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Friday, 3 September 2010
2012 UEFA European Championship Group G qualification match

England 4 Bulgaria 0 [1-0]
 

The National Stadium, Wembley, Brent, Greater London
Attendance: 73,246; Kick-off: 8.00pm BST;
Twentieth match at the new National Stadium
Live on ITV One/HD (UK) - Commentator:
Clive Tyldesley

England - Jermain Defoe (six-yard volley 3 2:38, twelve-yard shot 61 60:35, ten-yard shot 86 85:08), Adam Johnson (twelve-yard shot 83 82:48) Match Summary
England Squad
Bulgaria Squad
Results 2010-2015 Bulgaria - Ivelin Popov (62 61:57)
England - Jamie Milner (90
89:28)

Bulgaria kicked-off. 94 minutes (45 & 49).
 

Match Summary

Officials from Hungary

England

Type

Bulgaria

Referee (yellow) - Viktor Kassai
34 (10 September 1975),
Tatabánya, FIFA-listed 2003.

Assistant Referees - Tbor Vámos, 43 (16 January 1967) and György Ring, 29 (18 March 1981).

Fourth official - Mihaly Fabian, 30 (5 March 1980).

Teams presented to Bulgarian Football Union President Boris Mihaylov.

13 Goal Attempts 5
8 Attempts on Target 2
0 Hit Bar/Post 0
8 Corner Kicks Won 2
2 Offside Calls Against 5
12 Fouls Conceded 9
59.8% Possession 40.2%

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (11 August 2010) 7th
EFO ranking Group 3

ELO rating 6th
Colours: The 2010 home uniform - White open-neck jerseys with coloured crosses across upper panel, royal blue shorts, white socks with royal blue tops.
Capt: Steven Gerrard, fourteenth captaincy Manager: Fabio Capello, 64 (18 June 1946), appointed 14 December 2007, effective 7 January 2008, 
30th match, W 21 - D 4 - L 5 - F 70 - A 26.
England Lineup
1 Hart, C. Joseph J. 23 19 April 1987 G Manchester City FC 5 1 ᵍᵃ
2 Johnson, Glen M. 26 23 August 1984 RB Liverpool FC 28 1
3 Cole, Ashley 29 20 December 1980 LB Chelsea FC 84 0
4 Gerrard, Steven G. 30 30 May 1980 CM Liverpool FC 86 19
5 Dawson, Michael R., off 56th min. Injured. 26 18 November 1983 CD Tottenham Hotspur FC 2 0
6 Jagielka, Philip N. 28 17 August 1982 CD Everton FC 5 0
7 Walcott, Theo J., off 74th min 21 16 March 1989 RM Arsenal FC 13 3
8 Barry, Gareth 29 23 February 1981 CM Manchester City FC 41 2
9
Defoe, Jermain C., off 87th min 27 7 October 1982 F Tottenham Hotspur FC 44 15
the 84th (47th post-war) hattrick scored
10 Rooney, Wayne M. 24 24 October 1985 F Manchester United FC 66 24
11 Milner, James P. 24 4 January 1986 LM Manchester City FC 13 0
Milner cautioned after 90 minutes for Unsporting Behaviour for a very poor challenge on Milanov.
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 Bulgaria 0
14 Cahill, Gary J., on 56th min. for Dawson 24 19 December 1985 CD Bolton Wanderers FC 1 0
scoreline: England 2 Bulgaria 0
16 Johnson, Adam, on 74th min. for Walcott 23 14 July 1987 M Manchester City FC 3 1
scoreline: England 4 Bulgaria 0
17 Young, Ashley S., on 87th min. for Defoe 25 9 July 1985 M Aston Villa FC 9 0
result: England 4 Bulgaria 0
unused substitutes: 12-Ben Foster, 13-Kieran Gibbs, 15-Michael Carrick, 18-Darren Bent.
records: Jermain Defoe becomes the first player to score a hattrick at the new National Stadium, and the fourth BME player to do so. He then becomes the fifth player to score a hattrick and then be replaced.
Adam Johnson's goal makes him the fifteenth capped player to score his first goal as a substitute.
The tenth substitute goal at the new National Stadium. The nineteenth goal scored by a substitute in qualification history.
Steven Gerrard has now appeared in eighteen of England's twenty home matches at the National Stadium, just one ahead of Gareth Barry, who in turn is two ahead of Frank Lampard.
Gary Cahill is the tenth player to make his England debut at the new Stadium, the eighth substitute.
Jermain Defoe's third goal is England's 25th goal scored on a Friday.
Defoe has also become the first England player to score three goals against Bulgaria, overtaking Dave Watson's record set in 1979.
Coach Fabio Capello played for Italy against England in June (scoring one) and November 1973 (scoring another), and in May and November 1976. He played against Bulgaria in June 1972.
 
