Live Football

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/49994?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Germany+v+England+player+ratingsch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CGermany+%28Football+team%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Dominic+Fifieldc7=2008_11_20c8=1120872c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpstrongDavid James/strong 6/ppPunched Piotr Trochowski’s free-kick away to show his quality having suffered jitters early on, such as when the winger crossed low into the box and prompted a weak punch. Not entirely reassuring, but rarely tested. /ppstrongGlen Johnson/strong 8/ppOne fine sliding challenge on Trochowski set the early tone and there was energy and threat to the full-back’s performance. Indeed, his fine intervention should have set up Marcus Bent for a second./ppstrongMatthew Upson/strong 6/ppStill occasionally shaky at the back, with his distribution hit and miss, but vastly improved from last month’s nervy displays. A poached first international goal from Rene Adler’s flap was fine reward for his improvement./ppstrongJohn Terry/strong 7/ppCommanded with typical authority until indecision, sparked by an unfamiliarity with Scott Carson, supplied Helmes with an equaliser. Redeemed himself and rescued England with a fine headed winner./ppstrongWayne Bridge/strong 7/ppLinked well with Steward Downing, springing down the flank into space when Bastian Schweinsteiger drifted in-field. Germany were weaker down their right thanks to his excursions forward. /ppstrongShaun Wright-Phillips/strong 6/ppIf only his accuracy in the pass matched his enthusiasm. The winger was eager and unsettled Marvin Compper, but his delivery from corners was dismal. Happier in a central role and belted against the post from distance. /ppstrongGareth Barry/strong 8/ppThe Aston Villa midfielder looks the part. One fine early reverse pass was followed with a timely clearance to indicate his development at both ends of the pitch. Tenacious in the tackle, calm in possession./ppstrongMichael Carrick/strong 8/ppStrode around central midfield oozing such class as to suggest he has been a regular on this stage for years. There was vision, assurance in the pass, time on the ball and invention to his game. /ppstrongStewart Downing/strong 8/ppFar more threatening than Wright-Phillips’, swinging in the ball for Upson’s goal and forcing Tim Wiese to save a second-half free-kick. A stinging half-volley on half-time from a newly confident player./ppstrongJermain Defoe/strong 6/ppInfuriated to have wandered offside in the opening 80 seconds when put through by Agbonlahor, but linked up well enough with the debutant even if he rarely enjoyed a clear sight at goal./ppstrongGabriel Agbonlahor/strong 8/ppA sprightly opening to his international career, the striker almost setting up Defoe with his first touch, embarrassing his markers, particularly Simon Rolfes, with his searing pace. /ppstrongSubstitutes/strong/ppstrongScott Carson/strong (James, h-t) 4/ppA first appearance since the shambles against Croatia at Wembley was wrecked by the horrible confusion with Terry, which presented Helmes with his equaliser. A sprawling save from Marin did not truly make amends./ppstrongDarren Bent/strong (Defoe, h-t) 5/ppQuite how he missed having rounded the goalkeeper, only to shank his shot wide, will be beyond the Spurs forward./ppstrongAshley Young /strong(Agbonlahor, 77) Introduced on the right flank late on./ppstrongReferee /strongMassimo Busacca (Swit)/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/germany”Germany/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227139907427112000114957797″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227139907427112000114957797″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Dominic Fifield

Craig Bellamy scored his 16th international goal with less than fifteen minutes to go to give Wales a 1-0 win in Copenhagen

