World Cup 2010. Belarus-England. White-red-white won over red-green (Photo)
- 15.10.2008, 23:38
World Cup 2010 qualifying match in Minsk is over. England beat Belarus 3:1, with Wayne Rooney’s two goals in the 50th and 75th minutes during the second half. The first half ended 1:1. Pavel Sitko shot a goal to England.
Lineups:
BELARUS: 12. Zhaunou, 2. Kulchy, 3. Filipenko, 4. Omelyanchuk, 5. Molosh, 7. Bulyga, 10. Sitko, 13. Kutuzov, 14. Putilo, 16. Stasevich, 18. Verkhovtsov.
Substitutes: 22. Veremko, 6. Korytko, 8. Strakhanovich, 9. V. Hleb, 11. Rodionov, 15. Pavlov, 17. Sosnovski.
ENGLAND: 1. James, 2. Brown, 3. Bridge, 4. Gerrard, 5. Ferdinand, 6. Upson,
7. Walcott, 8. Lampard, 9. Heskey, 10. Rooney, 11. Barry.
Substitute: 12. Carson, 13. Johnson, 14. Lescott, 15. Beckham, 16. Wright-Phillips, 17. Defoe, 18. Crouch.
Belarus couch Berndt Stange made an unusual step for him and fielded some young players – Igor Stasevich, Anton Putilo, and Pavel Sitko. Tehlatter didn’t betray his trust and kicked a goal to England. The score was opened by the inventors of football. Steven Gerrard kicked a goal in the 12th minute, Tut.by reports.
“Belarus had a short period of inspiration (about 15 minutes), ended by Sitko’s goal. The rest of the match – before and after the goal, the team was not timid, but not so bright either. England played a rather impressive game,” portal Open.by concludes.
It should be reminded that the both teams met with losses ahead of the match. Captain Alexander Hleb failed to recover after his damage and missed the game. Besides, Barselona’s coach didn’t let Hleb to play against England. The most experienced Belarusian player Alexander Kulchy replaced him as a captain.
England was without its captain John Terry. Besides, Chelsea’s back Ashley Cole was absent due to injuries. However, there were enough excellent players in England’s team to fill the losses. While absence of Hleb could have become fatal for Belarus. By the way, at a press conference before the match, Fabio Capello compared Belarus team’s style to that of Arsenal. However, he noted that just one player, Alexander Hleb, met the level of the English club. ““I compared Belarus to Arsenal because they play short passes, not long balls, and always go forward,’’ said Capello. By the way, having heard that A. Hleb once said Fabio Capello regime in England team was resembled communism, the coach shrugged his shoulders and said: “Hleb is very young and I don’t know if he understands communism very well.”
About 3,000 English fans came to Minsk. They located in Minsk’s pubs, and the centre of their gathering was near Tsentralny supermarket. English fans were drinking beer, singing football chants and taking pictures with Belarusian girls. Belarusians fratenized with Englishmen. But the most popular people for taking photos were nine English policemen, who arrived in Minsk to help Belarusian militia in enforcing order.