England v. Japan - Match Report

By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London

It was a tepid and weak performance from England, and one which won’t have helped build confidence before the World Cup – despite running out eventual winners.

As with the Mexico game, Capello started with an unfamiliar line-up featuring Huddlestone partnering Lampard in the centre of midfield, Lennon on the left, Walcott on the right and Bent starting up front with Rooney. The opening minutes were littered with errors and Japan looked by far the better team. England’s passing was sloppy and often misguided – easily giving possession away on too many occasions. Their poor start was punished after six minutes with a goal from a corner. Endo picked out a late Tanaka run into the box and the defender finished with aplomb, keeping his strike low and through the legs of a hapless Ashley Cole on the England goal line. Although it was a fine finish, England will be worried to have conceded from what was essentially a simple set-piece. It was Glen Johnson who let his man go after ball-watching, and another example of his defensive frailties. Jamie Carragher would have been licking his lips on the sidelines.

The early goal did little to change the play of England. There was a real lack of urgency on an occasion which was the last chance for many of the players to prove their worth for a place in Capello’s final 23-man squad. The midfield looked disjointed with Lennon playing on the left wing. Most of the attacking on the left flank came from an overlapping Ashley Cole. Walcott on the right again failed to impress with too many misplaced passes and some weak crosses. Huddlestone tried his best to impose himself on the game with some aggressive sliding challenges, but lacked the finesse of Barry once he was in possession. The best chance of the half came on 19 minutes when Aaron Lennon was put through by Rooney, but fired a tame shot straight at Kawashima. England were lucky not to concede another before half time when the diminutive Okazaki outmuscled Rio Ferdinand from a long ball, but lashed his volley over the bar.

Bent was doing little to stake his place on the plane to South Africa and failed to form any sort of partnership with Rooney. He barely touched the ball in 45 minutes and managed to spurn a half-chance when a high ball looped over the last defender and he misdirected a weak header past the post. The tone was set for Bent’s poor performance before he even set foot on the pitch. When the England line-up was flashed up on the big screen before kick-off, the England striker appeared as “D. Brent” – a sure sign of a bad day at the office.