England

2-2

Czech Republic

Brown 45, Cole 90+2

 

Baros 22, Jankulovski 48


International Friendly
8pm, Wednesday 20 August 2008
Wembley Stadium
Live on Setanta

England had to settle for a draw with the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening, but it could easily have been a victory had the Three Lions not encountered an in-from Petr Čech in the first half at Wembley.

The Chelsea stopper made save after save to keep England at bay during the opening 45 minutes and it almost set his team up for a victory in the end.

But it was Čech’s Stamford Bridge team-mate Joe Cole who saved England’s blushes by rescuing a draw in second half stoppage time, after the Czech Republic had taken the lead for a second time early after the re-start and that looked to have been enough to secure what would have been a famous win for Petr Rada’s team.

England’s never-say-die attitude was evident throughout though and Fabio Capello's reaction to the late equaliser showed just how much spirit and determination there is in the squad with the first World Cup qualifier against Andorra taking place in just over a week's time.

However, whilst England made by far the brighter start to the game, they could have found themselves behind in only the seventh minute when Stanislav Vlček’s mis-hit cross from the left found its way to Radoslav Kováč, but he could only screw his shot wide of the post.

Almost immediately after that, England broke to the other end and Steven Gerrard forced Čech into his first save, after cutting inside from the left and firing a low shot at goal.

England had David James to thank for keeping them on level terms after 15 minutes when Milan Baroš latched onto a ball over the top before driving a low shot at goal. James was down quickly to get a strong hand to the ball and turn it away to safety, aided by Rio Ferdinand who cleared the danger.

Baroš didn’t have to wait too much longer though and in the 22nd minute, he put the Czechs ahead with a deflected shot following a neat turn in the area and after some good work on the left by Radek Širl.

The Lions looked to swiftly play their way back into the game and a flowing move in the 27th minute saw the ball worked into Jermain Defoe in the area, but his effort was saved by Čech.

It was then Wayne Rooney’s turn to work the Czech keeper, as he headed David Beckham’s cross goalwards only to see the Chelsea man well positioned to make a save and seconds after that, Defoe tried his luck from 25 yards with Čech again equal to it.

England continued to press and after Rooney saw another shot saved by Čech, moments later Gerrard’s fine slide-rule pass picked out Defoe in the area. He looked to have clipped a delicate finish home, but Čech somehow got two hands to it at the expense of a corner.

The barrage of pressure continued and it was then Gerrard’s opportunity to test Čech, after a raking pass infield from Beckham was cleverly dummied by Frank Lampard to allow his midfield partner the space for a shot on goal. He lined a low right footer up, but Čech again guessed right to make a smart save low to his left with half time approaching.

The good work finally paid off just a minute before half time, when Beckham’s pacy corner into the area picked out Wes Brown and he made no mistake by plunging a header home from close range to send the sides in level at the break (pictured left).

The Czech Republic responded by introducing three substitutes at half time and it appeared to give them the lift they needed as within three minutes of the restart, they were back in front.

A foul was given away on the edge of the box at the expense of a free kick and James was given no chance whatsoever, as Marek Jankulovski stroked a fantastic free kick into the top left hand corner of the net to leave the Three Lions stunned.

It really should have been 3-1 to the visitors just before the hour mark when a ball down the left touchline was left by all of the England players, allowing Širl a free run on the flank. He took the ball past James and into the box, but crumbled under the pressure and dragged his shot at goal wide of the target from a tight angle.

With Emile Heskey replacing Defoe at the break, England had a different sort of threat in attack, but with the amount of space for the midfielders reduced, the service provided wasn’t as frequent and it took the Three Lions some time to find their rhythm.

David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas were brought on in place of Lampard and Beckham for the final 10 minutes and it almost paid dividends immediately, as Bentley’s cross from the right and Stewart Downing’s far post knock down led to a half chance for Heskey but he was quickly crowded out by the Czech defence.

England didn’t give up though and just as it looked as though they would be going into their opening World Cup qualifier on the back of a defeat, a late corner from Bentley caused chaos in the Czech area. Captain John Terry won the first header, before Heskey and Brown somehow combined at the edge of the goal to work the ball across to substitute Cole and he prodded home from close range to rescue a draw and raise the roof.

Teams

England
1 David James, 2 Wes Brown, 3 Ashley Cole, 4 Gareth Barry, 5 Rio Ferdinand (15 Jonathan Woodgate, 58), 6 John Terry (c), 7 David Beckham (19 Jermaine Jenas, 79), 8 Frank Lampard (17 David Bentley, 79), 9 Jermain Defoe (21 Emile Heskey, 46), 10 Steven Gerrard (20 Joe Cole, 58), 11 Wayne Rooney (18 Stewart Downing, 68)

Substitutes not used
12 Paul Robinson, 13 Glen Johnson, 14 Wayne Bridge, 16 Matthew Upson, 22 Theo Walcott, 23 Joe Hart.

Manager
Fabio Capello

Czech Republic
1 Petr Cech, 2 Zdeněk Grygera (12 Zdenek Pospech, 46), 21Tomaš Ujfalusi (c), 22 David Rozehnal, 6 Marek Jankulovski, 11 Stanislav Vlcek (14 David Jarolim, 46), 5 Radoslav Kovac, (3 Jan Rajnoch, 76), 8 Jan Polak, 20 Jaroslav Plasil (9 Michal Papadopulos, 90+2), 17 Radek Sirl, (Michal Kadlac, 76), 15 Milan Baros (19 Vaclav Sverkos, 46).

Substitutes not used
23 Daniel Zitka.

Manager
Petr Rada

Team Colours

England
White shirts, blue shorts, white socks

Czech Republic
Red shirts, red shorts, red socks

Attendance
69,738