Original post by Dave Middleton in Copenhagen

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/87926?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Campbell+pushes+his+way+into+Pearce%27s+planningch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CCzech+Republic+football+team%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Stuart+Jamesc7=2008_11_19c8=1120079c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpThe preparations for next summer’s European Championships started last night, according to Stuart Pearce, and this was a performance that suggested everything is going to plan. Having used the occasion as an opportunity to experiment, the England Under-21 manager had good reason to be satisfied with the result as an under-strength line-up overcame a combative Czech Republic side through goals from the in-form Fraizer Campbell and Aston Villa’s Craig Gardner./ppHow many of these players appear in Sweden in June remains to be seen but Pearce was able to take encouragement from the fact that he has such competition for places. No one was more impressive than Campbell, with the 21-year-old striker, who has scored three times in his last two games on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, registering his first international goal and generally making life as uncomfortable as possible for the Czech Republic./pp”I thought he played well,” said Pearce. “He’s quick, darts in behind and is a constant threat. If he carries on the way he is, Manchester United and Tottenham will have a player on their hands.” Pearce also singled out the contribution of the Wolverhampton Wanderers central defender Richard Stearman, the sole debutant in the England starting line-up on a night when an inexperienced side extended the manager’s run to one defeat in 22 matches./pp”It took us an hour to knock them off,” added Pearce, whose goalkeeper, Peterborough’s Joe Lewis, was taken off on a stretcher in the first half with his ankle heavily strapped. “We probably needed to show a touch more devilment and grab the game by the scruff of the neck early on. But we wanted to get a win, keep a clean sheet and for three or four players to come in and do well and I think I got that out of this performance.”/ppCampbell capitalised on Jan Halama’s weak header before lobbing Jakub Divis, Gardner’s 25-yard free-kick doubled England’s lead and a third should have followed two minutes later but Jamie O’Hara telegraphed his intentions with a weak penalty after Jakub Heidenreich bundled over Campbell. There should have been another England spot-kick within seconds after the same two players clashed but Campbell was harshly booked for diving./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/czechrepublic”Czech Republic/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227057980222111901285839760″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227057980222111901285839760″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Stuart James

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/91595?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Maradona+targets+repeat+of+1986ch=Footballc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Diego+Maradona%2CArgentina+football+team%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Paul+Doylec7=2008_11_18c8=1119847c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Diego+Maradonac13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FDiego+Maradona” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpThe new Argentina coach a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/diego-maradona” title=”"Diego Maradona/a this afternoon declared his intention to bring the World Cup back to his homeland more than 20 years after his greatest triumph as a player. a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/argentina” title=”"Argentina/a have failed to reach even the semi-finals of the World Cup since Maradona, inspired them to glory in 1986 by producing arguably the greatest series of performances by an individual in any team sport. They currently lie third in the South American qualifying league for the 2010 edition, seven points behind leaders Paraguay, yet Maradona his team can be champions./pp”Finishing in the top four doesn’t interest me, I want to be first,” he said. “With the group of players we have that should be that target.”/ppMaradona was speaking ahead of his first match as his country manager, which comes tomorrow night against Scotland, the country where, coincidentally, he scored his first international goal back in 1979 and where he is still widely revered for the ingenuity he displayed throughout a dazzling playing career that, of course, included the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England. “I’m happy to be back in Scotland after so long away. I’m aware of how popular I seem to be with Scottish people and I will try to repay them by giving them a great spectacle tomorrow night. I hope it will be a feast of football.”/ppMaradona has enjoyed a rapturous welcome since arriving in Glasgow yesterday but one member of the Scotland set-up who will not be offering much hospitality is assistant manager Terry Butcher, who yesterday announced he has not forgiven the Argentinan for his infamous goal against England and will refuse to shake his hand tomorrow night./pp”I don’t know why he’s taken this attitude,” said Maradona. “But I’m not worried. Let Butcher get on with his life and I’ll get on with mine.”/ppMaradona’s predecessor, Alfio Basile, resigned from the post in October following a 1-0 defeat by Chile, and Maradona admitted he has plenty of work to do if he is to fulfil his ambition of emulating Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and Braziil’s Mario Zagallo by winning the World Cup both as captain and manager./pp”A lot of changes need to be made, not just in terms of tactics and players but also in terms of approach to an extent,” said Maradona. “What I really want is to have the players happy to wear the shirt of Argentina and to be part of the set-up./ppDespite his immense popularity, Maradona’s appointment has not met with universal approval in Argentina, where some doubters have questioned the wisdom of entrusting the reins to someone with no managerial experience. But maradona insists he feels no pressure. “I am very proud to be manager of the national side and I want to find a place in the players’ hearts. If I hadn’t accepted the offer I would have been a coward, I didn’t want to shy away from it. I know it’s going to be a long, hard road but hopefully the players and I are going to enjoy a great collective experience in South Africa.”/ppAsked how he envisages his team playing, Maradona suggested Barcelona prodigy Leo Messi may be given a role somewhat similar to the one in which Maradona himself used to excel. “He [Messi] needs to have freedom,” said Maradona. “We know he can convert chances but I want to see him all over the parkl, sometimes as far as three-quarters of the way back. He’s a great passer as well as a great finisher and we want to see that.”/ppThroughout the press conference, his first since his appointment, Maradona looked sombre but relaxed. His past drug and medical problems are well known and when asked how he was feeling generally, he replied simply: “I get up every morning.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/diego-maradona”Diego Maradona/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/argentina”Argentina/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Paul Doyle