Relief. Joy. Exhilaration. These basically sum up my feelings after England successfully toppled Croatia in a highly anticipated match which ended in a electrifying score of 4-2. Again 18 year old Wayne Roodney shone , surpassing the talents of his well-known predecessors by shooting in two stylish goals. However, it was really Paul Scholes’ surprising header which helped England regain her confidence after being one goal down to Croatia. From then on, England was jolted up from her slumber, with Wayne Roodney scoring twice. Particularly memorable was Roodney’s forceful long-shot goal of which Croatia’s goalkeeper (I can’t remember Soviet names very well) could only stare helplessly. Owen, in contrast had to be contented in playing second fiddle to Roodney. His only attempt in scoring a goal failed miserably despite having great clearance to manoeuvre the ball. It should have been a goal had it been someone else in his place.
Beckham continued his role as a dud after a couple of off-target free-kick shot and to my amazement/aghast, he had the cheek to chuckle…Paul Scholes finally got his breakthrough, ending his 3years of goal-less drought!

Apart from minor glitches here & there, England played superbly, at least better than the match against Switzerland. It seems like England must go through the hard way of conceding a goal before her players will buckle up. In this match, complacency did not rear its ugly head fortunately, possibly due to the fact that they were taught a heavy lesson previously against France. What frustrated me was Ericksson’s perpetual habit of substituting scorers for defenders in the late second-half which always proves to too costly and even fatal at times. This is not to imply that substitute players like Ledley King are inferior but harmony is disrupted whenever too many changes are made within a short span of time. Adaptation is crucial for good communication to exist. Erickson also has a soft spot for Owen, judging from his refusal to substitute him. He is really lucky not to come under fire since England won

Anyway I am happy for England. Call me an Anglophile if u want but England will win Portugal and get into the semifinals. Looking forward to the match against Portugal when Ronaldo and his Man-u teammates would have to slug it out for a place in the semi finals!