It was a night, ultimately, of disappointment for England bearing in mind their supremacy in the first half and the potentially serious ramifications of what happened when they lost their way after the interval. It was some turnaround as a confident side, buoyed by Wayne Rooney’s sixth-minute header and playing some exuberant football, slipped back into old ways and lost the chance to take a position of strength in the contest to qualify for Brazil 2014 without being spared the ordeal of a possible playoff.

Roy Hodgson’s team had been in utter control for the opening half, looking good to leapfrog Montenegro and move a point clear in Group H with three of their last four games to come at Wembley. What happened after that was a reminder of this team’s vulnerabilities.

It was bordering on a full-on loss of nerve and England were indebted to Joe Hart’s goalkeeping until the equaliser turned in by the substitute Dejan Damjanovic after 77 minutes. By the end, they should probably be grateful to be spared even more trauma such was the lopsided nature of the second half.

They began the game as if affronted by the suggestion they might somehow be intimidated by the noise inside the impassioned City Stadium. The din was pretty much relentless. It was tribal, co-ordinated and accompanied by firecrackers, and it is true that a lesser team might have wilted. Yet Hodgson’s players had the collective indifference of seen-it-all-before travellers.

Within two minutes Rooney had floated an exquisite chip over Mladen Bozovic only for the ball to come back off a post. Steven Gerrard barely flinched when he stood in front of the more boisterous Montenegro supporters, waiting to take a corner, with various objects being thrown from the crowd. Glen Johnson’s left-foot effort was tipped over and it was from the follow-up corner, this time from the other side, that Rooney scored the early goal.

It was so simple in its creation that it made you wonder whether all the wariness that had accompanied England into this Balkan state had been slightly misplaced. Gerrard simply swung the ball into the penalty area and Rooney braced his neck muscles, twisted his body and headed it past Bozovic. Not a single defender had gone for the ball and the sheer straightforwardness of it all left the clear sense this would not be the only time they would be vulnerable.

Rooney, in particular, had started the night as though determined to leave his imprint all over it. Sometimes with the Manchester United man you can just tell that he is in the mood. It’s his body language, the bristling determination to make things happen. He was a formidable opponent.

The one thing England could not do was silence the locals. Yet the game had begun just about as well as Hodgson’s side could have dared imagine. They were passing the ball well, untroubled by the difficult surface, playing with the kind of composure that should really have brought more goals before half-time. Danny Welbeck was full of hard running, stretching those long legs, and the new, experimental defence was rarely troubled.

More than anything, the structure of the team looked good. Hodgson should be encouraged to discard 4‑4‑2 pretty much for good. This new system – sometimes 4‑2‑3‑1, sometimes 4‑3‑3 – is far more fluid when the players are demonstrating this level of confidence and have licence to interchange positions. Gerrard’s midfield partnership with Michael Carrick had a nice balance about it. Tom Cleverley demonstrated the simple yet effective knack of playing the ball then moving into a better position to take it back. James Milner played with width and penetration and Rooney was a constant menace.

These were the moments when Branko Brnovic was reminded England have enough refinement not to be confused with a team whose first thought is to hit it long. At the same time, there were clear signs his own players were rattled. Midway through the opening half Vladimir Volkov tried to launch a long throw into the penalty area and suffered the professional indignity of being penalised for his illegal technique. Brnovic was not particularly happy either. His water-bottle was launched on to the pitch at one point, bringing a stern reprimand from the fourth official.

As for Stefan Savic, he was reminding us why his time at Manchester City had been so brief. Montenegro’s right-back was fortunate not to concede a penalty in the incident that led to Welbeck being booked for diving just before half-time.

It was an unjust decision from the Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson, and that let-off for Montenegro plainly had a bearing on what happened at the start of the second half. For the first time they started to press their opponents and pin them back. Volkov headed one chance into the side-netting and suddenly Stevan Jovetic and Mirko Vucinic were becoming more prominently involved.

England, without any warning, had lost their composure, making basic errors and forgetting how to take care of the ball.

