is hell". Which, of course, for England fans it is. Germany arent going to dash the cup from Englands lips at the death again, are they? It doesnt look like it, Haller sending a cross from the left whistling straight down Bankss gizzard.
12.56pm BST
116 min: Held, who has been nothing short of magnificent, powers down the left and fires a low cross into the area, but Overath miscontrols, the ball shooting out of play for a goal-kick.
12.55pm BST
115 min: Corner for Germany as Held crosses deep from the left, forcing Wilson to twist in mid-air and head out on the right. The setpiece is rolled back to Beckenbauer, whose long crossfield ball is too clever by half and intercepted. England swish upfield and this is better by Hunt, who moves inside from the left and sends a rasping drive flying just wide of the right-hand post.
12.53pm BST
113 min: Held drifts in from the left and from the best part of 30 yards scores two rugby points. Unfortunately, rugby points are not recognized as currency by the Fifa mandarins. Refusing to give up, Helds soon back at England, breaking clear down the inside left and shooting inches wide, a powerful shot that Banks probably didnt have covered, but hes handled the ball en route and plays pulled back. Hearts in mouths for England.
12.51pm BST
111 min: Stiles on the wing shanks the ball straight out of play. Its not just Germany who are running on empty.
12.50pm BST
110 min: Hunt has a chance to free the overlapping Wilson down the left but opts to go for gold instead. His attempt to dance into the area is brought to an unceremonious end when Schulz sticks in a shoulder and sends him crashing to the turf. The strikers decision-making hasnt been all that in this extra period.
12.48pm BST
108 min: Hurst cuts in from the right and, looking for the first-ever hat-trick in a World Cup final, shoots from the edge of the area. Bereft of juice, its never getting past the keeper.
12.47pm BST
107 min: Beckenbauer shows good feet to dance past Bobby Charlton in the middle of the park, but having gone on a 40-yard run, hes kaput by the time it comes to shooting and his effort bobbles through to Banks.
12.46pm BST
106 min: England get the ball rolling again. They soon lose possession. But West Germany, drenched in water, look short of energy. Overath and Emmerich combine down the left but the latter doesnt have the power to engage Stiles in combat.
12.45pm BST
105 min: One of the more expansive moves of the match. Haller sprays a long ball down the right for Held, who knocks a pass along the front of the England area. Emmerich takes control and welts a shot towards the far-right corner. High and wide. Banks would have had it covered unless Emmerich found the postage stamp. And thats it for the first half of extra time.
12.44pm BST
104 min: Space for Emmerich down the left. His sliderule diagonal ball into the middle nearly finds Held rushing through, but Cohen slides in to guide the ball away from immediate danger. He looks to have conceded a corner, but Banks scrambles across to save, the ball sticking to his fingertips. Every little helps and England arent in the mood to give anything away.
12.42pm BST
102 min: The Germans were surrounding the linesman after that decision, screaming in his phizog. You cant really blame them. On the other hand, that goal had been coming. England have been excellent since the restart. "We want four" chant the home support. Some people are never happy.
12.41pm BST
101 min: GOAL!!! EXCEPT IT ISNT!!! BUT NEVER MIND THAT, BECAUSE ITS GOING TO COUNT!!!
Conducting the match from the centre circle, Stiles sprays a lovely pass down the right for Ball to race on to. Hes got a jump on Höttges, who races over to cover but is never getting there in a million years. Ball connects first time, cutting back an arcing cross into the heart of the area. The ball takes one bounce just before it reaches Hurst. The striker, ten yards out with his back to goal, just to the right of the penalty spot and ahead of his marker Schulz, brings the rising ball down with the side of his foot and turns to his left. As the ball bobbles towards the right of the goal, Hurst swivels and unleashes a powerful rising shot towards Tilkowski. The ball rockets up over the keepers head and off the underside of the crossbar, before bouncing down on the line and back into the centre. Hunt, who really should be following it in, turns instead to celebrate, both arms aloft. Weber steps in to head over the bar for what he imagines will be a corner. For a couple of seconds, it appears a corners what itll be. Hursts shoulders slump, his hands resting on his knees. But theyre soon in the air in celebration: the referee quickly consults his linesman and points to the centre circle. The home crowd erupt and Wembleys twin towers are launched into space!
12.39pm BST
99 min: The suns out again. Held powers down the inside-left channel to the byline, past a half-arsed challenge from a leggy Jack Charlton, who is possibly also worried about giving away a penalty. Held whips a dangerous ball through the six-yard area, but only Seelers in the centre and it flies over his head, with Banks kidding on hes under complete control. Hunt goes down the other end and whips a fairly aimless cross-cum-shot into the side-netting.
