ENGLAND vs. ENGLAND

England vs. England

Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you. In a few moments you will witness a spectacle, the likes of which has never been seen before in the history of the sport. Today we witness an epic battle, a contest to defy all odds where we will pit England’s finest legends (Seniors) against England’s legends-in-making (Juniors). The stage is set and we have a jam-packed crowd at the New Wembley today to witness this tremendous contest.

TEAMS:

ENGLAND SENIORS (MANAGER: ALAN SHEARER)

 ENGLAND JUNIORS (MANAGER: DAVID BECKHAM)

Toss: Gary Cahill has won the toss for his juniors side. They have decided that they will begin proceedings.

First Half:

Kick Off: Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck will initiate the kick-off., and the game is now underway.

2min: A very unique situation is being observed here. JUNIORS are attempting to up the tempo of their game by some quick passing and speedy maneuvers but the SENIORS side are content with breaking up the play and resorting to straightforward, simple passing. SENIORS attempting to get a feel of their young compatriots.

4min: There seems to be no improvement in the current situation. The game is looking like a Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer contest. JUNIORS, like Nadal’s fiery serves are trying to bomb the flanks with Chamberlain and Albrighton along with Cleverly and Wilshere pushing up from the center but like Federer’s backhand slice the SENIORS defenders John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are breaking up the play and passing it on up front.

9min: JUNIORS’s pressure really paying off now. Alex Chamberlain speeds down the left flank and makes a deadly pass bisecting Ferdinand and Johnson to provide the ball to Cleverly who lays it on for Sturridge. Sturridge who was marked by Chelsea teammate Terry attempts to break free and tries to turn and shoot but the ball takes a deflection and goes out. Corner to JUNIORS. Whew!

15min: SENIORS finally deciding to play the game and are getting into their own groove. Ashley Young is making some darting runs and combining really well with Ashley Cole on the left to get into the box and lay it off for Wayne Rooney.

19min: An amazing attempt by Wayne Rooney just goes wide of the goalpost. Hart having taken the goal kick had passed the ball up where it was controlled by Lampard, who dribbled it forward and passed it to Steven Gerrard who crosses it to James Milner from over a static Wilshere’s head. James Milner speeds down breaking free of young defender Ryan Bertrand and crosses the ball to Wayne Rooney. Rooney out-jumps his marker Phil Jones to head the ball but it goes just wide.

21min: SENIORS after a slow start are really building up the pressure now. Lampard drifts the ball in from the corner and finds Terry’s head whose header is on target but sees the ball being parried by an amazing save from former Manchester United goalie Ben Foster. The ball falls to Gareth Barry at the edge of the box who shoots but a block from Gary Cahill saves the day.

26min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!! 1-0: SENIORS’s buildup play has really paid off now. Ashley Young darts down the left side drawing Micah Richards towards him. Unbeknownst to Richards, Ashley Cole moves ahead from the outside. Young passes the ball to an unmarked Cole who loops the ball to Wayne Rooney. Cahill has not timed his jump well which sees Rooney head the ball into the top corner past a hapless Foster. 1-0 to SENIORS. Goal: Wayne Rooney. Assist: Ashley Cole.

JUNIORS manager David Beckham is really furious and is shouting orders from the touchline, using some hand gestures which only he and his team seem to understand.

32min: JUNIORS players are now backing their original ploy of fast paced football. Passes and crosses are flying left and right. Chamberlain and Albrighton are showing their mettle by passing to each other across the flanks and providing some defense splitting passes to Welbeck and Sturridge but the experienced pair of Ferdinand and Terry seems to have things under control.

36min: Another frantic move by JUNIORS sees a goal line clearance from Barry. Wilshere took the free kick from 10 yards outside the box after Gerrard felled the advancing Bertrand. Wilshere’s free kick hits the crossbar and falls to Danny Welbeck whose thunderous strike is caught cleared of the goal line by Gareth Barry. This is a great spell of dominance for the JUNIORS side.

40min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!!  1-1: The JUNIORS side hitting back with a goal from the corner. Marc Albrighton takes the corner. An out swinging ball finds the head of Gary Cahill who powers it into the net. Hart couldn’t move an inch. Cahill making amends for his earlier inefficiency that allowed Rooney to score.   1-1 the score. Goal: Gary Cahill. Assist: Marc Albrighton.

