When Zyrianov equalised last night, the Swedish referee disallowed Russia’s goal for handball.
Live on BBC1, it didn’t look like handball. On the first replay, the ball might have brushed his arm.
But on the replay from behind the goal, Zyrianov chested the ball. He lifted his left arm for two reasons: to prevent the ball hitting his arm and to keep his balance. He realised that the ball was going to bounce off his chest and drop behind him, so he was going to have to spin round and hook his shot past the advancing Robinson, which he did.
The closest England player, the one with the best view of the “handball”, was John Terry, and he didn’t appeal.
That was a goal. That was an equaliser. Owen scored in 7, Zyrianov equalised in 17. If Zyrianov’s goal had been allowed, who knows what would have happened ?
After beating Israel 3-0, England kept the same team and beat Russia 3-0. Those two victories prove that England need fewer chiefs and more indians.
Incredibly, England’s goalscorers were unmarked three times. Michael Owen was unmarked when he scored in 7 minutes. Owen was unmarked again when he scored in 34, slamming Heskey’s knockdown past third-choice keeper Malafeev.
Rio Ferdinand made it 3-0 in 84 minutes when he collected Owen’s short pass. He beat the nearest defender and slammed it through the dodgy Malafeev. Russia, the team that had conceded one goal in eight qualifying games, had now leaked three goals in their ninth game.
Proving, as I’ve always said, that the most important player in a football team is the goalkeeper. A team is ten players and a goalkeeper, and without a good goalkeeper you have no chance. With a great goalkeeper, you can reach for the stars and write history
McClaren persevered with 4-4-2.and Heskey was far better against Russia than he was against Israel. He believed all the publicity about what a blinder he had against Israel. Two clinical finishes by Owen, taking him to 40 goals in 84 appearances, were the difference.
Far from baffling England with their 3-4-1-2 system, the Russians bamboozled themselves when they went for Barry’s inswinging corner with John Terry, who took out two defenders. He missed the ball and Owen slotted his sidefoot shot in off the post.
On the Sky highlights programme, David Platt noted that Owen had nobody within ten yards of him when he scored the second goal from Heskey’s knockdown. Glenn Hoddle said, “It was like a club team that had played on Saturday and then played again on Wednesday.”
Having coached England himself, and lost players from every squad through injury, Hoddle said, “Steve will probably not get the opportunity to play that eleven again.”
After 60 minutes the England game was over, after they had contained 15 minutes of good passing by the Russians, so I switched from BBC1 to Sky Sports 1 to watch to France v Scotland.
That was still 0-0 but Scotland immediately scored a goal that was sensational, preposterous, dramatic and mindboggling, a Route 1 classic where James McFadden pulled down a long ball and turned and slammed a 30-yard thunderbolt past keeper Michael Landreau, who got a hand to the ball as it went in.
An epic moment ! The shot that stunned Paris !
Craig Gordon, the keeper Arsenal should have signed, was exemplary. He was watched by Arsene Wenger, commentating for French TV.
France had 72% possession and lost 1-0. That’s football. Possession may be the first principle of play but it doesn’t win games. Goals win games and goalkeepers win games. If Craig Gordon had been playing for Russia, Wembley would have been a different story.
Incredibly, Scotland’s workmanlike team now top Group B. After nine games, the Scots are above world champions Italy, and above France.
What a night for the Tartan Army ! Their best result for decades ! The most thrilling goal since Archie Gemmill against Holland in Mexico in 1986 ! The only way it could have been better for the Scots was if England had lost.
Obviously, this was Steve McClaren’s biggest night so far. A 3-0 win over Russia will make other teams and other managers look at England again
Verdict : the week of accidental balance. Rooney, Lampard and Beckham were injured, and Crouch was suspended for Israel. Managers often find a blend when injuries pick their teams for them.
The same thing happened to England in Mexico in 1986 when they lost their first game 1-0 to Portugal and then Bryan Robson’s shoulder popped out against Morocco and his roommate Ray Wilkins was so gutted that he threw the ball at the ref and got sent off. That finished 0-0 and England were looking at an early plane home.
With Bryan Robson and Wilkins unavailable, Bobby Robson dropped Waddle and Hateley and changed his team radically. Until then Hoddle had been on the right wing. Robson’s new midfield had balance : Trevor Steven, Reid, Hoddle, Steve Hodge. Peter Beardsley replaced Hateley and England suddenly had shape, fluidity and creativity, and Lineker scored the hat-trick against Poland that made his career. Lineker then scored two in a 3-0 against Paraguay, and another against Argentina when Maradona punched in the hand of God goal and the ref missed it.
So Bobby Robson found an accidental balance in 1986 and 21 years later Steve McClaren did the same.
In ’86 people said : It can’t be as good without Robbo, the skipper. And now there is a temptation to say : It can’t be as good without Rooney, our most gifted footballer. But it can be. The shape of the team is more important than picking the stars. If football was cricket, a team game that stands or falls by individual performances, then you WOULD be better off with Rooney, Lampard and Beckham. But this week England have proved that football isn’t cricket. Football is a team game that requires real teamwork. And real teamwork is impossible without balance. And balance is impossible when you have too many chiefs and not enough indians.
In September 2007 an accident has given England more indians: SWP, Barry, Richards and Heskey are indians and every team needs indians. Peter Reid was a water-carrier just as Gareth Barry is a water-carrier now.
Barry takes his time and makes the pass he wants to make.He crosses a great ball and takes reliable corners. He’s not flashy, not Hollywood. His steady temperament has given Gerrard a partner and Stevie G has already said he likes playing with him. Gerrard himself was average, after hardly training for the last three weeks because of a broken toe.
At times Barry was playing centreback as the Russian pass-and-move game pulled Rio and JT all over the place but that was OK. He’s 26 and experienced. A midfield player has to go where he is needed and Gareth Barry has that knack of doing that, as Petit did, as Gilberto does now.
Sven never started Gareth Barry in five years because he was obsessed with stars from big clubs.
Balance is a mixture of left and right, young and old, thoroughbreds and journeymen. Balance is Kanchelskis, Ince, Keane and Giggs, it’s Beckham, Keane Scholes and Giggs, it’s Parlour, Vieira, Petit and Overmars, it’s Ball, Stiles, Charlton and Peters.
Owen has lost his pace, so you need the pace of Shaun Wright-Phillips. You need the threat of pace to push defences back and give Barry room to play
SWP is a flair player with a great work ethic. He’s fast, bold, durable, a good improviser who grafts backwards for eighty yards but still gets on the end of diagonal balls.
For England, things are suddenly looking up. A win on October 17 in Moscow is not impossible. Sales of Umbro’s replica shirts fell 20% after the World Cup but they’ll pick up now. If England win in Moscow they’ll be selling shirts with McClaren on the back.
ENGLAND (4-4-2): Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur); Richards (Manchester City), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea); Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Barry (Aston Villa), J Cole (Chelsea); Heskey (Wigan), Owen (Newcastle).
Subs: Crouch (Liverpool) for Heskey, 80; Phil Neville (Everton) for J Cole, 88, Downing (Middlesbrough) for Owen, 89.
RUSSIA (3-4-1-2): Malafeyev (Zenit St Petersburg); V Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), A Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow); Anukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Zyryanov (Zenit St Petersburg), Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow); Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg); Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow), Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow).
Subs : Bystrov (Spartak Moscow) for Semshov, 40; Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow) for Sychev, 63; Kerzhakov (Seville) for Anukov, 80.