12.36pm BST
96 min: Overath robs Ball and sends Seeler away down the right. He sprays a ball to the opposite wing for Emmerich, who slides a diagonal ball into the box for Held. The striker takes a tired touch earlier youd have fancied him to turn and shoot from 10 yards and England are able to mop up without too much fuss. The German fans try to gee up their team with some metronomic horn parping.
12.35pm BST
95 min: Unperturbed, they keep pressing Germany back. Hunt cuts in from the left and fires a shot across goal and wide of the target.
12.34pm BST
94 min: BOBBY CHARLTON HITS THE POST! Ball swings one in from the right. Peters and Hurst make a nuisance of themselves on the edge of the area. The balls laid back to Bobby Charlton, who sends a low shot crashing admittedly not at the highest speed off the base of the right-hand post. Tilkowski wasnt far away from reaching it. The ball rebounds back into the keepers startled face and away from danger! That was slapstick at its finest. How on earth did that stay out? England will curse that goalframe if they lose this final.
12.33pm BST
93 min: Germany get extra time under way. A strange sense of anti-climax at the moment. England are understandably deflated, the Germans seemingly too knackered to be elated. Its all fairly understandable. Schnellinger sprays a lovely crossfield ball from the left to Seeler on the right-hand edge of the England area, but he slips on the sodden turf and Moore is able to lash free. He finds Ball, who goes on a slalom down the middle of the park and sends a rising shot straight at Tilkowski. The keeper palms over the bar. The corners wasted.
12.30pm BST
The second they restart the game, the referee blows his whistle for full time. They came that close! Stiles boots the ball upfield in impotent rage. We go again for another 30 minutes. Something decisive will have to happen in extra time or were all here again on Tuesday for a replay.
12.29pm BST
89 min: HEARTBREAK FOR ENGLAND!!! Schulz heads forward deep into England territory. Seeler is mounted by Jack Charlton, who heads clear. A needless panic by Charlton and thats a free-kick, 30 yards out, just to the left of goal. Emmerich blasts the free-kick straight at, and through, the wall. The ball comes off Cohen and falls to Held, who from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box blasts goalwards. The shots going towards Banks but hits the back of Schnellinger and deflects to the right, drifting slowly through an anarchic melee. The ball somehow evades both Wilson and Seeler, but Weber is sliding in at the right-hand post and lifts the ball over the despairing arms of Banks. What a farce! Only the young Beckenbauer seems to have the energy to celebrate for Germany. Banks is claiming handball but his head must be as cluttered as the England area was. You can tell he doesnt really believe it. And England dont really believe it.
12.28pm BST
88 min: Overath lumbers down the inside-left channel, using up every last drop of energy. He drops a shoulder past an equally tired Peters to cut inside and unleashes a fizzer just wide right of goal. Whistles are ringing around an anxious Wembley. England are hanging on.
12.27pm BST
87 min: Emmerich sends a pea-roller towards Banks.
12.26pm BST
86 min: HUNT SPURNS A CHANCE TO WRAP IT UP! Moore takes control of the ball in the area, dribbles out to the left, then finds Peters up the wing, who in turn shuttles the ball forward to Ball. The young midfielder takes a touch back towards his area, then whips a ball upfield to release Hunt down the channel. Suddenly, England are three on one, with Bobby Charlton and Hurst in the middle! Hunts ball inside is dreadful, though, lacking the pace to reach Charlton before the covering Overath arrives to hassle the England midfielder. Charlton screws a lacklustre shot wide right, then gives Hunt a look. Hunt should probably have dropped a shoulder and gone on the outside of the only covering defender, Schulz, taking a shot himself. But he lacked both pace and confidence. Will England rue this?
12.24pm BST
84 min: Stiles snaps too energetically at Helds feet down the inside left. Foul. Emmerich floats the ball into the area. Weber eyebrows a header wide right of goal. A mild panic seems to be setting in. England cant keep giving away free-kicks.
12.21pm BST
81 min: Chances are coming thick and fast now. Peters slides Bobby Charlton into the area down the left but he shanks it way off target. Schnellinger, drifting inside from the left, batters a shot straight at Banks. Hurst cuts in from the right and blooters a shot from 20 yards wide left and high. "We want three" chant the crowd. Some folk are never happy.
