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Thursday October 2, 2008; European Championship Qualifier. Spain Ladies v. England Ladies Spain: A.Tirapu, S.Vesga, M.Nicolau, A.Martin, L.Del Rio, V.Boquete, V.Gimbert, S.Meseguer (M.Jose Perez 87), S.Bermudez (S.Vilanova 71), M.Torrejon, 18 E.Vazquez (A.Romero 58). England: R.Brown, A.Scott, C.Stoney, J.Scott, L.Johnson, A.Asante, K.Carney, F.Williams, E.Aluko (E.Westwood 45), K.Smith, R.Yankey (S.Smith 82). England went into their final European Championship qualifying fixture knowing that if they avoided anything worse than a one goal defeat then they would qualify automatically for next summers' finals in Finland. They would have been hoping to avoid any dramas and secure their passage in as comfortable a manner as possible. Fate had decreed that this was not to be the case, however, as a night of unremitting tension unfolded. The game started at a frenetic pace with both sides betraying anxiety in their passing which ensured that the game had no early rhythm. The first decent pass saw Spain knock a fine through ball down the side of Casey Stoney at left back but Anita Asante was quickly across to snuff out any danger. England's other centre half, Lindsay Johnson, did not enjoy such a composed start to the game, however, and a bizarre early incident perhaps contributed to an unsure performance from the Everton stopper. When a long ball was sent straight towards her Johnson appeared to try to bring the ball down rather than head it clear and ended up taking it full in the face. The game had to be stopped to allow treatment and although Johnson immediately returned to the action she did not look entirely comfortable. It was not just Johnson feeling somewhat dazed as Spain then took the lead in the games' first real attack on nine minutes. Play was switched from right to left where Laura Del Rio waltzed to the byeline before pulling back a fine centre which was met by an equally impressive volley from Veronica Boquete and Rachel Brown was unable to pull off a Gordon Banks style save despite a valiant attempt. Any England inquests concerning this goal would have to centre around the two Scott's. Alex had drifted too far into the middle to allow the initial crossfield ball before being easily beaten on her outside by Del Rio while Jill lost the goalscorer too easily as the centre came over. In defence of Alex Scott this would be by no means the last time that the brilliant Del Rio would embarrass an England defender during a display of real quality. England almost responded immediately but were left shaking their heads after the Spain goal enjoyed a remarkable escape. Rachel Yankey drove in from the left touchline to win a free kick almost thirty yards out and well to the left of goal. Fara Williams stepped forward to smash an incredible, swerving free kick that veered wickedly to the bemused keepers' left as she moved right only to cannon to safety from the face of the far post. England's first real passage of controlled passing ended with a shooting chance for Williams but her effort from the edge of the box was straight at Tirapu in the Spain goal and then Kelly Smith also put one down the keepers' throat from further out. In general, however, England's passing had been disappointing in the first twenty minutes and the selection of Eni Aluko ahead of Lianne Sanderson had done nothing to improve the fluency or penetration of the England attack. Then, out of the blue, England's night almost got a whole lot worse. Johnson once again found herself ideally placed to head an attempted through ball clear but decided, very unwisely, to try to direct the ball back to her goalkeeper. Johnson managed only the faintest of touches and only succeeded in putting Adriana Martin clean through on goal. Martin took the ball to the edge of the area before trying to slip a low shot past Brown who got down smartly to save. Good work by the England goalkeeper but she should have been given no chance whatsoever. Johnson was soon afterwards turned on the edge of the box by the influential Del Rio who sent in a decent effort that went wide of the post with Brown in position to save anyway. England were struggling to impose themselves on a Spanish team that was sharply into the tackle all over the pitch and making sure that their opponents had little time or space in any area. Yankey had a fleeting chance to put Aluko through on goal and the striker might have been able to get a decisive touch ahead of Tirapu but, in keeping with a frustrating performance, failed to do so. Aluko had been trying to force her way into the game but with little success while Rachel Yankey had seemed content to stay away from the action altogether. When the winger finally got involved, however, she showed just how dangerous she can be with a couple of superb centres in as many minutes. Firstly, having been well found by Kelly Smith, she sent in a drilled cross that arrowed onto the head of Karen Carney who somehow managed to head over an open goal from five yards out and then she produced a good run to the byeline before clipping over a centre that the keeper could only palm to the feet of Jill Scott