England 2 Poland 0: Roy's boys heading for Brazil after Rooney nods opener and Gerrard seals win against Poland
|
And England will now go to Brazil. No ifs, no buts, no play-offs.
They won Group H by a point from Ukraine and remained unbeaten with a goal difference of plus 25 thanks, largely, to San Marino. It was not emphatic compared to some of the major nations, but hardly disastrous either.
Roy Hodgson, the manager, was proven no turnip, no wally, no clown.
Jumping for joy: Wayne Rooney leaps on Steven Gerrard after the captain scores England's second goal
Having a laugh: Goal heroes Gerrard and Rooney share a joke after the game
Heading to Brazil: Rooney nods the ball home to give England the lead
We're on the plane! Gerrard runs off with his arms outstretched after scoring the second
Job done: England celebrate at full time
MATCH FACTS
England: Hart, Smalling, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Gerrard, Carrick (Lampard 71), Townsend (Milner 86), Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge (Wilshere 82). Subs: Subs: Ruddy, Jones, Gibbs, Milner, Barkley, Defoe, Sterling, Lambert, Forster.
Booked: Lampard, Rooney.
Goals: Rooney 41, Gerrard 88.
Poland: Szczesny, Wojtkowiak, Jedrzejczyk, Glik, Celeban, Blaszczykowski, Mierzejewski (Zielinski 75), Krychowiak, Sobota (Pezsko 65), M Lewandowski (Klich 46), R Lewandowski. Subs: Boruc, Wasilewski, Jodlowiec, Polanski, Wawrzyniak, Sobiech, Rzezniczak, Fabianski.
Booked: Jedrzejczyk
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia).
Attendance: 85,186
For all you need to know about the World Cup qualifiers go to our Match Zone
He saw England through, if not with
the ease, then certainly with gusto coming up the home straight. His
team held their nerve in the final two encounters at Wembley and
have every reason to feel buoyed.
They needed six points and got them, with an aggregate score of 6-1 over two games. In the last five days, too, England have unmistakably discovered a positivity that had been missing under Hodgson; the coach now has a reasonable run of friendly encounters in which to cement it.
So,
yes, the margins may have been slender, but last night’s performance
was impressive in the circumstances, going forward at least.
Of course, there were going to be errors in front of goal, of course there were going to be times when England appeared to cling to the cliff-face by the fingertips – but this would have been the case all over Europe as the qualification round drew to a close.
The
big beasts get their business done early, but England are lions in name
only these days. They were never going to coast to Brazil, but, under
pressure, this was good enough.
A little less caution early on in the campaign would have been preferred, but how a team gets there is forgotten once the main event begins. Kiev in September will seem a long time ago, once the Brazilian sand is between the toes.
Confirmation: England are top and will go to the World Cup in Brazil
Flying: Rooney (centre) wheels away in delight after heading England into the lead
Floored genius: Rooney (on the ground) salutes his goal
Mob rule: The England players pile on to Rooney after his goal
Kissing the badge: Rooney plants a smacker on his shirt after scoring England's opener
Band leader: Rooney gets his head protector back after scoring the first
Rooney's vital first goal (with arrows everywhere)... for more see our brilliant Match Zone
Glorious leader: England captain Steven Gerrard scores the second
England's driving force Gerrard scores the second... for more see our brilliant Match Zone
Delight: Gerrard is ecstatic and knows England are on the plane to Brazil
WORLD CUP DRAW
The draw will take place on December 6 in Costa do Sauipe in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Hodgson seemed to sense that this was his moment. As the ball arrived at the feet of Leighton Baines four minutes before half-time, he rose from his seat in anticipation.
This was destiny and he knew what to expect. It was as if he had been here before. Probably, he had, a hundred or more times in training. He knew the quality of the cross that Baines would deliver, he knew the calibre of his men in the middle.
The
ball was whipped over and there was Wayne Rooney to meet it. Rising
higher, and with greater determination than the rest – every inch the
match-winner.
He had lost his protective headband a couple of minutes earlier but he has suggested that enabled him to put more power into the header. Baines's cross had eluded Danny
Welbeck but Rooney met perfectly, steering his finish towards the far
corner with an accuracy that left Wojciech Szczesny in Poland’s goal no
chance.
All Szczesny could do was play nice. He handed back Rooney’s headgear, which had been in the back of the net since the England striker lost it, once the celebrations were over.
This has been a good news week. In Andros Townsend, Hodgson has unearthed an excellent wide option to go with Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and he has got Rooney scoring again.
This was his seventh goal in six qualifiers and he is again among the leading scorers in the European groups. Of course, so he was before 2010 and we all recall what happened in South Africa. Still, the pessimism can wait. Plenty of time for that.
High five: Gerrard is congratulated by Danny Welbeck as England acknowledge the crowd
Funny business: Joe Hart (centre) has a right laugh with Gary Cahill (right) and Leighton Baines
Smiles better: A beaming Roy Hodgson after the victory
At full stretch: Wojciech Szczesny dives desperately to his left but the ball goes wide
Hart stopper: England's goalkeeper makes a crucial save from Robert Lewandowski
Invader: A Polish fan runs on to the Wembley pitch
Using his head: Danny Welbeck tries to get a header on goal
Winning his battle: Chris Smalling comes away with the ball and leaves his opponent on the floor
EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS
These European countries will join England in Brazil: Belgium, Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Russia, Bosnia, Spain.
It
was tense, of course, as one would expect. Yet England contrived to
finish with something approaching a carnival atmosphere after Steven
Gerrard made certain of victory with two minutes to spare.
The captain
picked up on a pass from James Milner, burst between the Polish
defences, shrugged off an attempted foul by Kamil Glik and prodded the
ball over the line. Job done.
