Ukraine Defeats England 1-0 in World Cup Qualifier - 10-13-09

October 13 - Although Saturday's World Cup Qualifier between England and the Ukraine was not broadcast at all on TV in the UK, but was instead streamed live on a select few websites, the match still attracted approximately half a million viewers across the country who watched online as England lost by 0-1.

Advertisement

As England has already qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, UK TV stations and channels saw little value in spending lots of money on the TV rights for what many people considered to be a 'pointless' match. However, that 'pointless' match served to showcase some weaknesses in England's game.

Of course, cynics too could argue that England's players did not give 100 percent against the Ukraine to avoid any unnecessary injuries ahead of next year's World Cup. Point of fact, during Saturday's game Steven Gerrard was replaced half way through with a suspected groin injury, although he shrugged it off.

However, according to recent reports, the Liverpool captain will likely miss England's final World Cup qualifying match against Belarus at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday, after limping out of a training session this morning. England fans will obviously be hoping he makes a full recovery before the World Cup.

But back to Saturday's match, which was played in front of an extremely partisan Ukrainian crowd in Dnipropetrovsk, where during some parts of the game, flares rained down dangerously onto the pitch. Match referee, Damor Skomina, even threatened to abandon the game if the crowd threw any more flares.

Ukraine's scoring opportunity came as a result of poor defending by England's Rio Ferdinand. After he sloppily allowed Ukraine's Artem Milevskiy a clear shot at the goal, England's over exuberant goalkeeper, Robert Green, fouled the Ukrainian, earning himself a red card, and a one-way ticket off the field.

Although Ukraine missed the penalty generated from Green's lack of judgment, a shot at England's net half an hour later earned Ukraine its coveted goal. Further defensive blunders by England almost gave Ukraine more points. But at least England's coaches now know to concentrate on shoring up its defense.

Send To A Friend

Add This Gambling Article To:
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb	OnlyWire
Redit	StumbleUpon	Technocrati