User:Andrewh/Archive/World Cup 2006

Please note that this page was originally at User:Andrewh/World Cup 2006.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was held in Germany from 9 June to 9 July 2006. For the first round, England were placed in Group B, along with Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden. The hosts, Germany, were in Group A. The finalists for this World Cup were France and Italy, with Germany and Portugal playing off for third place. Italy eventually won the tournament for the first time since 1982.

The top four teams in the tournament were thus as follows:-

I left comments below on England's matches in this World Cup.

[edit] England results so far

Saturday 10 June 2006: England 1 - 0 Paraguay - great (own) goal in the third minute to England, but England's performance in the second half was, in my opinion, relatively poor compared to the first half. Paraguay put on a good attack, particularly in the second half, where we were left flagging due to Michael Owen's substitution.
Thursday 15 June 2006: England 2 - 0 Trinidad and Tobago - an unspectacular first half, and a tense second half which went our way when Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon were introduced to the pitch and we scored two goals in the last ten minutes. This victory means that England are now guaranteed a place in the second round.
Tuesday 20 June 2006: England 2 - 2 Sweden - a couple of decent goals from England, but a draw resulted as Sweden got two back. Rooney's replacement with Gerrard did, in my opinion, improve our standard of play, which would otherwise have been relatively mediocre, particularly with Michael Owen's ankle injury. However, the draw means we play Ecuador as opposed to Germany.

Sunday 25 June 2006: England 1 - 0 Ecuador - A reasonably good game with a David Beckham special free kick - the first time that Becks has scored a goal from a free kick in three years. Portugal's win against Holland means that we play the Portugese in the quarter finals.

Saturday 1 July 2006: England 1 - 3 Portugal (after penalties) - This game was our last in this year's World Cup, and Sven Goran Eriksson's last as England coach. Wayne Rooney was sent off in the second half, and David Beckham substituted with Aaron Lennon, which probably lowered our chances when the game was left goalless and went into extra time, and then penalties, which seem to be our Achilles' heel.

ENGLAND ELIMINATED