Hart was terrific on the night but a side cannot defend this generously and hope to get away it. Damjanovic turned the ball in from a goalmouth scramble incorporating an instinctive save from the goalkeeper and a follow-up block from Welbeck. England really had only themselves to blame.

(The Guardian )

Brawl breaks out between Montenegro fans ahead of crunch qualifier against England

There were unsavoury scenes ahead of England’s clash against Montenegro as a mass brawl broke out in a section of the home support.

Before kick-off in the Group H World Cup qualifier in Podgorica, a number of Montenegro fans were filmed attacking one another in a vicious fight at the City Stadium.

The atmosphere in and around the stadium had been predictably hostile in the build up to the match, with riot police surrounding the arena as fans made their way to the ground.

Grisly: This fan is guided to safety with two black eyes after the mass ruck before kick-off

Vicious: Montenegro fans were filmed fighting before their match against England

Brawl: The fans were fighting behind the goal around 40 minutes before the match started

There were also disturbing images of an England fan who had reportedly been involved in a scuffle with a group of Montenegro supporters.

The man is being aided by a local police officer as he lies on the ground, clutching a nasty-looking head wound.

Ugly: This man was reportedly involved in a run-in with Montenegro fans

Ugly: An England fan was left with a bloody head wound after a run-in with a group of Montenegro supporters

During the build-up to the match there were few other reports of trouble between either set of fans, and the home crowd impeccably observed England’s national anthems with applause before and afterwards.

A number of supporters had flares on the street, as a heavy police presence patrolled around the ground.

Missiles: Fans were also pictured throwing paper on the pitch as Steven Gerrard prepares to take a corner

After kick-off, some fans were pictured throwing paper onto the pitch when an England player went near their section.

England manager Roy Hodgson expected a raucous atmosphere for the vital match, but remained confident his side would get the job done regardless.

He said of the Montenegro supporters ahead of the match: ‘The crowd here are very partisan. It is only the players who play.’

Ready for action: This fan lights a flare in Podgorica ahead of kick-off

Eagle eyed: Riot police stand watch in the street as fans make their way to the stadium

Party atmosphere: Another supporter holds a flare of his own aloft in the Montenegrin city

Lining up: Police line the streets in case trouble breaks out before the match

Flying the flag: This proud Montenegro fan holds his arms aloft

Stage is set: Roy Hodgson waves to the England supporters before the qualifier started

(Mail on line )

 

Djuricic double sinks Scotland

Scotland’s World Cup qualifying nightmare continued as Filip Djuricic netted a double to condemn them to a 2-0 defeat by Serbia on Tuesday night.

Gordon Strachan’s side, which underwent six changes after the defeat by Wales on Friday, withstood the pressure in the first half but things unravelled after the break as Djuricic scored twice in six minutes to seal Serbia’s win and leave the Scots rock-bottom of Group A on two points, with their hopes of reaching Brazil next year now all but over.

Serbia were the side in control from the opening minutes, with Djuricic charging towards goal in the first 60 seconds, prompting goalkeeper David Marshall to hold him off. The hosts then continued to apply pressure as a challenge from George Boyd – making his international debut alongside Liam Bridcutt – on Dusan Tadic in the box had Serbia calling for a penalty, but the referee was unmoved.

A minute later, Serbia had their first real chance as Dusan Basta unleashed a shot from the edge of the box, which Marshall got his gloves to before managing to smother it. More opportunities followed for the hosts, with Basta proving dangerous again as his chipped-in cross from the right was met by the climbing Branislav Ivanovic, but his header was directed wide. Djuricic then prompted another save from Marshall after darting around Grant Hanley to get a shot away.

Despite that error, Hanley was putting in some admirable contributions at the back, most notably when he got a vital foot to Zoran Tosic’s tidy delivery into the box to flick it to safety and out of reach of the lurking Basta. Tosic was involved in another chance soon after as he turned to shoot from 20 yards, but his effort bounced over the uneven pitch and across the face of goal, sneaking just wide of the far post.