whose effort on goal was horribly scuffed. England seemed to be gaining in confidence and momentum, however, and a neat passing move ended with Aluko slipping a clever pass into the run of Carney whose low centre was only half cleared to Alex Scott who could only blaze her shot high over the angle at the near post. By now an equaliser was looking imminent and England threatened again when Carney nicked possession from a dozing defender before finding Smith inside the area. Smith's shot was deflected across goal towards Yankey whose fierce volley brought a brave, leaping parry from Tirapu. The home side were probably hoping half time would arrive sooner rather than later at this stage but five minutes from the break they were suddenly presented with another opportunity. With the ball bouncing around the edge of the England penalty area Jill Scott streched for a ball looping over her shoulder and sent the ball towards Rachel Brown who immediately picked it up. It was hard to believe that Scott had actually intended to pass back to her keeper but Brown had been under no real pressure and was always taking a risk in picking the ball up. The referee immediately blew for an indirect free kick and when this was knocked back to Sonia Bermudez she belted a fierce drive past the ruck of England players into the corner of the net beyond Alex Scott's despairing leap. Incredibly England were now two behind and looking at a scoreline, that if it remained the same, would see them having to play off for a place in the finals. Casey Stoney managed to put one dangerous centre into the box which was somewhat fortuitously bundled behind for a corner but when this was cleared England were left with a huge job of work before them as the half time whistle blew. Half Time: Spain Ladies 2 England Ladies 0 Although England had never looked in complete control against busy, committed and skillful opponents their first half performance had certainly been far better than the one given against the Czech Republic four days earlier and it was hard to fathom how they had reached half time two goals down. While there was no reason to doubt that England were capable of scoring the goals that would get them back into this game there was also no doubting the threat still carried by Spain. Hope Powell made the change at the interval that had served her so well against the Czech's with Emily Westwood replacing the centre forward, on this occasion Eni Aluko, to play in midfield with Kelly Smith sent up to lead the line. Smith quickly combined with Westwood for the substitute to try a floated shot that was not far over the crossbar. This was not immediately a sign of things to come, however, as Spain went on to enjoy probably their best spell of the night. The home side were able to control possession for several minutes and also began to frustrate England with some time wasting and theatricals. The highlight of this spell of ascendancy was provided, not surprisingly, by Del Rio who turned Johnson in the blinking of an eye near halfway on the left wing and simply set off for goal with no England player able to get back to her. With Johnson straining every sinew to put Del Rio under some sort of pressure the Spaniard had to shoot across Rachel Brown towards the far post from a slightly unfavourable angle and England drew a collective breath of relief as the ball went a foot or so wide. Spain were now obviously looking to employ gamesmanship wherever they could but this tactic actually counted against them as the referee ignored a couple of theatrical falls and England played on with opponents down on more than one occasion to mount attacks. This gave England some sudden impetus and, just as suddenly, they were back in the game after a cracking finish from Karen Carney. The goal stemmed from the left wing where Yankey collected a quick throw in before pinging a fine centre into Emily Westwood, she produced a perfect chest down into the path of Carney who caught a first time half volley perfectly to find the bottom corner of Tirapu's net from the edge of the box. This goal put England back into pole position as far as automatic qualification was concerned and gave the team added belief and energy for the task in hand. Fara Williams produced the pass of the night to send Alex Scott bursting clear of the Spanish defence and the full back looked up to lay the perfect ball back into the path of Jill Scott who somehow managed to make no contact whatsoever with her attempted finish. The impish Carney was quickly winning England a corner from a tight spot and Jill Scott rose well to head back across goal but the ball was just to high for Williams stealing in at the far post. The game was still on a knife edge, however, and the uncertainty which had been a feature of England's defensive performance throughout was again evident when Williams, apparently under the impression that Brown was coming to collect, failed to deal with a routine ball into the box and Bermudez stole in to make contact but could not direct the ball on target from close range. The game was now getting increasingly stretched as Spain tried to get forward in search of the goal they needed