Oh sooooooo close!!

Well the squad can hold its' head up high with a fantastic performance against Belarus this afternoon despite ending up losing 3-2. Considering Belarus have not lost a competitive game since 1999 and have not conceded more than 1 goal in any game since then the England boys should be very proud of their performance today. With a disallowed goal, clearance off the line and fingertip push onto the post in the last minute Belarus were hanging on and their reaction at full time said it all. They made no celebrations and their coach was going wild at the players.

The disallowed goal came early in the first half from a great shot from Kev Price but then Belarus went 1 up with a hopeful shot from a tap in. We then equalised when Kev held the ball up well in the area for Hugo Costa to rocket the ball into the roof of the net. However with 49 seconds to go until the end of the half Belarus broke quickly from our free kick and finished well to go 2-1 up.

In the second half things were fairly even but Belarus got a man in at the far post to make it 3-1. With 7 minutes to go the team were told to go for it and press them all over the pitch and the Belarusian’s had no answer to it. Their keeper performed heroics and their foul count quickly went up to 5. Steve Daley pulled us back to 3-2 with a minute and a half to go with another rasping shot into the bottom corner. However, despite intense pressure they managed to keep us out and not make another single foul. With only 7 seconds on the clock Hugo made a great run and their keeper made an unbelievable save to tip the shot onto the post for the victory. Credit to Belarus for another professional performance.

We are now preparing for the ¾ place playoffs against Argentina at 4pm tomorrow with the final at 6pm between Ukraine and Belarus.

Here’s to 3rd place in the World and a bronze medal………..la,la,laaaaa……la,la,laaaa, and we all love Eng…ger…land….we’re gonna score one more than you…..ENGLAND!!!