England Stutter on Seventh Day as Roon Returns
T&T were unlucky
By Chris O'Brien
June 18 2006
England failed to impress in their second World Cup outing, stuttering to a 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremberg. Meanwhile, there were wins for Ecuador and Sweden on the seventh day of the finals in Germany.
An unconvincing England left it very late to secure a 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago on the seventh day of the World Cup finals in Germany.
The result is enough to send Sven's men through to the second round, but they did little to match their pre-tournament billing as second favourites with a dissappointing performance against the Caribbean outfit. Numerous chances were squandered in the first-half, with Peter Crouch the main culprit. Frank Lampard also showed a distinct lack of confidence in front of goal and England will not be fancied against the World Cup's stronger nations after this display.
The goals came in the final seven minutes. Crouch made up for his earlier comical misses by heading home a David Beckham cross, whilst Steven Gerrard's superb looping effort put the result beyond doubt in injury-time. United's Wayne Rooney returned to action with a brief 30-minute cameo, with Rio Ferdinand playing the full game and Gary Neville warming the bench throughout.
Meanwhile, Sweden boosted their chances of qualifying from 'Group B' with a narrow win over Paraguay. The Scandinavians also left it late with Freddie Ljungberg heading Marcus Allback's 89th-minute flick into the back of the net to end a nervy encounter in Berlin, as 72,000 watched on. The result means Sweden need only a point against England in their final group game to secure qualification, whilst a victory would mean they won the group by a single point.
The morning's game saw underdogs Ecuador secure a surprise qualification to the knock-out stages after only two games. Carlos Tenorio got the South Americans off to the perfect start by securing them an eight-minute lead, with Agustin Delgado and Ivan Kaviedes rubbing salt into the Costa Rican wounds in the second-half. The result also secures Germany's qualification from 'Group A' and means Poland will be eliminated. The host nation must now beat Ecuador in their final group match to win the group.