to win the group while England showed no signs of wanting to hang on to what they had. The referee had been surprisingly lenient in dealing with an encounter that had always been feisty and occasionally threatened to turn ugly but it was still a shock that she allowed Westwood to get away without a yellow card after the England player produced the perfect demonstation of a Ron Atkinson "Reducer" out near the touchline. The wide open nature of the game was emphasised within the space of a minute as both sides came close to scoring. Yankey, still not as involved as you would have wanted but producing quality every time she was, went on another fine run and backed this up with a telling centre that found Alex Scott up supporting the attack again. Scott managed a decent strike on goal that Tirapu could only parry and Spain were fortunate that the ball did not drop to one of the several white shirts dotted around the area. Suddenly there was danger at the other end, however, as an errant pass from Fara Williams went straight to Del Rio who again set off for goal from long distance. Williams gave chase but was treading water and for one, very long, moment it looked as though nobody else was going to react to the danger until Johnson finally came across with a lunging challenge that blocked Del Rio's shot deep inside the England box. England pressed again through Yankey who did well to win a corner from which Westwood was narrowly wide with a header but then Del Rio was causing more havoc after a tremendous run in which she was too tricky and strong for both Stoney and Asante, something I never thought I would have to write, but the England defence finally managed to crowd her out at the expense of a corner. With the game opening up England also had players who could cause a threat and both Karen Carney and Kelly Smith were beginning to grow in influence as the game went on. Carney, in particular, was starting to dictate as she popped up all over to drive England forward. From one superb run Carney found Westwood and England were in a great attacking position when she in turn laid the ball off to Fara Williams but the midfielder went for glory from long range and the chance was lost. With just over ten minutes remaining Carney was found on the left wing by Anita Asante and immediately drove infield before finding Kelly Smith, on a diagonal run, inside the area. Smith dummied to shoot with her left foot and left a defender on the floor as she dragged the ball back onto her right. Not content with this opening Smith then produced a double bluff to get the ball back onto her left before plunging a dagger into the hearts of the Spanish with an arrowing drive that clipped the inside of the far post before bulging the net. There was more relief that elation evident in Smith's celebration which was hardly surprising on a night that had taxed everybody to the limit both mentally and physically. There was over ten minutes remaining but it was hard to see Spain scoring the two goals they now needed. Yankey immediately played England into trouble with a wayward pass which led to a booking for Williams when she pulled her opponent down to concede a free kick. The set piece came to nothing despite a disturbing lack of marking in the England defence. There was also a shot from Boquete from the edge of the box but this was straight at Brown and posed no real danger. The irrepressible, and seemingly indefatigable, Carney then carved out another shooting opportunity for Emily Westwood whose dipping effort from around 25 yards only just cleared the bar. The last action saw England breaking at a tired and threadbare Spanish defence but any chance of a winner was lost when Williams again went for goal from distance with Sue Smith, faced with a clear run on goal, screaming for a pass. It's always disappointing to see Fara taking the wrong option but there was no question that the job in hand had been done and this was confirmed seconds later by the final whistle. This had been a game that had everything for the spectator and demanded everything from the participants. Mistakes had been made along the way but that is inevitable in games of this intensity and emotion. It is unlikely that any England side has ever left a field looking so drained which is hardly surprising. It is unlikely that any England team has ever dug so deep to find a performance and a result that it needed. Everyone connected with the England squad has a right to feel proud about qualifying from the group but, more especially, they have a right to feel proud about the determination, effort and skill they showed in coming from two goals down here to gain the draw that now takes them to Finland. Well done. Full Time: Spain Ladies 2 England Ladies 2 England: R.Brown 6, A.Scott 6, C.Stoney 7, J.Scott 7, L.Johnson 4, A.Asante 8, K.Carney 9, F.Williams 8, E.Aluko 4 (E.Westwood 8), K.Smith 8, R.Yankey 8. Star Player: Karen Carney The star player was Spain's Laura Del Rio who was absolutely magnificent but Football England don't give our award to Spaniards so Karen Carney gets the nod for the second time in four days.
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