England National Football Team Match No. 834

Argentina 2 England 3  [1-1]

Saturday, 12 November 2005

Match Summary and Report

Stade de Genčve, Genčve, Switzerland, 12 November 2005 - The team that faced Argentina.
Back row - Paul Robinson, Ledley King, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard.
Front row - Luke Young, Wayne Bridge, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham (captain), Michael Owen.
 

Match Summary

Argentina Team

4th in FIFA ranking of 19 October 2005; 6th in Elo world ranking before this match and 8th after this match.

Argentina Lineup

Argentina Substitutes

4-4-2

Abbondanzieri -
Zanetti, Samuel, Ayala (Coloccini), Sorín -
Rodríguez, Demichelis, Riquelme (González), Cambiasso -
Crespo (Saviola), Tévez (Cruz).

England Team

=9th in FIFA ranking of 19 October 2005; 5th in Elo world ranking before this match and 5th after this match.

England Lineup

England Substitutes

4-1-3-2  (4-4-2)

Robinson -
Young (Crouch), Terry, Ferdinand, Bridge (Konchesky) -
King (Cole) -
Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard -
Owen, Rooney

Match Report

 

Michael Owen scored two dramatic late goals to earn England victory in a pulsating friendly against Argentina.  Owen nodded in an equaliser on 87 minutes from Steven Gerrard's pinpoint cross and headed the winner from Joe Cole's floated centre in injury time.  Hernan Crespo put Argentina ahead from Maxi Rodrigruez's pull-back but the outstanding Wayne Rooney fired England level from David Beckham's knock-down.  Walter Samuel's downward header made it 2-1 before Owen's late intervention.

Until then it looked set to be a disappointing day for England in Switzerland's packed Stade de Geneve.  Sven-Göran Eriksson's side impressed going forward but always struggled to cope with Argentina's inventive attack.  Rio Ferdinand, who kept his place in the starting line-up at the expense of Sol Campbell, and the England defence had to be on their mettle from the start.

Owen had a header ruled out for offside early on before England keeper Paul Robinson was out quickly to check Carlos Tevez's run and Terry had to block Juan Pablo Sorin's follow-up.  Crespo thought he had opened the scoring two minutes later when he tapped in Juan Roman Riquelme's free-kick, but the referee spotted some pushing.  There was just a brief lull in the action before it intensified again.

Rooney was unlucky when his shot hit the far post from Gerrard's exquisite pass but just as England appeared to be seizing control, Argentina went ahead.  Wayne Bridge, playing his first game for England in over a year, was beaten by Rodriguez, who crossed for Crespo to stab home from close-range.  Rooney, though, got the goal his dazzling first-half performance deserved when he latched on to Beckham's flick-on and poked the ball past Roberto Abbondanzieri.

The entertainment continued apace after the break, with Riquelme catching the eye in midfield.  The Villarreal midfielder floated in a dangerous free-kick and an unmarked Samuel lifted his header over Robinson and into the far corner.   Eriksson responded by bringing on Cole for Ledley King, allowing Gerrard to move into his preferred central midfield.  The move invigorated England and Lampard went close with a long-range shot.  Argentina keeper Abbondanzieri could only parry Beckham's free-kick and then did brilliantly to prevent Owen tapping in the follow-up.

With the clock ticking down, Eriksson introduced striker Peter Crouch and played him alongside Rooney and Owen up front.  England's attacking verve was finally rewarded when Gerrard, by now playing at right-back, crossed for Owen to head home.  The celebrations were predictably wild but they were nothing compared to the scenes minutes later when Cole set up the Newcastle striker to steal victory for England over their bitter rivals.

Source Notes

Sources

BBC Sport

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CG