1000 yen that is
Butt gets my vote for MotM over Cole - it was his presence in midfield that made the difference between this match and the Sweden game.
Granted, I joined the game after Hargreaves got injured, but it seemed that replacing him with Sinclair was the key that unlocked England’s ability to press forward - joint men of the match??
Gp
I have just written 1-0, in lipstick, in LARGE, on the upstairs window. (and I did it backwards so that it reads 1-0 from the outside)
and I still need to say…
YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! WAY-HEY!
And Pierluigi Collina is still the best referee in the world.
A classy game from a classy team. Not without some argy-bargy from the Argentinians either, but they were lucky it wasn’t two or three.
ARGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH
ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH
!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Yes, that just about sums up my current emotional state.
Dammit, the referee was man of the match as well !
Grrrrrr…
Now it will be tough for Sweden to advance. England will win over Nigeria because Nigera has nothing to play for
And Sweden will probably at best play a draw against Argentina.
Damn you Sven-Göran, you traitor!
y’know I’ve got a theory. England are going to win the world cup because…
…in 1952, the year of the coronation, Hilary conquered Everest
…25 years later, in 1977, the year of the silver jubilee, Virginia Wade won Wimbledon from out of nowhere
…25 years later, in 2002, the year of the golden jubilee…
(I still think Argentina will go through - they’ll beat Sweden)
Hmmmm…thanks, I think.
Congrats!
We haven’t beaten the Argies since 1966, the last time the holders went out in the first round (France are looking doubtful)was 1966, and we all know what happened in 1966…
The Pierluigi Collina website - www.pierluigicollina.it
Congrats chaps - great performance. England were so much more balanced than against Sweden. The funny system with Heskey playing in midfield(ish) upset them in that match. Today, everyone knew what they were supposed to do. Butt and Scholes did really well in midfield. The Argentinians were never allowed settle on the ball and they struggled to string passes together. Sinclair made a difference in that England needed someone to take players on. The last 20 minutes were a bit hairy but that was to be expected.
Now, don’t fuck it up against Nigeria!
Well Done England.
can I just add that it isn’t 1966. that you 
With some time to think:
Even though I root for Foxes, and have seen Heskey a lot, I still think he’s not the best choice for England up front. Yes, he’s big, yes he requires the attention of defenders, but dammit, Sheringham did in his first five minutes what Heskey hadn’t done at all in either game.
The man of the match, for my taste, was Beckham. Very quietly, he kept running back to help out the seemingly out of his depth Mills, until Mills could gain his confidence and put an end to the dangerous efforts of Kily Gonzalez, who looked really dangerous from the 20th through the 35th minute. I’ll have to watch the tape a couple times to be sure, but I recall during the match thinking I was seeing an awful lot of #7 in England’s right back area. Can’t really complain with selection of either interior midfielders, though.
Was it just me, or did Argentina seem more nervous, England more committed? I kept thinking that the side that looked like they couldn’t afford to lose were the ones in blue/white, the ones who looked like they wanted to win were wearing lions.
Where the heck was Bati-gol?
Congratulations to both teams for playing sporting football!
And go England!!! ( I can root for ya, cause we wouldn’t meet you until the final and we both know the likelihood of seeing the Red, White and Blue in that game…) 
Ferdinand played marvellously well, he totally dominated the air in front of the box and pretty much won everything, and it left Campbell free to watch the knock-through passes.
I’m watching the replay on ABC right now… forgot about that reaction save from Seaman in the 76th minute. Yikes, how did you England fans stand the last 20 minutes of the game?? I’d have had no arms left from nail chewing…
I agree - Ferdinand played brilliantly. Nicky Butt was fantastic, and Trevor Sinclair was a revelation - I didn’t think he could play that well (I don’t pay much attention to West Ham).
As a fellow Fox, DSYoungEsq, I agree that Heskey wasn’t great - although he did worry the Argentinian defence in that they don’t expect someone large and impressive looking who can get the ball back from them. I have to say that he’s never really lived up to the player he could have been. When he was 19, he was absolutely brilliant, and was going to be the best. In his last season at Leicester, he went off the boil somewhat, which was partly attributable to the fact that he was desperate to leave for Liverpool. Now that he’s at Liverpool, he’s doing a bit better, and he does make a very very good partner for Owen.
On Uncle Teddy, one of the potential problems is the combination of his age and the high temperature. In the airconditioned Sapporo Dome, he was alright, and he should be fine to come on and do his magic in evening games. I mean, Owen Hargreaves was sweating like a mad sweating thing through the Sweden game, and he’s a youngun. Mind you, Teddy Sheringham is a tough bugger, so…
Oh, I don’t bloody know.
I thought Mills was okay, and certainly better than Brown has looked at right back. I’m happy to have him there even when Neville Senior is fit.
The match was nervewracking. I was working from home (no, really) and found trying to tie up an audit steadied the nerves more than any number of drinks. Even with that, the last ten minutes felt like an eternity.
Ron Atkinson actually made a decent point on Sven’s tactics after the game, wondering whether the pressure would have been relieved had he played Sinclair on the right for the remainder of the game and Vassell on the left, with Sheringham alone up front. Basically he was complaining that England sat back and invited the Argentinians to attack, when he suggested letting Sheringham sit up front to slow the game down and pass the ball to pacy wing players to scare the Argentinians and stop the full-backs from pushing forward to join the attack.
Of course, he admitted that the result was just great anyway, but it’s a valid point.
I’m no Sinclair fan (at all) but I’d like him to replace Hargreaves against Nigeria. And Wayne “Genuine Defender” Bridge to replace Ashley “Good Going Forward, Bad Defender” Cole.
Vaguely World Cup-related:
On the same day as the World Cup final, Montserrat are playing Bhutan in an international friendly that will effectively decide the worst team in the world (based on FIFA rankings).
Someone remind me to get the score from this game.
And for anyone who doesn’t know what happened next…Ask any scotsman. They would love to tell you.
That was fabulous. We played like world championship contenders. I hope we weren’t flattering t0 deceive.
Starting XI vs nigeria (as per Owl)
Spunky
Mills ferdinand Scumbell A.Cole
Golden balls Scholes Butt Sinclair
Owen Teddy
I think that reflects the best we have available. I am no fan of Butt usually, however that was one of the best performances for Engalnd I have ever seen. Big shouts also go out to Rio and Sinclair. (and reluctantly spunky).
And howabout Becks? Any thoughts on what might have happened if he had missed? (media wise)