Capello applaudes fans

By Carly Goodwill
August 13 2009

England staged an excellent second half comeback last night from 2-0 down thanks to Jermain Defoe. The Tottenham Hotspur player was brought on at half time after England fell two goals behind in the first half and Defoe got the Three Lions back up and running within minutes of him coming on.

England had an the early chance when Wayne Rooney turned superbly and sent Emile Heskey through, only for the Aston Villa forward to lose out to Edson Braafheid.

Holland were confident as the game began in front of a packed house in Amsterdam and they took the lead after eleven minutes when Rio Ferdinand played a short, sloppy backpass across the area and Juyt was free to take advantage of it.

England were left shocked by the manner of the goal, but responded with some fine play minutes later that saw Frank Lampard and then Rooney come close to getting an equaliser.

David Beckham played a good ball on the inside channel which then went to Glen Johnson and the England right back found Lampard, whose shot was saved by the feet of Stekelenburg.

The rebound flew up into the air over the penalty spot and although Rooney rose the highest and met the ball, his header went just wide.

The visitors had a string of chances following this, first Ashley Young saw a deflected effort saved, then the Aston Villa winger almost presented a chance for Heskey to head towards the goal but Andre Ooijer was there first to send it away. Gareth Barry's chance came next when he moved into a space on the edge of the area and hit a fine ball that narrowly went over the bar.

At the other end, Rob Green produced a lovely save with his feet as Kuyt almost scored his second goal with a header at the far post after Rafael van der Vaart delivered but Green kept England just one goal down.

Robin Van Persie showed excellent skills to create space for himself in the centre circle before hitting the ball inches past the post.

The second goal came from the restart and again, it was given away by England, Gareth Barry made a loose pass which left Arjen Robben with the ball and although  this time Green made a brillian save, van der Vaart followed up and sent the ball home.

Rooney replied by firing a warning shot from 25 yards out that flew across Stekelenburg's goal but the wrong side of the post.

Capello made three changes at half time and within minutes of the restart one of them proved to be the right decision as Defoe got England back into the game, he raced onto Lampard's pass and went straight past John Mathijsen before using his left foot and sending the ball to the back of the net off the near post. This was Defoe's fifth goal under Fabio Capello, and third in two games.

Five minutes later and Defoe came close to getting an equaliser. Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips sent the ball to Defoe who first looked set to shoot with his right, before changing to his left but Heitinga was on the line to clear the ball.

Carlton Cole, who came on as Wayne Rooneys replacement showed Fantastic skill to trap a through ball from Lampard, send Ooijer round in circles and then volleying against the stanchion behind the goal from 20 yards out.

With only 14 minutes left to play, Defoe grabbed a well deserved equaliser after Milner worked well taking the ball down the left and sending it in his path.

Cole and Defoe both had chances to put England in front in the closing stages but the game ended with a 2-2 draw, however England should be pleased with the promising performance they put on last night against one of the best teams in the world.

Full Time: Holland 2 England 2

Official: Nicola Rizzoli

Holland 2 England 2

Discussion started by Three Lions (IP Logged), 13/08/2009 14:28

Three Lions
13/08/2009 14:28

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imp for life
13/08/2009 17:52

A couple of seasons ago we would never have come back from 2-0 down , There is still work to be done with the England team , but we are heading in the right direction , the first time for a long time .

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Dave Imp
13/08/2009 19:46

Thought we did well other than a couple of daft moments.

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