Hodgson celebrated in a circle with his coaches. He will feel vindicated by events here. He expressed his trust in these players and they repaid him. He will not forget this little band in a hurry. It will be hard for the key members of this group to avoid Brazil now; even ageing stalwarts such as Frank Lampard. Managers remember the ones who came through when it mattered.
Poland
have had a dismal campaign but any team that includes Borussia
Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski cannot be taken lightly, and so it proved.
On two occasions, Lewandowski had the opportunity to throw a spanner in the works, but failed. The first was a break from an England corner which he steered wide, the next a fine save from Joe Hart, who came out, made himself big and kept his hands strong to block the shot. Hart was outstanding for Manchester City against Dortmund last season, too. Lewandowski must be sick of the sight of him.
Hodgson’s
hunches paid off, his gambles on Townsend and leaving out Jack
Wilshere, but he also got the breaks. If any player could afford to be
injured it was Ashley Cole, who has one of the best left-backs in the
world as his deputy.
Baines was quite brilliant, arguably England’s most
potent attacking force, up there with Rooney in the threat he posed.
His dead balls were dangerous, his crosses a test and while Cole may
remain Hodgson’s preferred defensive option, so potent is Baines going
forward that one could barely slip a sheet of paper between them now.
After so much gloom, this is an England team with growing options – if they stay fit.
Rattling the bar: Andros Townsend sees his shot hit the woodwork with Wojciech Szczesny well beaten
Tussle: Leighton Baines keeps tabs on Poland's Piotr Celeban
Intervention: Chris Smalling (left) gets his head to the ball to snuff out a Poland attack
Floored: Danny Welbeck goes down as he tries to take a chance in the Poland area
So what was
it like? Easy? Hardly. Hodgson isn’t the first to have been driven to
use bad language by watching England in this campaign, but a swearbox
installed near the dugouts at Wembley really would have been doing a
roaring trade in these last two games.
Hodgson was caught exclaiming ‘You f****** beauty!’ as Townsend scored the third goal against Montenegro last Friday. This time, it was a more muted reaction to another Polish break. ‘F*** me,’ he muttered after Lewandowski missed his first chance. He won’t have been the only one.
England
had the best of it, but there were too many F me moments for comfort
and the fact many of them came on the counter from English set pieces
would have sent a coach as regimented as Hodgson into a quiet fury.
The good teams talk of locking set piece moves in, to avoid the breakaway. At times, England seemed to have adopted the swinging stable door plan instead. On two occasions Poland’s horse bolted and either could have been a goal.
With the news
coming in as expected from Ukraine’s match with San Marino, it was known
that only a win would do and a degree of skittishness was
understandable.
Townsend struck an excellent cross that found Daniel Sturridge in the penalty area, only for the Liverpool man to panic, the ball becoming trapped beneath his feet and ultimately finishing with a missed kick. It was not the only sign of the nerves on the night - Welbeck stumbled unfortunately when sent through one on one, overrunning the ball and allowing Szczesny to save at his feet.
Townsend
hit the bar with a left foot shot from 25 yards after 27 minutes,
Sturridge first to the rebound, forcing an excellent stop and Rooney was
twice kept out from range. It was probably just as well that Rooney’s
goal came before half-time, though; the mounting pressure of a goalless
game in the second half would have been unbearable.
Not to mention Hodgson’s language.
Agonising: Chris Smalling (on ground, centre) just fails to get a touch and the ball goes wide
Close call: Joe Hart can only watch as Robert Lewandowski (left) steers a shot just wide of the post
Huge support: There were more than 20,000 Poland fans inside Wembley for the game
Flare play: The Polish contingent lit up Wembley before kick-off
Flying the flag: Poland fans show their colours outside Wembley
PS At least we didn't have to write these headlines this time!
Bad memories: Sportsmail reacts to the draw against Poland 40 years ago which led to England missing out on the 1974 World Cup - and ponders what would happen to Sir Alf Ramsey (right)
- Funny compilation of amateur sporting failures
- SNEAK PEE... K Jack Wilshere caught short on sidelines
- Brilliant Ravel Morrison chipped goal
- 10 year old pitch invader gets hoisted high by goalscorer
- Arsenal-cadabra: Which Gunners legend is plucked from a...
- Barton mocks Fergie and England football team
- Ravel, Zaha and Ince destroy Butland's goal
- Jaw dropping backflip across 73ft canyon gap on Red Bull...
- AMAZING SLO-MOTION SKILL FROM RAVEL MORRISON!
- Sir Alex Ferguson's road to Old Trafford unveiled
- Southampton keeper scissor kick goal in Poland training
- Sao Paulo fans clash with police as goalkeeper misses...
- LIVE: England v Poland - follow all the action from the...
- Sidelined skipper Vermaelen hints the Arsenal exit door may...
- JEFF POWELL: Money Mayweather's the undisputed Lord of The...
- ADRIAN DURHAM: Zaha could not have been managed any worse by...
- MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Colts head West to San Diego...
- Manchester United ready to make fresh £16m move for 'new...
- Don't worry, Roy... you're Gunner win! As England count down...
- Lewandowski is Poland's Plan A, B and C... England's...
- England 2 Poland 0: Roy's boys heading for Brazil after...
- LIVE: World Cup group stage qualifying action from around...
- Shocking moment police officer sprays handcuffed American...
- Big in Croatia! Dzeko revels in pop star posting snaps of...
A N Other, going nowhere, United Kingdom, 7 minutes ago
At last Stevie leads us to the World Cup. So very pleased and so excited for you and Wayne and so wonderful to watch!!!!!!!!!!!!