12.19pm BST
79 min: Ball makes his way into acres of space down the left. Near the corner flag, Höttges comes flying in from behind, a ludicrous scythe of malign intent totally out of keeping with anything weve seen in this match. How he doesnt have his name taken is a fair question, for players have been sent off during this tournament for far less. Just ask poor old Antonio Rattin. Perhaps the referee is taking into account that Höttges has just made the mistake thats likely to cost his country the World Cup.
12.18pm BST
78 min: Ball floats in the corner. Schulz heads clear but only to Hurst on the edge of the box. Hurst shoots under some pressure but only manages a weak effort, which is dribbling towards the left-hand side of the goal. But Höttges slices a woeful clearance up into the air, the ball dropping into the heart of the German box, eight yards out. Peters, rushing in, meets the ball sweetly with his right and slams it into the middle of the goal! England, having waited 103 YEARS since inventing the game, are now 12 MINUTES from becoming the champions of the world! As Peters runs back upfield, arms waving wildly, hes joined by Hurst and Hunt in celebration. But he doesnt lose himself in the moment too much. As he waits for the game to restart, he stretches out his fingers as far as they will go, talking to himself, cognitive techniques to help him snap back to reality and get on with finishing the job in hand.
12.17pm BST
77 min: Ball bursts down the right after a Hunt knockdown. He hammers a shot towards the bottom right, forcing Tilkowski to turn round his post. Corner. From which ...
12.14pm BST
73 min: Ball slides the ball to the left for Moore, who swings a cross back to the far post where Hurst heads down. Bobby Charlton is looking to latch on to the knockdown but Tilkowski comes out to claim. Beckenbauer had nipped in between to guard his keeper and clatters into him, sending Charlton flying into the net as he does so. No foul, though theres a suggestion of obstruction. An indirect free-kick, six yards out by the right-hand post, would have been interesting.
12.10pm BST
70 min: "When the reds go marching in" chant the crowd, no doubt in celebration of the Labour Partys current parliamentary majority of 96 seats. And perhaps theyre also trying to get England going again. Its all a wee bit flat. From his trademark position on the left, Wilson Ray, not Harold crosses towards Hunt, who is gently nudged out of the way by the shoulder of Schulz. Crafty, but not a foul. No pen.
12.08pm BST
68 min: Hunt is bowled over down the left. Moore sails a free-kick to the far post, where Jackie Charlton rushes in to face the ball wide right of the target.
12.05pm BST
65 min: Hurst chests down a long Moore pass on the edge of the area. Peters hoicks over the bar. This half must start soon. The crowd entertain themselves by singing "Oh my, what a referee" over some perceived slight when Jack Charlton was penalized for handball a while back. In truth, theyve little to complain about, and if theyre not careful theyll put the official in a mood to give them nothing.
12.04pm BST
64 min: With this perhaps in mind, Beckenbauer takes a crack at a free-kick from 35 yards. That is astonishingly unrealistic.
12.02pm BST
62 min: From a German corner on the left, the ball breaks to Beckenbauer on the edge of the area. He drops a shoulder and nudges the ball to the left, but drags a lame effort right of the target. Hes been pretty successful in blunting Bobby Charlton but is diminished as an attacking force as a result, a pale shadow of the goal threat he was against Switzerland, Uruguay and the USSR.
11.59am BST
59 min: Walley Barnes, the colour guy on the BBC, has been filling in dead air time by explaining the concepts of energy conservation. Very green. Both teams appear to be willing to take their chances at the business end of this game.
11.56am BST
56 min: Theres not much of an atmosphere, give or take a few smatterings of "England! England!" Come along, Wembley, World Cup final going on over here.
11.53am BST
53 min: Ball clips a cross in from the right. Peters, always stretching, pokes a header wide right.
11.49am BST
49 min: A scrappy start to the half for the West Germans. Cohen, Stiles and Ball have all taken turns to romp into space down the right, but their cutbacks are inaccurate and easily dealt with.
11.45am BST
This could so easily be three apiece. A magnificent half of football. Good luck splitting these two sides because the margins are paper thin. Amid torrential rain, were off again! And England are immediately on the attack through Bobby Charlton, who breaks into the box down the right-hand channel. He looks to pull the trigger but Schulz bundles him to the floor. The crowd scream for a penalty but theres no reaction from Charlton, who taps hands with the German centre-back as he picks himself up and trots back upfield.
11.44am BST
44 min: Höttges shoots from 30 yards down the right. Come along, some respect for Banks, and indeed goalkeepers everywhere, please.
11.43am BST
43 min: Bobby Charlton shapes to shoot down the inside left but instead slides a diagonal pass into the centre for Peters. For a second, he looks to have time to shoot but Weber comes sliding in to clear. Germany go up the other end through Seeler, who sashays through the midfield and sends a heat-seeker towards the top right. Banks is forced to tip spectacularly over. The corner comes to naught.
