Match Summary

England Team

Kazakhstan Team

Match Report by Mike Payne

A month had elapsed since England’s sensational win in Croatia, and against the visitors from Kazakhstan an expectant crowd looked for more of the same.  But England have a habit of following a good performance with one not quite so good, and at Wembley only a late flurry of activity spared their blushes.  There was only ever going to be one winner but England had one of those infuriating nights when the result was better than the performance.

The first half was instantly forgettable as England failed to show the attacking form that Fabio Capello had promised.  They looked disjointed and lacklustre and actually made Kazakhstan look a reasonable outfit.  Indeed, the visitor’s debutant winger Tanat Nusserbayev, looked the best player on the field in that opening 45 minutes.  His counterpart, Theo Walcott, the hero in Croatia, apart from the early minutes, had a more disappointing evening.  England’s best efforts of the first-half came from a curling Walcott shot and a long range right-footer from Frank Lampard, which hit a stanchion.  Other than that, it was pretty sterile stuff and the crowd showed their displeasure as the half-time whistle blew.

It could have been much worse after the restart as within two minutes the visitors should have been ahead.  Sabrykhan Ibrayev’s cross found Sergey Ostapenko and he headed the ball down for what seemed an easy chance for Nusserbayev.  With an open goal at his mercy he only succeeded in slicing the ball over the bar.  It was a big relief for England and thankfully, five minutes later they at last made a breakthrough of their own.  Not unexpectedly the goal came from a set piece as Lampard’s well hit corner saw the goalkeeper floundering and captain Rio Ferdinand was able to head an easy goal.  The relief amongst players and fans was obvious.

Still though, Kazakhstan caused problems and David James was forced into a good save from that man Nusserbayev again.  England took a while to settle after the break but ever so gradually the rhythm started to return.  When England scored again after 64 minutes it seemed the match was won.  This time it was a free-kick from Lampard that caused problems for the Kazakhstan defence as, under pressure from Rooney, Alexandr Kuchma headed into his own net.  It looked all over but then, four minutes later, the visitors were handed a way back into the game.  Ashley Cole had had a pretty fraught night from the fans and he did himself no favours when his awful back pass fell short of James and gave Zhambyl Kukeyev the chance to score his first international goal.  It was actually very well taken in the end. 

If truth be told the goal was no real threat to England and towards the end they reasserted their strength.  On 76 minutes Walcott’s fine work set up Wayne Rooney for a good header to make it 3-1.  David Beckham was then sent on with just over 10 minutes to go and he quickly made an impact, with a telling free-kick that again found Rooney finishing clinically.  Then in the last minute the scoreline was given a more than flattering look when another substitute, Jermaine Defoe, ran on to an Emile Heskey pass to make it 5-1.

Not the most satisfying of performances by England, but once again they (eventually) scored five goals and it keeps the team at the top of the group.  As for Kazakhstan, they probably didn’t deserve such a large defeat, but their problems are at the back, especially in second-halves.

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
SkySports.com
UEFA.com
Mike Payne - football historian and contributor

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CG