4-4-2 Hart -
G.Johnson, Dawson (Cahill), Jagielka, Cole -
Walcott
(A.Johnson), Gerrard, Barry, Milner -
Rooney, Defoe
(Young).
Averages (Starting XI): Age 26.0 Appearances/Goals 35.2 5.7

 

Bulgaria Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (11 August 2010) 43rd
EFO ranking Group 5

ELO rating 37th
Colours: Made by Puma - Red crew neck jerseys with green piping, green shorts with white trim, red socks with white vertical short stripes.
Capt: Stiliian Petrov Manager: Stanimir Kolev Stoilov, 43 (13 February 1967), appointed 30 January 2009.
17th match, W 7 - D 4 - L 6 - F 27 - A 24.
(inc. two matches as caretaker manager April-June 2007)
Bulgaria Lineup
13 Mihaylov, Nikolay 22 28 June 1988 G FC Twente '65, Netherlands 11 0
2 Manolev, Stanislev, off 66th min 24 16 December 1985 RB Philips Sport Vereniging, Netherlands 16 0
3 Stoyanov, Ilian 33 20 January 1977 CD Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC, Japan 40 0
15 Ivanov, Ivan K. 22 25 February 1988 CD FC Alania Vladikavkaz, Russia 10 0
16 Milanov, Zhivko 26 15 July 1984 LB FC Vaslui, Romania 18 0
6 Angelov, Stanislev 32 12 April 1978 CM FC Steaua Bucureşti, Romania 34 2
7 Popov, Ivelin I., off 79th min 22 26 October 1987 F Gaziantepspor, Turkey 17 3
Popov cautioned after 62 minutes for Unsporting Behaviour for a very poor challenge on Milner.
8 Yankov, Chavdar 26 29 March 1984 RM FC Rostov, Russia, on loan from FC Metalurh Donetsk, Ukraine 31 5
19 Petrov, Stiliian A. 31 5 July 1979 CM Aston Villa FC, England 96 8
10 Bozhinov, Valeri E., off 63rd min 24 15 February 1986 F SSD Parma Calcio 1913, Italy 32 7
17 Petrov, Martin P. 31 15 January 1979 LM Bolton Wanderers FC, England 79 19
Bulgaria Substitutes
scoreline: England 2 Bulgaria 0
11 Rangelov, Dimitar, on 63rd min. for Bozhinov 27 7 March 1983 F BV Borussia 1909 Dortmund, Germany 20 2
5 Minev, Veselin M., on 66th min. for Manolev 29 14 October 1980 D PFC Levski Sofia 6 0
12 Peev, Georgi, on 79th min. for Popov 31 11 March 1979 M FC Amkar Perm, Russia 43 0
result: England 4 Bulgaria 0
unused substitutes: 1-Vladislav Stoyanov, 9-Martin Kamburov, 14-Valeri Domovchiiski, 20-Stanislav Genchev.
Manager Stanimir Stoilev played against England in June 1999.
 
4-4-2 Mihaylov -
Manolev
(Minev), Stoyanov, Ivanov, Milanov -
Yankov,
S.Petrov, Angelov, M.Petrov -
Popov
(Peev), Bozhinov (Rangelov)
.
Averages (Starting XI): Age 26.6 Appearances/Goals 34.9 4.0

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

The England players were looking to make a positive start to their European Championship qualifying campaign, and they could hardly have asked for a better start than this.  Right from the first whistle there was an energy and a fizz about their play, and straight away Bulgaria were on the back foot.  And there was a dream start for England, with a goal after just over two minutes.  A bad pass by Manolev gave Wayne Rooney possession, he spotted Ashley Cole making a darting run in to the box.  An inch perfect chipped pass found the full-back and only a brave block by goalkeeper Mihaylov stopped a goal.  But the ball bounced back to Cole who squared it to Jermaine Defoe waist high.  Defoe licked his lips and volleyed England into the lead with a terrific finish.

