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England keeping the faith
When England were knocked out of the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
by losing 2-1 to Brazil in a match they had led, coach Sven-Göran
Eriksson admitted: "We did well in the first half, until
added time. We seemed tired and lost a little bit of our shape."
Second-half comebacks
Less than two years on, and England are no longer a team that
shows their best before half-time. Indeed in winning EURO
2004 qualifying Group 7 they did not concede a single second-half
goal, and came from behind in three of their six wins, as
well as their draw at home against F.Y.R. Macedonia. Their
new-found mettle was also shown in both games against runners-up
Turkey, as they won the home match 2-0 with two goals in the
last 15 minutes and withstood a late bombardment to draw the
final fixture 0-0 in Istanbul.
Stable team
Eriksson was helped in his task by his stable squad - his
first-choice team at the end of qualifying differed little
from the one that started the campaign. The most important
change was in goal, though, where slips by David Seaman in
the October 2002 draw with the Macedonians persuaded Eriksson
to turn to the younger, but experienced, David James, who
kept four clean sheets in the remaining six games.
Defence constant
The first-choice defence of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Sol
Campbell and Ashley Cole remained constant and reaped the
benefits of familiarity. Wayne Bridge proved an able deputy
at left-back for Cole, while John Terry produced a magnificent
performance as Ferdinand's replacement in the decider in Turkey,
with Gareth Southgate and Jonathan Woodgate also having filled
in at centre-back during qualification. Phil Neville remained
a versatile replacement, not least for brother Gary.
Reshuffled midfield
While captain David Beckham went from strength to strength
on the right of midfield, scoring five goals and producing
some inspirational performances, the left remained a question
mark. Eriksson's favoured solution became the switch of Steven
Gerrard from the middle to the left flank, with Nicky Butt
taking over the anchorman role and Paul Scholes supporting
the attack. Kieron Dyer, Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves
all played their part in reserve.
Owen leads the line
In front of Scholes, Michael Owen remained the main striker
and scored five times in the campaign, but alongside him teenager
Wayne Rooney edged out Emile Heskey for the home game with
Turkey in April 2003, and scored in the September games against
F.Y.R. Macedonia and Liechtenstein. Rooney - the youngest
ever England international and goalscorer - and Heskey both
played in Turkey with Owen injured, while Darius Vassell proved
a useful substitute, opening the scoring at home against the
group runners-up 15 minutes from time.
Team spirit
But as much as talented individuals, it was team spirit that
was vital to England, with Beckham often the single-minded
personification of that will to win. Even when the squad was
unsettled by the Football Association's decision to exclude
Ferdinand on the eve of the trip to Turkey for missing a drugs
test, they responded with a determined performance to clinch
the group by a single point.
High expectations
England have only reached two UEFA European Championship semi-finals,
which by the high expectations of the home fans is a disappointing
return. The blossoming of what has long been touted as a golden
generation of talent seems finally to be coming to fruition,
though, and provided the squad is not again exhausted by the
gruelling domestic season - all but Beckham and Hargreaves
play in England - for once their fans' faith may not be misplaced.
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