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Winning in the rain
England in sight of finals after impressive display against Portuguese
UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifier, Wembley.
ENGLAND U21 2 PORTUGAL U21 0
SPURS star midfielder Tom Huddlestone put in a rock solid display to thwart a talented young Portugal side as torrential rain swept Wembley in this under-21s qualifier.
Manager Stuart Pearce was understandably pleased by the performance of his team in Friday’s game, which was played in front of a crowd of 27,732.
After the two-goal victory, which sets England up for a play-off place to reach the European Championship next summer, Pearce said of the win: “All in all I have to be very pleased with that, from front to back everyone doing the job. Everything I asked of them during this week, they did it, they’re pretty level headed.
Pearce was acknowledging the problems off the pitch with transfer deadline crises and late moves, which could have taken their toll.
"A lot has been happening in football this week, but there were absolutely no distractions for the players from what they were trying to achieve with England," the manager said.
James Milner, one of the players at the centre of controversy off the field had left Newcastle for Villa in a move linked directly with the departure of Kevin Keegan from St James’ Park.
It did not affect his play on the night, and he scored England’s first from the penalty spot on 42 minutes after a clumsy challenge on Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba. It was hardly against the run of play, with England noticeably happier in the wet conditions than the lacklustre Portuguese.
Milner and Huddlestone, together with West Ham’s Mark Noble and Chelsea’s Michael Mancienne, had shown a maturity and patience in the difficult conditions a notch above their opponents. And it was the strength and poise of the other Villa star, man of the match Gabby Agbonlahor, working mainly down the left, which caused much havoc at the back for Portugal.
It was a Noble through-ball, perfectly weighted, which gave Agbonlahor the second goal just after the hour mark, though the striker had to show strength and pace to beat the defenders from a tight angle.
Agbonlahor’s departure on 76 minutes saw the introduction of Fraizer Campbell, who has just joined Spurs on loan from Manchester United as part of the Dimtar Berbatov deal.
Manager Pearce singled out his contribution after the match and said: “Fraizer Campbell took over where Gabby left off – and did well.”
In fact Campbell, who will turn 21 at the weekend, could have grabbed a couple of goals himself and showed his pace and agility. In Campbell, Huddlestone and Aaron Lennon, who was on the bench for this match, Spurs are well represented. |
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