The perfect start and for the next ten minutes England continued with their marauding, high octane start to the game.  On seven minutes Theo Walcott almost scored another and it seemed only a matter of time before England added to their lead.  As the half wore on though the pace slackened and it allowed the visitors to string some passes together without really troubling the home defence.  It was not until the 20th minute that the Bulgarians created a semblance of a chance and it came from an unlikely source.  As the ball came over from the right Glen Johnson looked to put it out for a corner but only succeeded in shinning the ball inside Joe Hart's post.  Luckily for Johnson and England, Hart made a super save to prevent any embarrassment.  Three minutes later sloppiness in England's midfield allowed Popov to split the defence with a good pass.  But Phil Jagielka did very well to time his tackle to perfection to snuff out the danger.

James Milner had one run and shot and Walcott saw a mazy dribble produce a corner as England hit back.  The passing between Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry and especially Rooney was brilliant at times and Milner again went close with a deflected shot four minutes from the interval.  England's general dominance deserved another goal before the break and they nearly got it when Walcott's dangerous cross was well saved as Defoe challenged.

Hart's performance in goal was a pleasure to watch.  What a treat it is to see an England goalkeeper enjoying playing for England again.  His handling was excellent and everything he did was done with a calm assurance.  His confidence knows no boundaries and it is gradually rubbing off on all the teammates in front of him.

After the break England began slowly and in fact Bulgaria had a ten minute spell that all but produced an equaliser.  Bojinov missed a good chance when well placed and there was a certain air of sloppiness amongst the otherwise excellent back four.  A long clearance by Hart then almost produced the goal the fans wanted.  Defoe headed the ball to Rooney and the Manchester United star moved forward and tried an exquisite lob, which Mihaylov did well to touch over the bar.  Two minutes later and Popov had the best chance of the match for Bulgaria, but pulled his shot just wide with Hart, for once, beaten.

Just after this Michael Dawson fell awkwardly and damaged his knee badly.  He had to be stretchered from the field and Gary Cahill was given his first cap as his replacement.  Dawson's injury looked bad and one hopes it is not as serious as it looked.

On the hour mark there was a sixty second passage of play that settled the result.  Petrov pulled the ball back and Yankov smashed a shot straight at Hart.  The goalkeeper could only parry it away but the ball fell for the ever-willing Barry.  Barry passed to Gerrard and England broke at speed.  The captain found Rooney who then made another superbly timed pass to Defoe, who scored with a shot through the keeper's legs.  It was a classic breakaway goal and the match was effectively over. 

England now pushed forward again and Cahill almost reached a Gerrard free-kick at the far post.  Bulgaria were not quite out of it and Rangelov's shot was again superbly saved by Hart, with Cahill cleverly blocking the follow up shot.  By now the match was opening up and Rooney was again the provider as Walcott fired carelessly over the bar.  Rooney was playing deep and picking the ball up in various areas of the pitch, he was acting as an extra midfield player and the Bulgarians didn't quite know how to deal with him.  Rooney's passing was wonderful all night and the player who has suffered much unfair criticism had an outstanding game.  On 76 minutes Gerrard fired in a shot which Mihaylov saved, and then scooped the ball away as Defoe closed in sensing his hat-trick.

England were now well on top and a superb move involving Cole, Rooney and Milner ended with substitute Adam Johnson shooting just wide.  Then Defoe went close again before another good passing move between Milner, Defoe and Rooney ended with the latter teeing up Adam Johnson to cut inside and fire home number three.  It was his first goal for England, and boy, did he look delighted.  With four minutes to go England put the icing on the cake when Barry's quickly taken free-kick sent Rooney away on another surging run.  At just the right moment he released a pass to Defoe and the Tottenham striker crashed home a brilliant goal for a deserved hat-trick.

So, job done and England now move on to a difficult away game in Basle against Switzerland.  If England can break from defence as well there as they did here at Wembley against Bulgaria then another good result is on the cards.  Without getting too carried away the future is looking good as this young team continue to grow together.

Source Notes

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

____________________

CG