11.42am BST
42 min: Wilson loops a speculative header down the inside right. Weber rises, mistimes his leap and nuts a weak clearance to Hunt on the left. The striker takes a thrash at goal with his left peg from a tightish angle, but Tilkowski batters his rising shot down and Höttges is on hand to mop up.
11.41am BST
41 min: Hurst lifts an aimless ball back into the England midfield. Emmerich beats Jack Charlton to the bouncing ball, just to the left of the centre circle, and makes off down the channel. Hell be in on goal if he evades Moore but the England captain slides across to make a brilliant last-ditch tackle.
11.38am BST
38 min: From the setpiece, the ball drops to Overath on the edge of the area. He creams a rising left-footed shot goalwards. Banks parries wonderfully, then smothers Emmerichs snapshot on the turn at the left-hand post.
11.37am BST
37 min: And with that, Englands ring-rustiness shows. Held enters the England box down the left but is turned back by Cohen and dispossessed by Stiles. So far, so good. Stiles gives it to Ball, who then puts Cohen in all sorts of bother with a lazy backpass. Cohen, who was starting to move upfield and was wrong-footed by the pass, turns round with the weary resignation of a man who was about to leave work only to be told hed be needed for a double shift. At that precise moment in time, Cohen was the personification of the phrase fucksake. But Cohen recovers and holds off Held just as it looks like hell break clear down the left. And then takes one touch too many, allowing Held to burst into the box! Jack Charlton, almost certainly fuming, comes sliding in to concede the corner, planting Held into a bed of photographers behind the goal as he does so.
11.34am BST
34 min: Incredibly sloppy play by Weber, just in front of his own area down the right. He tries to slip the ball past Hunt but only batters it into the striker. The ball breaks to Peters, who attempts a delicate chip goalwards, but gets it all wrong, allowing Tilkowski to claim.
11.32am BST
32 min: A couple of minutes of attritional nonsense, then the game suddenly springs to life! Cohen hits a high diagonal ball into the German area from deep on the right. Its met by Hurst, level with the left-hand post, 12 yards out. He sends a majestic header towards the bottom left, but its saved brilliantly by Tilkowski, slithering across his line. Ball is first to the rebound, spinning through 180 degrees to send the ball across the face of the six-yard area from the left, but there are no red shirts in the danger area and Overath clears for a throw on the right. Germany mop up from the restart.
11.28am BST
28 min: Bobby Charlton and Beckenbauer are never far away from each other. The England man drops a shoulder and slides past the great young German hope, in the imperious style of Alfredo di Stefano. He teases a delicious ball into the centre for Hunt. Weber is forced to hoick the ball out for a corner on the right just as Hunt looked like ghosting in to strike. The corner is an egregious disgrace, Ball wafting his delivery straight into the arms of Tilkowski.
11.23am BST
23 min: The suns out!
11.22am BST
22 min: England move upfield, Bobby Charltons incomplete one-two with Ball down the inside-left breaks to Cohen, who screws wildly wide left of goal, the sort of shot that would have eventually come back round to him if only everyone had left it.
11.21am BST
21 min: Peters is robbed by Overath in the centre-circle and responds with a petulant shove on the German midfielder. Now now. The referee takes his name. Peters half-turns to show his number in the stroppy schoolboy style. The ref plays his part by wagging his finger three times. Naughty, naughty boy.
11.20am BST
20 min: Peters makes a lung-bursting run from a deep-lying position. Hes got the German defence backtracking, with all sorts of space opening up. What he doesnt have is the ball. Hes waiting for Ball to rake it in from the left but the pass comes too late. Germany were all over the place there.
11.19am BST
19 min: Schnellinger and Seeler tackle each other in the centre-circle. Now its the Germans time to look a wee bit flustered.
11.18am BST
Well, this came out of nothing! Bobby Charlton evades Beckenbauer in the centre and slides the ball out left to Moore, who has his ankles clumsily clipped by Overath. Moore jumps to his feet and doesnt bother making an MGM-sized song-and-dance production of taking the setpiece, simply looking up and clipping it into the area, having spotted Hurst ludicrously unmarked on the penalty spot. The balls perfection itself and the in-form Hurst is unchallenged as he adroitly guides the gently dropping ball into the left-hand side of the net. Tilkowski stands on his line, his jaw hanging loose in disbelief, pointing into the space Hurst has just taken advantage of and looking around at his defenders as if to say "aw ... cmon". Hurst leaps on the spot in celebration, nearly shearing off his own nipples with his knees. Jimmy who?
