Theo Walcott and Frazier Campbell came off of the bench to inspire an England win against pre-tournament favourites Spain in Gothenburg on Tuesday night.
Campbell scored the first goal after Mario Suarez mis-hit a pass setting the Manchester United player through, he turned the last defender inside out before coolly slotting low past the impressive Sergio Asenjo in the Spanish goal.
Walcott’s blistering pace helped to set up the second goal. The Arsenal winger picked it up on the left and outpaced Javi Garcia towards the byline, his cut-back was driven home by Milner to put the game beyond the Spaniards.
England coach Stuart Pearce said: “I said a week ago before we left the shores of England that Theo will be treated like any other player of the squad of 23. What I do ask form the players is if they are left away from it for any reason that they give a reaction when they step over the line, and I think you saw exactly what Theo is about as a player and as a man today.”
It was a tight opening and Spain were controlling the game from midfield. Atletico Madrid playmaker, Raul Garcia was confidently spraying the ball around and Jose Miguel Jurado looked lively.
They could have taken the lead early on when Nedum Onuoha’s back-pass was wayward and Hart had to scramble to kick it off the line.
While Spain continued to try to create openings, England slowly but surely asserted their influence on the game dominating in certain areas with their pace and power.
Muamba in the holding midfield berth and Onuoha and Richards at the back helped to contain the relatively ineffectual Bojan and Adrian Lopez.
England soon had a chance to take the lead. Milner was quick to dispossess Javi Garcia in the 32nd minute after a poor pass out of goal from Asenjo, The Aston Villa man ran into the box but as he turned, he was tripped by the Spanish number four.
Milner stepped-up but his low shot was saved by Asenjo, the Real Vallodolid ‘keeper, justifying the hype surrounding him.
Spain also had a couple of chances to take the lead. Javi Martinez outpaced Gibbs on the right and Hart came out into no-man’s land on the edge of the box. The Spaniard easily rounded him but his cross, come shot, was cleared in the goalmouth by Martin Crainie.
Agbonlahor picked up a calf injury and was replaced by Campbell towards the end of the first half.
England started the second half much the brighter of the two sides. Cattermole, Muamba and Milner had gained control of midfield and Campbell was making good runs upfront.
Theo Walcott was soon brought into the action, adding penetration on the left, meanwhile Spain had taken off Bojan, usually their most potent threat, after an quiet game.
The thousand or so England fans could start to dream of the semi-finals in the 67th minute. Milner pressured Mario Suarez, whose through ball sent Campbell through.
There was a lot of work still to be done, but Campbell showed composure to make space and score - no wonder Hull are so keen to sign him.
Now England were in complete control. Every Spanish attack was thwarted by Richards and Onuoha, who seemed to block everything put in front of them.
Soon it was two-nil. Theo Walcott picked the ball up on the left and pushed it five yards in front of him, it was a straight race between him and Javi Garcia, and the England man was always going to win it. As he reached the byline he looked up and cut the ball back for Milner who smashed the ball into the net.
With seventeen minutes of the game remaining England could start to look ahead to the last four.
England dominated the rest of the match while Spain were limited to half chances, the only incident of note being James Milner’s yellow card which rules him out of the game against Germany. With England through, this may have been tactical.
Richards complimented the performance of Muamba in midfield. Richards, the man of the match, said: “Fabrice Muamba was my man of the match, he gave 110 per cent they found it hard to break us down and he was key to that and broke down anything that came in his way. And credit to Theo Walcott when he came on I think he changed the game and he set up the goal and we are happy to take three points.”
Pearce agreed: “That’s as good a performance in a holding midfield role as you’ll ever see and probably without him we’d have lost.”
Pearce who made his debut as Under-21 manager against Spain two years ago believes that the spirit within the squad has been key to their progression, he said: “The dynamic within the group at the moment is as good as I’ve known it and there’s a spirit in there and that spirit is enhanced by the fact that the likes of James Milner and Theo Walcott having been with the seniors coming here and being treated like everybody else.”
Pearce insists that he will not let the players take the foot off the gas in their next game against Germany despite having already qualified, but he can already start planning for a trip to either Gothenburg or Helsingborg in the last four.
Meanwhile, the other match in Group B between Germany and Finland finished 2-0 to the Germans, lifting them to second, two points behind England and three ahead of Spain. Two second half goals in three minutes from Benedikt Howedes and Ashkan Dejagah saw the dogged Finnish team off after a tight first period.
Photo Credit: Rob TM
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