1-1 but plenty of positives for the Three Lions
Dynamic Attacking play, creating chances, youthful line-up and dominating games, these are qualities that the England faithful have been crying out for since 1966! For the first time in decades England looked like a self-assured team that had the capability to go all the way and those claims were strengthened when Eric Dier of all people beat Igor Akinfeev after 73 minutes! That did not tell the whole story as England has certainly been knocking on the door for the entire match. They were creating chances for fun and seemed to be playing with a new-found freedom that previous sides have not played with. The goal made English supporters sit up and perhaps think that this could be their year, and it did seem like they would hold on but once again they proved shambolic in defense and lost out to a last minute header. The 1-1 scoreline is such an unfair reflection on a game which to be frank, England should have easily won 3-0.
Eric Dier celebrates scoring a wonderful Free kIck
Wayne Rooney seemed reinvigorated in midfield and alongside the ever-reliable Eric Dier and the dynamic, youthful exuberance of Delle Ali the partnership dominated the game from the outset. Wayne Rooney put in a man-of-the-match performance which went a long way in dispelling his critics and continue his 'renaissance' in midfield. His long range of 'Hollywood passing' and calm presence seemed to steady a young England side. Eric Dier sat back and began all of their plays from deep inside their own half. Delle Ali made deep runs in behind the defense and linked up wonderfully with Adam Lallana who re-payed the faith Roy Hodgson showed in him and the tireless Kyle Walker. They created chance after chance and only had their poor finishing to blame. Harry Kane was rather innocuous on the night and hopefully for England fans just had an off day. Joe Hart was barely troubled and Smalling and Cahill did a decent job of nullifying the threat posed by Russia's 6 ft 5 striker Artem Dzyuba.
Russia scores in the 92nd Minute
It looked as if they had finally found the best combination that suited their team. However England did what England always do and faltered right in the dying moments of the game. A loss of concentration by the team led to Russia getting a dangerous cross in and Vasil Berezutsky scored a late equalizer for the Russians. However England fans have many reasons to be happy as they definitely put in the best performance of the tournament so far in terms of the way they played. I predicted that they would go deep into the tournament and they have certainly backed up those bold claims. England certainly have the firepower to make a charge for the trophy but there concentration and experience will be tested against better opposition.
