It seems admit the dramas of a certain "Talismanic" striker, England's impressive qualifying campaign has gone some what unnoticed. Despite Wayne Rooney's petulant behaviour midway through the second half, England booked their ticket to the 2012 European Championships with a very impressive first half display.
In the hostile surrounding's of Montenegro's capital of Podgorica, England took control of proceeding's with two goals in the first 30 minutes. Firstly, Theo Walcott's swinging cross from the right hand side was nodded home by the ever-impressing Ashley Young to give the Three Lions the perfect start after only 11 minutes. The Manchester United winger's ruthlessness in front of goal could have landed him a second, but he unselfishly rolled the ball across to his former Aston Villa team mate Darren Bent who slotted in England's second. With England relaxed and in total command, Fabio Capello looked completely the opposite as he continued to vent his frustration at some slack passing gifting possesion to Montenegro, who were growing in confidence after looking powerless for the first 40 minutes. With half time approaching, Montenegro gave themselves a route back into the match with a deflected Zverotic strike which bounced out of the reaches of Joe Hart. Within a moment the hostility had returned and from a comfortable position, the half time whistle now would not come quickly enough for England.
The impetus was now firmly with the home side as they pressed for an equaliser that would see them book a place in the European Championship playoffs. Capello looked to regain England's midfield superiority, Lampard's arrival coincided with Capello's thought as the Chelsea midfielder replaced Darren Bent and with the Excellent Young departing through injury to be replaced by Stewart Downing, England began to steady the ship. With less than twenty minutes to play Rooney took centre stage for all the wrong reasons. A vicious swipe at Dzudovic, left the referee with no option but to send the Manchester United striker off. One shocking twist then led to a complete nightmare as Montenegro, buoyed by Rooney's flash point, grabbed an unlikely equaliser thanks to Andrija Delibasic's header from a superb cross by Dzudovic.
The celebrations at the end of the game summed up what was a compelling but victorious night for both nations. Montenegro are now sure of a place in the playoffs, whereas England have safely negotiated their way to Poland and Ukraine. Celebrations seemed muted at full time, but one moment of petulance from Rooney has left England with plenty to ponder ahead of next summer.
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