11.12am BST
13 min: Stiles is given a stern talking-to by the referee for giving Hallers ankles too much attention in the midfield. Stiles doesnt seem willing to engage in the philosophical debate, responding to the refs thesis with a couple of effs, not the sort of antithesis likely to lead us to any satisfactory higher truth. Plays waved on.
11.10am BST
OH DEAR! SO MUCH FOR ENGLANDS STAUNCH DEFENCE!
Ball breaks down the left and drifts inside, finding Peters down the inside right, who drags a shot from 25 yards wide left of goal. So close to an opener, but its the Germans who make the breakthrough. Held, with time down the inside left, pitching-wedges a diagonal ball in the general direction of Haller, lurking in the right-hand side of the England box. Wilson rises to clear with a header but his timing is all over the shop, and he only succeeds in cushioning it down to the German winger. Haller takes a touch with his right as he turns and bumbles a shot into the bottom left, past Banks, who was unsighted by Jack Charlton. A run, a punch, a leap and a modest wave to someone in the crowd. Haller considers a grin but then decides its time to get back to work.
11.09am BST
9 min: Charlton races forward. He slides the ball out left to Peters, who takes two rangy strides towards the box and unleashes a shot towards the bottom right. Tilkowski is right behind it, and at full length palms away from danger. A fine shot and magnificent save. And this is a lovely, open, end-to-end affair.
11.08am BST
8 min: Utter bedlam in the German area. Stiles swings a ball into the box from the right for Hunt. Tilkowski comes out to punch clear, though not very effectively. Charlton takes up possession on the left and swings another in. The keeper biffs out again, this time under intense pressure from Hurst, who clatters him. Cohen heads the clearance back into the area from the right. Overath is in the business of calming things down when the referee blows for a foul on the keeper, who has remained on the floor. Moore steps in to lash the ball, loose to the left of the D, into the net, simply for the purposes of crowd-pleasing. And by the sound of the amused roar, the crowd have indeed been pleasured.
11.07am BST
7 min: Seeler busies himself upfield, making good from the centre-circle and having a long-range wallop himself. The ball balloons off Wilson and out for a corner on the right, the ball bouncing along the sort of parabola that would please Barnes Wallac ... no, we made a promise, didnt we? Haller takes but its headed clear by Jack Charlton with no fuss.
11.05am BST
5 min: Germany stream upfield, Held down the left passing infield to Emmerich, who from 20 yards slices a slapstick effort out for a throw on the right. The crowd deliver their verdict with a rasping yay. Everyones a critic these days.
11.03am BST
3 min: Emmerich slips Held away down the left. Held reaches the corner flag and digs a cross out, but Jack Charlton is on hand in the middle to hoof clear with extreme prejudice.
11.02am BST
2 min: Peters now attempts to guide something goalwards from the edge of the D, but can only screw wide, the ball always too high to control with confidence. Germany stream upfield through Emmerich, who slides a pass into Held, just inside the England area, in space. Hes got far more time than he thinks and turns a weak shot well wide right of the goal. That could have been a dream start for West Germany.
11.01am BST
1 min: Hurst and Bobby Charlton exchange passes down the left. The balls fed inside to Stiles, who attempts a daisy-cutter from distance. It drags along the soft turf and is easily blocked.
10.55am BST
If, like poor old Greavsie, you have little interest in the game, BBC2 are showing The Great Dan Patch, a 1949 movie about a man, a fast horse, the horses trainers daughter, his love for the fast horse and his love for the trainers daughter. Theres a romantic triangle for you. Hopefully itll have a happier ending than RamseyGreavesHurst; more heartache might push the Spurs striker over the edge.
England: Gordon Banks, George Cohen, Jack Charlton, Bobby Moore, Ray Wilson, Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Bobby Charlton, Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst, Roger Hunt.
10.48am BST
Saturday 30 July 1966
Youve got to hand it to World Cup finalists England: theyve come an awfully long way awfully quickly. SIXTEEN YEARS! Thats the time since their first appearance at a World Cup, a sojourn to Brazil that ended in abject humiliation, Joe Gaetjens, the USA, all that. TWELVE YEARS! The time since Hungary inflicted a record 71 defeat on England, a result that came hot on the heels of the infamous 63 Wembley evisceration. THREE YEARS! The time since Alf Ramsey took charge, losing his first match 52 in France to spin out of Euro 64, and his second upon being thoroughly outplayed at home by Scotland. Let those last six words hang, proud sons of Albion.
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