In a week in which the remodelled iconic Brazilian stadium, the Maracana, has been heavily criticised for the various safety and security concerns, football fans finally got to see the 'finished product' in the lead up to (in my opinion) the real 'Greatest Show On Earth', the World Cup in 2014. Unfortunately, those safety concerns had an immediate impact on the stadium capacity, reducing tonight's crowd to a 'meagre' 60,000 packing one of the world's prettiest new stadiums. The inaugural match of its long-awaited re-opening saw Roy Hodgson's England visit the new home of the Brazilians.
Fresh off the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to the Republic of Ireland, in which Hodgson and his tactics were criticised for being predictable and one-dimensional, England took the long trip to Brazil as underdogs (unless of course you are one of those England fans who still maintains at the beginning of every tournament that we can 'channel the spirit of 66'). 1,000 loyal England fans (or 'gluttons for punishment' as I call them) made the long trip to South America, to be significantly outnumbered. In fairness to them, the England fans were often the more vocal and recognisable, putting the 59,000 Brazilians to shame at times. This was certainly seen as a good indicator of England's progress under Hodgson, as after positive home results against the likes of Spain and Brazil in the last year, the real test would come away from home. It would also be a first impression of what our expectations at the next World Cup should be.
Looking at the two sides, you would have fancied the Brazilians to win at home against what is regularly considered a weaker generation of England team than we would have experienced under a decade ago. With the high-profile move of Brazil's pin-up striker Neymar to Catalan giants Barcelona for a reported £50 million in the week, the attention was once again on his shoulders. There is also no doubt that the weight of the expectant Brazilian population will also be upon him to deliver the World Cup trophy on home soil next year. Brazil too, however, seem to be going through a weaker generation than the famous periods in the 1970's and, in my earlier World Cup memories, the three 'Rs' of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho in their dominant 2002 World Cup success. Therefore, this seemed to be set up for an intriguing contest from two underachieving nations.
The opening 15 minutes summed up my earlier point perfectly, with neither side at risk of scoring. Missed passes aplenty characterised the early part of this game, as neither side managed to capitalise on mistakes from the other, opting instead to hand possession straight back. However, it was the Brazilians, urged in by the vast majority of the Maracana, who got a foothold in the game first. Towards the end of the first half, England were indebted to their goalkeeper Joe Hart, who made a string of good saves, most notably from Neymar, using his face to deflect a goalbound effort. England seemingly perked up after these warning shots, and began to string a few passes together. This culminated in a great chance for Theo Walcott just before the half time whistle. A neat reverse pass released the Arsenal winger, only to see him hit his shot straight at Julio Cesar in the Brazil goal. This brought to an end a rather dire first 45, in which neither side had really improved their chances of being seen as contenders for next year's tournament.
Demons over the stadium then came back to the fore, as all television pictures were suspended during the half time interval, leaving millions worldwide without access to live broadcasting of the game. Whilst this problem may not have been anything to do with the stadium, it only gave pundits the chance to further discuss the remodelling, and leaves this failure towards the front of the minds of many. This is particularly true because there wasn't much to talk about in the first half! Fortunately, the problem was fixed before the restart, and we were able to enjoy what turned out to be a highly entertaining second half. After a period of heavy Brazil pressure, a bit of fortune handed the 5 time world champions the lead. Substitute Hernanes curled a fantastic shot beyond the despairing dive of Joe Hart and onto the bar. Luckily for the Brazilians, the ball rebounded to the feet of Fred, who stroked the ball beyond the prone Hart. At this point, I must confess, I feared for England, as having been utterly outplayed for the majority of the match, a cricket score now looked likely.
However, to England's credit, they responded well. Chances for Milner and Rooney came and went, leaving England fans wondering whether they had spurned their opportunity. Step forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. England's newest golden boy stamped his mark on this historic stadium with a stunning team goal just before the hour. Neat one-touch football between Milner and Rooney gave Oxlade-Chamberlain the chance to volley at goal, a chance which he dispatched emphatically into the bottom corner. Even better was to come for the 1,000 travelling English fans. After heavy Brazilian pressure, Wayne Rooney broke free at the other end, and, courtesy of a small deflection, curled a looping, dipping shot underneath Cesar's crossbar, and England lead. Bearing in mind their awful first-half performance, this was the stuff of dreams for the travelling fanbase. Unfortunately, their joy was to be short lived. A Brazilian raid down the right hand side saw a deflected cross put into the England box, and Paulinho was on hand to acrobatically volley the ball across the goal, giving Joe Hart no chance. Despite further Brazilian pressure, England's defence remained resolute to the end of the game.
A 2-2 draw is certainly a scoreline I would have taken at start of play this evening, and one that was unforeseeable after the first half performance. Though the Brazilians dominated possession for the majority of the game, there are certainly positives that can be taken from this England performance, that can give us hope for a successful World Cup (but not too much!). Despite the mid-week derision, credit must go to Roy Hodgson, whose tactics were evidently poor in the first half, but his changes in the second period clearly gave England a greater say in the game. Whether we can read too much into this result is difficult to tell, as I believe that neither the English nor the Brazilians will be fancied to lift the historic trophy next July. As for the state of the preparations for the Brazilian World Cup, I would put them somewhere between the Delhi Commonwealth Games of 2010 (which now best known for the term 'Delhi Belly'), and the perfectionist Beijing Olympics in 2008. The 'Road to Brazil' is not blocked, but there are a few obstacles that need shifting first.
No comments:
Post a Comment