Michael Owen is back and Steve McClaren can breathe a little
easier.
Pessimism had clouded the approach to yesterday's European Championship
qualifier, with Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and David Beckham injured
and the team struggling to score. But the return of another iconic figure
from the surgery table dissolved the anxieties about how England were
going to break down Israel. England emerged triumphant in their first
competitive game at Wembley, winning their first home international in
more than a year. And Owen capped it with the goal of the day.
The margin of three goals could easily have been doubled as McClaren's
team generated chance after chance with surprising ease. While a more
serious examination awaits in Wednesday's game with Russia, this result
gave the England manager a little breathing space.
"I'm delighted. I'd have taken 1-0," McClaren said. "The
performance was the icing on the cake. The way we went about the game
made Israel look ordinary and they had proved a difficult side to beat."
With the 85,372 crowd in full throat, man-of-the-match Shaun Wright-Phillips
scored first on 20 minutes with a neat far-post finish from Joe Cole's
inswinging cross and Micah Richards claimed his first England goal with
a thumped header after 66 minutes. Sandwiched between them was a moment
of brilliance from Owen.
Receiving Gareth Barry's clever, disguised pass just outside the box,
Owen chipped the ball up for himself, and lashed it into the net in one
fluid, swivelling half-volley. It was his 38th goal for his country and
he is only 11 short of Bobby Charlton's record. It bore the mark of a
confident, world-class finisher.
"I like to think I've come back just as good and it's lovely to be
back in team and back scoring goals," Owen said. "It makes all
that hard work worthwhile. That was one of my better goals - it's not
often that I score from outside the box. In fact I probably scored with
the hardest chance I had.
Patrick Barclay: Gareth Barry makes happy England return
"I thought we played really well, until we went 3-0 up. If we'd carried
on playing like that we'd have beaten them by a bigger score. Everyone
knows what I'm about: I've played many games for England and scored many
goals. I'll play better and I'll play worse, but I'm now fully fit."
Owen has spent two years in and out of the treatment room and had an operation
after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the last World Cup.
Goals in consecutive games for Newcastle had hinted at a return to his
old sharpness. His team-mates clearly appreciated his return to form.
"It was a great strike from Michael," said John Terry, the captain.
"You could see how delighted everyone was for him by the way we all
sprinted to congratulate him."
Despite impressive displays from the likes of Barry, Richards and, above
all Wright-Phillips, there remain concerns ahead of facing Russia, who
won 3-0 against Macedonia yesterday. Anxiety persists about Steven Gerrard's
fractured toe. He did not have a pain-killing injection, but, on being
substituted, he went straight down the tunnel to the treatment room.
A further mark against this performance was the treatment of David Bentley
on his debut. The Blackburn midfielder came on with nine minutes left
to loud boos, abuse that returned when he touched the ball. Bentley had
pulled out of the Under-21 European Championships this summer claiming
he needed a break. McClaren left him out of the squad to face Germany
in last month's friendly as punishment.
Rio Ferdinand said: "It left a bad taste because it was such a good
performance. While you are on England duty you don't expect to get booed.
I don't think he deserved that. He's a confident lad and he knows the
lads are right there behind him. That's all he needs to know."
,
09/09/2007
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