Tragic Football Stories - Let us Kick Around the misshapen Jabulani that is English football right here

didn't england beat argentina in the group in 02?

Beckham pen right up the middle

worst penalty i've ever seen that actually went in! 02 game vs argentina never struck me as a particularly good performance. decent enough but really not inspiring.

for a really good england wc group game performance i think you have to go all the way back to colombia in 98.

yeah that was a perf tbf, but colombia were no arg.

Heskey scored in the 3-0 victory over Denmark, iIrc

beckham unleashed by hoddle, who's management of him throughout was a shambles

arg weren't that great either tho dmac!

frankly i'm surprised and appalled nobody here remembered it was the 25th anniversary of this last week

http://ih3.redbubble.net/work.1163688.2.flat,550x550,075,f.hand-of-god.jpg

there was a horrible Radio 5 programme about it with Butcher and three or four others talking in front of a live audience and being hilariously bitter about it still

arg 02 weren't bad iirc, it was a pressure game.

yeah there was some brilliant defending from Campbell/Ferdinand in particular

england were excellent against argentina in 98, imo. was there a disallowed goal in that game too? campbell?

oh that rings a bell. yes England were definitely on top of that game until Becks had his moment

england/argentina '98 I remember liking a lot excpet for Simeoni/Becks BS.

they weren't bad but they were by no means better than england (on pitch or on paper) at that point. they couldn't beat Sweden when they needed to (either).

yeah campbell had a great header disallowed due to reflex thuggishness from shearer

Hoddle maybe should have subbed Owen on sooner, tho

sweden p sweet btw in 98

What was the result against Eng? 1-1? Or was that Nigeria and Swe/Eng was 0-0?

No, thinking '02...

stats from eng-arg 02 fwiw

Argentina England
Corners (1st half) 2 : 2
Corners (2nd half) 7 : 1
Fouls committed 21 : 20
Caught offside 5 : 2
Shots on target 5 : 8
Shots off target 7 : 7
Hit woodwork (back into play) 0 : 1
Yellow cards 1 : 2
Red cards 0 : 0

no possession annoyingly, i'm sure arg had a fair bit more of it tho (esp. in england's half)

owen started against argentina didn't he? he was only subbed on at the beginning of that campaign...

yeah i thought Owen started in that match, his career-defining goal was in the first half i'm sure

Hoddle was weird about Owen, but then Keegan was even weirder :(

sweden p sweet btw in 98

do you mean 02? they didn't make it to 98 thanks to...oh i forget.

Just watched highlights of Eng-Arg 98. Most shocking moment: seeing Paul Merson running up to take penalty. Like, what was that buffoon doing allowed near a world cup? I forget he was actually really good, now I just bracket him with Steve Claridge.

oh that's cold

ah sure who knows rly

Yes, all the goals were in the first half.

ha ha really no memory of merson at wc98. mind boggles. i will always remember him being england's best player on the night they went to shit in rotterdam (nov 93) not that it meant owt.

Time of Possession 65% 35% (Arg Eng) in 2002

According to http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas2000-10/2001-02/M0792Arg2002.html

lol

that feels about right but you need to experience the acid gnawing thru yr stomach to fully feel that match

That doesn't tell the whole story though - it was backs-to-the-wall but also somehow comfortable, Argentina were never going to score that day.

simeone's goal was classy too.

my memory of the game was that it was fairly even. don't remember argentina bossing it even after becks was sent off. don't know if this is heresy as an irishman but i would really really like england to be good again someday, and to win a world cup.

x-post otm...

it was backs-to-the-wall but also somehow comfortable

I remember feeling happy for Becks but otherwsie thought the game somewhat dull.

don't know if this is heresy as an irishman but i would really really like england to be good again someday, and to win a world cup.

REPREHENSIBLE.

DID WOLFE TONE DIE FOR THIS??

it was backs-to-the-wall but also somehow comfortable, Argentina were never going to score that day.

i agree i guess...nowhere near as stressful as the 98 game where they felt much more a constant threat.

just really dreading the complaints about tiredness next summer now. was forlan fucking tired last summer? schneider? iniesta? even with a midwinter break (which i do support) they still played as many games as most of the england squad. got to stop making the excuses that affect everyone.

The English players run about more y'see

yeah chasing the facking ball

I remember feeling happy for Becks but otherwsie thought the game somewhat dull.

yes definitely. i defended it at the time on a 'needs must' basis. just winning any which way was so important.

don't know if this is heresy as an irishman but i would really really like england to be good again someday

I've kind of given up on England but man that game in '02 between Ireland and Germany was exciting.

Replace the ENGLAND MANAGER with a 'selection panel' made up of Gareth Southgate, Lee Dixon and Trevor Brooking.

but then who would hype the lads up pre-match with a stirring monologue on Agincourt, El Alamein and Enoch Powell?

The other thing I remember about '02 was that England went out against the winners and they even scored first, well, that and the Seaman jokes.

ireland were woeful against germany tho

highly deserved equaliser

nicky barmby and all that, was that 98?

Better players throughout squad then, i think.

kills me that england will bypass huddlestone without ever even wondering why.

Owen scored and then I had to go to work. I was so sure England were going to win, they were so effective and lucky in them days, and then win the tournament too. I was genuinely dumbfounded later when I saw what happened while I was stuck on the tube.

That's v Brazil in 02, breakfast kickoffs & all that.

lol work jesus what were you 12