By Myles Palmer
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England 2 Turkey 0
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THIS was more like it.
England played with fire and a belief that grew as the game went on. They beat a good side.
Having said yesterday that it would be unfair to start Rooney,Sven started him and WonderWayne almost scored after 11 minutes.
Gerrard hooked the ball into the goalmouth, Rustu fumbled,Rooney poked it neatly, Ergun blocked and Beckham smashed the rebound just wide.
The first half hour was very hard work, with England struggling to get the ball off the cagey, technically superior Turks.
Emre, fiercely determined, very energetic, exploited his low centre of gravity.
As the contest got scrappier, Beckham became intensely frustrated.
We heard today that he was taunted about his sexuality.
Becks is a mug to fall for that malarkey.
He got a yellow card after 8 minutes and misses the next game.
Beckham is a nice guy, very laid back off the field, very competitive on it.
Anger did not help his game. John McEnroe he ain’t.
The angrier Beckham got the worse he played. Silly tackles, bad passes, rotten crosses, weak free-kicks.
But England battled through the rough patch and buzzed along and got six men round the ball at times and pinged some 15-yard passes around.
It was exciting, riveting, very intense.
Gerrard, playing wide on the left, was forced to think about his game a lot more.
And he got better as the game went on.
Gerrard was fast, positive, creative, formidable
He was less like a javelin-thrower, more like Effenberg, a strategic craftsman who tackled and held the ball and mixed his game up between killer balls.
It was a first half of tension and aggro,not helped by the fact that Scholes passing was atrocious, and Owen’s control abysmal.
Taking Heskey out and putting Rooney in gave England far more play round the ball. Because Rooney wants it to feet.And people can make runs beyond him. And you can give it to Rooney when he is marked. Because he can control it. Because Turks just bounced off him !
After 41, Rooney juggled the ball away from two Turks and then hit a phenomenal crossfield pass to Gerrard on the right and he controlled the ball exquisitely before crossing for Owen, who did what Jeffers did the night before : OWEN SWUNG AND MISSED THE VOLLEY – the ball hit the ankle of his standing foot.
When Rooney played him in, Owen’s touch was poor and Rustu dived at his feet.
At half time my pal Hugh Southon phoned and said. “Becks has turned into Robbie Savage – he’s stolen his game!”
Hugh is big mates with Savage. He said, “I’m gonna ring Sav now.”
After 54 it began to look as if England could win.
After 58, Vassell came on for Owen, who had been crocked by Alpay’s vicious foul.
When Gerrard is good he is very good and one of his raking passes found a fine diagonal run by Darius Vassell late on.
The game was fun, far better than I expected.
Loads of passion,lots of goal attempts, a bombardment by a newly-energised England outfit.
Rustu made a good low save from a Beckham free-kick to thenear post.
Sol went for a header and missed it, blinding Vassell so that the ball hit the striker on the shoulder.
AFTER AN ENGLAND CORNER, WAYNE BRIDGE HIT A DIAGONAL CROSS INTO THE BOX.
Rio Ferdinand stabbed straight at Rustu and the rebound went to Vassell, whose left foot shot flew under the keeper’s body.
After 75, 1-0 to Engerland!
After 83,little Nihat had a tremendous powerheader, but DavidJames tipped over, a very good save.
Nihat has been having a terrific season with Sociedad,while Ilhan, who has been having a dismal season at Besiktas, was a flash monkey and did nothing.
In 89, Dyer came on for Rooney and England’s youngest-ever player walked off to a standing ovation.
Incredibly, the Sunderland crowd broke into a spontaneous rendition of God Save The Queen !
That must have been music from heaven for Sir Sven and his players.
Dyer raced in from the right, into the box, stumbled, recovered,stumbled again, Ergan ran into the back of him.
Never a penalty!
Shocking decision by Swiss-German ref Urs Meier, who was not calm enough to handle this battle.
Beckham buried it beautifully, low, just inside the post.The best penalty he has ever taken.
ENGLAND ARE BACK ! TOP OF THE GROUP !
And I’m back.
As I said to Hughie at half-time, “I’m back into it.”
He said, “So am I ! For once I got something right.”
Hughie had emailed earlier to insist that Sven MUST start Rooney.
What a difference one player can make.
With Rooney, England suddenly started playing football.
They found a shape. They found a style.
They found out that Nicky Butt, an abrasive skirmisher, can make the diamond work.
Sir Sven has re-discovered something he should never have lost: British tenacity. That is in our DNA. We have more of that than anybody else except the Germans.
So our method, our style, should always use that.
England beat Turkey by playing the football of grit and pressure,by playing FA Cup football, by fighting for each other and running their guts out and going for every 50-50 ball.
They denied space, denied possession, wore the Turks down, refused to let them play their normal game, which can be alarmingly clever and penetrative.
Above all, they found WonderWayne, who changes everything,just as Gazza did in 1990.
Like Gazza, Rooney is a great player because he makes the players round him look better than they did before.
Rooney needs more training with the squad, more games, a few goals under his belt.
As I said, WonderWayne is a freak, so let’s stop talking about his age.
Rooney is not scared of anybody.
To him it’s just a game of football, eleven against eleven, the ball’s the same size, the goal is still eight feet high and 24 feet across, and the ref will start and end the game with his whistle.
Rooney will be good for Owen, who will score more goals for England now than he ever did before.
Right now, though, Michael Owen will have the hump.
He played poorly and didn’t score and was outshone by a 17 year old and got kicked by Alpay – and went off injured.
And the guy who replaced him scored !
Yes, Owen will be furious.
Man United should watch out on Saturday.
Put your money on Owen scoring in that game. If he is fit.
Interestingly, England have also found a bench.
Darius Vassell is a more solid team player than Owen. More skilful, takes up smarter positions, a perfect supersub.
If Scholes carries on playing as badly as this, Dyer will replace him in a role where pace is essential. Rooney can make goals for Dyer.
Wayne Bridge played really well, but they will need Ashley Cole back for Istanbul.
Sorry Emile, but England were far better without you.
It was like watching a different sport.
3rd April 2003.