It was never going to be easy today, nerves were jangling, sweat dripped from brows and that was just the big audience at work gathered round the dining room plasma.
The intensity building up to today's game as been, well, intense. Pressure heaped on manager and team to GET IT RIGHT and finally today they did. Ok we didn't blitz them, but for a good 65 minutes we were very much on top and dominating possession. There were good chances to add to Defoe's first half strike but in typical England style we drew out the tension by not making things comfortable.
Scoring was great but the moments that stood out were Terry and Johnson's late blocks, including JT's attempt to just throw himself at the ball and late on Upson's superb last ditch tackle.
I said earlier this week that England's system and personnel on the pitch didn't feel right, today it did. Milner was excellent and Rooney and Barry both looked like they are returning to fitness. Gerrard was far more involved than he was on Friday night although I'd still love to see him playing behind Rooney and Defoe with two holding mid fielders and wing backs bombing on from the back. We looked solid(ish) today although you'd still worry at what Spain and Argentina could do to us, but we fought hard, there was just lots more spirit from the whole team.
So can we go further? Frankly, tonight at least, who cares?
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