England booked their place to Euro 2012 finals despite an embarrassing second half collapse in Podgorica. It all started off well for Fabio Capello, watching from the sidelines as his players dominated ball possession, producing a multitude of chances in the opening frame. It was never going to be easy earning a result in front of a hostile crowd, but all that was needed was a draw to win the group and automatically advance to the finals in Poland and the Ukraine.
Theo Walcott and Ashley Young were vicious down the flanks in the first half, exposing the Montenegro defence almost at will. England scored early and immediately silenced the home support. Young easily headed in from close range, finishing off what was a superb cross by Walcott. The pace was dictated by England attacking in waves, the second goal came twenty minutes later. Darren Bent had the easy tap in at the far post after Montenegro coughed up the ball in their own end rather cheaply, Young this time turned provider sending a pinpoint pass through the six yard box finding Bent. Kudos goes to Wayne Rooney for starting the breakout. It all looked relatively easy for England at this point.
Montenegro was able to end the half on a positive note and caught England napping. Elsad Zverotic woke up the crowd with a wonderful half volley to get within one at the break. Ashley Cole was slow to close down his marker on the wing and John Terry failed to step up to Zverotic on the shot. I still believe Joe Hart would have made the save had the it not been taken a deflection off Gary Cahill. This was a sign of things to come as England completely collapsed following the re-start.
You would never have expected England to be pinned down in their end for the final forty-five minutes. Montenegro looked rejuvenated and started to pick apart the back line at will. The Brave Falcons were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty shot five minutes into the second half. Phil Jones was lucky to escape a booking as he clearly tripped up Stevan Jovetic right in front of goal. Soon after Fatos Beciraj came close to scoring and forced a good save from Hart. Capello was forced to play with ten-men when Rooney saw red for a foolish challenge on Miodrag Dzudovic, losing the ball and kicking out in frustration sent him to the showers early and left England even more exposed. That mental lapse will see him suspended for England’s opening fixture of the tournament in June, and possibly the second depending on the ruling by UEFA.
Montenegro continued to pour on the pressure as England started to crumble and retreat back into their end. It was surprising to watch how fragile and shaky the Three Lions had become, tactics were thrown out the window and everyone was bunched together in the middle leaving both flanks exposed. Dejan Damjanovic had a glorious chance to level the score, getting clear of his defender to attempting the audacious bicycle kick from in close. It missed by a small margin and went over the bar with Hart at his mercy. England looked tired and holding on for dear life playing for the final whistle.
Had it not been for Hart making some crucial saves down the stretch it could have finished a lot worse. Most of the shots by Montenegro seemingly were targeting the same spot making you question if Branko Brnovic had spotted a weakness in the English keepers game. Milorad Pekovic was next to test Hart's reflexes, the shot looked to be going into the far corner but the keeper was able to get down quick and push it wide of the post. The inevitable finally came to fruition and Montenegro tied the match in injury time. The delivery was sublime by Stevan Savic, floating a cross towards the far post that caught Cahill out of position, mistiming his jump and botching the clearance. Andrija Delibasic found space to run in behind and get between two defenders to smash in the header before colliding hard into the post. The celebration that followed was electrifying.
Fabio Capello will be disappointed at the way his team earned qualification. The result definitely soured the mood in the dressing room after the match. The early positives were completely forgotten after the display produced in the second half. The loss of Rooney could be devastating and have major consequences to England’s chances of making it out of their group, potentially costing them precious points at the Euros. The players switched off and never recovered. With their backs against the wall England imploded and looked extremely vulnerable protecting the lead which will be worrisome for Capello. Qualification might have been attained but this team will need to dig deep and show some character and close out games or face the prospect of an early exit come June.
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