43min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!! 1-2: Two goals in three minutes. This has been a sensational turnaround by the JUNIORS players. After a great start in the early few minutes SENIORS had begun to dominate but the last 10 minutes have simply belonged to the JUNIORS side. A counter attacking move after SENIORS’s hashed corner which left only Ferdinand alone at the back to protect the goal saw the ball fall to Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge breaks free of the main pack of followers and skillfully sidesteps the lone defender Ferdinand to come one-on-one with Joe Hart. Hart advances but Sturridge slots the ball in with a thunderous drive from the edge of the box towards bottom corner at the near post. You could see the arrogance in the strike.  Shearer’s furious now but Beckham is all smiles. Guess your opponent’s miseries are always funny.

Half Time: Half time approaches with the score reads a surprising 1-2. No one had expected the youngsters to make such a mark. Overall a rather clean game with no cards shown so far, but the tension will only build up. The seniors have their reputations at stake while the youngsters seem ready to display their talents.  The seniors have not really been outplayed but yet the score line isn’t in their favor.  A visibly happy Beckham led his boys into the dressing room while Shearer seems to be displeased with his side’s performance so far.

Second Half:

45min: The second half is underway with Rooney and Lampard taking the kick off.

48min: Gerrard goes close. Glenn Johnson cleared the ball which was then collected by James Milner who passed it on to Gerrard. Gerrard attempts a long range curling strike to beat Ben Foster but misses the goal by a yard. Goal Kick to JUNIORS

49min: Yellow to Barry! The first card of the game. Clumsy tackle by Barry who catches Cleverly. Cleverly, cleverly stays down till the card is issued.

51min: Substitution: Rodwell on, Cleverly off. Substitution for the JUNIORS side. Cleverly clearly uncomfortable after Barry’s tackle. Beckham makes a smart move by subbing on a defensive midfielder in an attempt to hold the lead. Wilshere goes into a central midfield role while Rodwell drops back a bit further between the defense and midfield.

53min: Yellow to Rodwell! Another yellow card issued by the referee. This time to JUNIORS right back Micah Richards. A real scuffle emerging at the edge of the box. Rodwell reportedly deemed to have unfairly tackled Gareth Barry.

56min: Substitution: Parker on, Barry off; Walcott on, Milner off. Double substitution for the senior side with Parker and Walcott coming on. Walcott will add a much needed pace injection to the senior side with his bursting runs down the right flank. We will also get to see if the Young-Walcott partnership is going to work.

61min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!! 2-2:  Lampard equalizes from the spot kick. Richards the man at the center of the controversy. Richards brings down Young inside the box. JUNIORS supporters with chants of, “Diver! Diver! Diver!”  .A tussle breaks out between the two. A bit of pushing and shoving  observed with Gerrard and Lampard trying to pacify both Young and Richards who have had a rather tumultuous relationship this season because of the ’great Manchester  rivalry’.  Tempers flaring and the pressure clearly visible on the players’ face but Lampard steps up and easily foxes Foster into diving in the wrong direction. Clean penalty from the set piece master. Goal: Frank Lampard. Alan Shearer delighted at his squad having finally equalized. Goal: Frank Lampard.

64min: Substitution: Walker on, Richards off. Beckham makes another substitution taking off temperamental defender Richards off in favor of exciting young prospect Kyle Walker who has greatly impressed this season at Tottenham Hotspur.

67min: Walker makes an instant impact. His cross finds Welbeck rather easily who volleys the ball towards the goal. It requires an acrobatic tip from Joe Hart to tip the ball over. So close!!

71min: Both teams settling down a bit. Chances created are far and few between. Both teams are currently happy with just kicking the ball around.

75min:  Good attempt by Walcott. Trying to burst down the right flank and outthink Bertrand. But Bertrand has learnt from his mistake when he let Milner through and slide tackles Walcott to gain possession.

78min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!!2-3. Jack Wilshere restores the lead for the Juniors with a good shot. A corner taken by Chamberlain finds Sturridge who heads it past Terry towards Hart. Hart parry the ball which falls to Welbeck. Welbeck shoots but the ball is cleared off the line by Scott Parker. Unfortunately the ball rebounds to Wilshere who buries it into the bottom left corner and seals the goal. The juniors have really shown that they mean business here. Beckham has gone wild. A lot of fist pumping and happy gestures observable.

