Phew I can raise a few beers to Englands progress at the beach tonight as we celebrate the night of San Juan in Tenerife. Maybe I should jump a fire three times to cleanse the bad group memories, the Spain fans will be trying to attract their own mid summer luck as they head into the sea at midnight.
England 1, Slovenia 0
With Jermaine Defoe replacing Heskey in attack and Milner slotting in well on the right England and Wayne Rooney looked more at ease. Handanovic in the Slovenia goal was the main reason his team kept in touch until the final whistle but England missed a lot of chances. Milner shot down the right wing after 22 minutes and his perfect cross found the feet of Defoe and finally gave the army of England fans something to cheer. Lampard should have done better when a Milner cross bounced out from the keeper but he made impressive stops from Gerard and Defoe soon after. Birsa managed a decent effort for Slovenia to remind England that the narrow margin may not last.
Rooney and Gerard combined well after the break but Handanovic thwarted them, Rooney fired a belter at goal but the keeper made a touch at full stretch to push it away off the post. Birsa was again a danger and it took Johnson and Terry to block his shots before he fired just wide. Rooney had started limping and went off with an ankle knock, the whole tempo of the england team dropped worryingly after that. The Slovenia coach frantically gestured for his men to push forward for an equaliser but their complacency was to cost them dearly.
Algeria 0, USA 1
This Algerian team are in a long running goal drought but nearly broke it after Djebbour controlled a loose ball well before smacking it against the crossbar just into the game. USA ‘s Gomez had a similar miss at the other end with M’bolhi making the first of several big saves, suddenly all options were alive. Dempsey can consider himself unlucky that his 20th minute “goal” was ruled offside as he pounced on a rebound from a superb save by the keeper.
The second half was tight and USA pressed for a winner as Algeria hung on. Bill Clinton watching may have had some advice for them on scoring but was too far from the pitch. Dempsey had a double miss, one against the post and another flashed wide. It looked like fizzling out into a draw, which would put both sides out but in injury time Donovan came good, finishing after a Dempsey run had been stopped by M’bolhi. At this rate the majot TV networks might start to take an interest.
Australia 2, Serbia 1
A gallant effort by the boys from down under but not enough to break through into the last 16. Serbia looked the better side in the first half and Krasic took an early dive in the penalty area after a soft clash with Valeri but the ref didn’t fall for it. Schwarzer was kep busy in the Australia goal with Ivanovic forcing a one handed stop.
In the second half Australia were a different side, Culina and Bresciano threatened the Serbia goal but Tim Cahill made the break through after 69 minutes with a strong header. Brett Holman came off the bench to smash a long range goal and there was a glimmer of hope for the Aussies if they could get two more goals. All that evaporated as Schwarzer failed to hold a Tosic shot and Pantelic mopped up the rebound, if he had scored again with his last ditch effort Serbia could have snatched a last 16 place but it wasn’t to be.
Ghana 0, Germany 1
These two sides put on a fascinating struggle and both deserved to progress after playing some good football. Germany came out flying and Cacau and Podolski were both unlucky not to grab an early lead. Ghana sat back and soaked up the pressure before building some neat passing moves as they came more into the game.
We had to wait until the 60th minute for a goal but it was a class strike from Ozil whose volley dipped on its way into the Ghana net. the Africans had their chances to get back on terms, Gyan was again their biggest threat but he couldn’t produce a goal. Gyan pleased the crowd with a neat little back heel to Ayew but he wasted the chance and Germany survived to face England.