Scotland began to grow into the game as the half went on, with Strachan’s men having an unsuccessful penalty shout of their own when Matija Nastasic slid in to cut out an attempted Boyd cross on the left of the box and appeared to handle the ball.

More admirable defending from the visitors then kept Serbia at bay as they upped the tempo again in the dying minutes of the first half, with Hanley making another key clearance on Tadic and Boyd charging in to subdue the threatening-looking forward on the right wing seconds later.

Scotland started the second half brightly as half-time substitute Charlie Adam set up Steven Naismith for a shot and he blasted the ball into the net but the effort was flagged offside. Adam and Jordan Rhodes, on his first competitive international start, were booked moments later – the former for a sliding challenge on Ljubomir Fejsa and the latter for taking a shot after the whistle had blown.

Rhodes then had a chance for Scotland after a miss-kick from Neven Subotic allowed him through on goal but his tame shot went straight into the arms of goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.

Seconds after that weak effort things started to unravel for the visitors as Serbia finally broke the deadlock in the 59th minute. On the counter-attack, Tosic charged down the left before crossing a ball into the box and prompting a goalmouth scramble. Fejsa’s attempted shot was cut out but Djuricic was there with a powerful finish to put Serbia 1-0 up.

It did not take long for them to double their advantage. Six minutes later it was Djuricic that struck again after some poor defending from the Scots. A shaky back-pass from Caldwell went straight to Nenad Tomovic and after evading Hutton and seeing his shot saved, Djuricic was able to slot home the rebound.

There was a late chance for Scotland to haul themselves back into it when Nastasic charged in on Adam on the edge of the area, handing the visitors a free-kick from a dangerous position, but his resulting delivery clipped the wall and Stojkovic was able to collect with relative ease.

(football 365 )

 

 World’s worst

We’re out before Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Faroes, Luxembourg ‘n Malta

HOTLINE TO GORD … Scots fan appears to be handing boss Strachan his phone at end

From ROBERT GRIEVE in Novi Sad

Published: 16 hrs ago

31

 

 

 

 

SCOTLAND last night sunk to an all-time low as we officially became the worst in the world.

With just two points from a possible 18 we are OUT of the World Cup after just six qualifiers.

Even more embarrassingly, football minnows such as Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg the Faroes and Malta are still IN.

New boss Gordon Strachan tried desperately to put a brave face on our fate after the defeat to Serbia.

But the Tartan Army have gone a record-breaking SEVEN competitive games now without a victory.

Strachan admitted: “I can understand why people might look at results as poor. They are. There is nothing like winning.

“I said I might have to take a few slaps but we have got to do something.

“We can’t just keep plodding along hoping something happens. I want to pick players that can make things happen.

“They can’t be embarrassed by what they gave tonight. Sometimes when you play football, as long as you have given it your best shot, you can hold your head up high.

“Sometimes the other team is better.

“I want to watch good football, the kind of football we saw from Serbia.”

Filip Duricic’s second-half double sealed the win for Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side.

Strachan added: “It was a game against top players.

“They are technically gifted and physically very strong, which was a side of it which gave us a bit of a problem.

“In saying that we stood up to it and the longer the game went on the better we felt about ourselves.

“It’s a problem when you have smaller lads.

“We didn’t even have a physical side to our game sitting on the bench. They were all smaller lads too, apart from Charlie Adam.

“But one thing we do have is big hearts.

“Whatever you want to say about them — technically they weren’t as good as Serbia, or as physical — their hearts were bigger, sorry, the same.

“We had two players making their debuts with others who aren’t getting games regularly at their clubs. That shows they have big hearts.”

The Tartan Army made sure the game went ahead after clearing snow off the pitch yesterday afternoon.

Strachan added: “Listen, if it was not for the Scottish fans the game might not have taken place. It was all down to them.

“It is an incredible thing actually when you see these guys with their kilts and you think I am desperate to make it a good night for them.”

(the scottish sun )