82min: Substitution: Crouch on, Rooney off. The seniors make their final substitution. The game beginning to take a toll on the players. The fast paced runs are far and few between. The ball goes out for a goal kick but nobody is running to go get the ball. People taking their own sweet time. Rooney seems to have cramped up and is hobbling about. He has asked the manager for a sub off. Shearer telling Crouch what he must do. The lean-freaky-goal-machine comes on. The entire Wembley applauding as Rooney goes off.

84min: Substitution: McEchran on, Wilshere off. The juniors make their final substitution too. McEchran coming on in place of Wilshere.

85min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!! 3-3. Gerrard scores a sensational equalizer for the senior side. Lampard receives a pass from Scott Parker and lays it off for Gerrard who once again attempts the long distance shot he has been trying all game. This time it comes off. The ball dipping just under Ben Foster and brushing him on its way to the back of the net. Sensational! A late and dramatic goal with only five minutes remaining on the clock, has Gerrard rescued the seniors? Goal: Steven Gerrard. Assist: Frank Lampard.

89min: Crouch nearly finds a winner for the seniors. Lampard easily picks off Crouch from his corner kick who nonchalantly out jumps both Phil Jones and Gary Cahill and connects. The contact is not clean and the ball fizzes past the top corner.

90min: 5 extra minutes declared to this tense encounter. Both sides are in search of a winner. Both teams have stepped up their pace. The 4 wingers: Chamberlain, Albrighton, Young and Walcott will have to really step up their game in these dying minutes if they want to see their respective sides win.

90+4min: Goal! Goal!! Goal!!! 4-3. The crowd goes wild and so do the teams. Crouch scores and absolute peach of a goal. A carbon copy impression of the goal he scored for Stoke City against Manchester City. Catches the ball midair and shoots awkwardly in a way only he can and he ball flies past a shell-shocked Foster. Disbelief and despair on the face of David Beckham and his boys, Joy on the face of Alan Shearer and his squad. Crouch has proved that the Stoke goal wasn’t a fluke.  Goal: Peter Crouch.

90+5min: The full time whistle blows. Victory goes to the England seniors.

Full Time:  A rather tense and engaging encounter with seven goals scored in all. The crowds got their money’s worth. Beckhams’s boys were never expected to match up this evenly against Shearer’s seniors but they did. They proved that they are no pushovers. Both sides had an almost equal sharing of possession. All in all a rather clean game with a few fouls and a yellow card each for both the juniors and seniors. A great display of what English fans have to look up to during this decade and the next.

That’s all from us folks. Will see you next time. Till then enjoy and have a great time.

RESULT:

ENGLAND SENIORS 4                                             ENGLAND JUNIORS 3

Wayne Rooney………………….26’                            Gary Cahill ………………………40’

Frank Lampard (pk)………….61’                            Daniel Sturridge……………...43’

Steven Gerrard…………………85’                             Jack Wilshere…………………..78’

Peter Crouch…………………90+4’

           

Seniors (4-1-4-1):

Squad: J.Hart {gk}; G.Johnson, R.Ferdinand, J.Terry {c}, A.Cole; G.Barry (sub off 56min), J.Milner (sub off 56 min), S.Gerrard, F.Lampard, A.Young; W.Rooney (sub off 82 min)

Bench: R.Green, L.King, L.Baines, S.Parker (sub on 56min), T.Walcott (sub on 56 min), A.Johnson, P.Crouch (sub on 82 min).

Manager:  Alan Shearer.

Juniors (4-4-2):

Squad: B.Foster {gk}; M.Richards (sub off 64 min), P.Jones, G.Cahill {c}, R.Bertrand; M.Albrighton, J.Wilshere (sub off 84 min), T.Cleverly (sub off 51 min), A.Chamberlain; D.Welbeck, D.Sturridge.

Bench: F.Forster, K.Walker (sub on 64 min), C.Smalling, J.Rodwell (sub on 51 min), J.McEchran (sub on 84 min), J.Rodriguez, C.Wickham.

Manager: David Beckham.