Pompey Trio Feature In England Win

Last updated : 06 September 2008 By Jim Bonner
David James, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe all participated in a laboured 2-0 over Andorra in Barcelona.

The word "participated" could be used very loosely for Jamo as he had absolutely nothing to do against perhaps the most negative football team in history.

Defoe was subbed off at half time as he was poorly served by the high balls into the box and wasn't effective against the five-man defence of Andorra. It could be argued that Wayne Rooney should have been switched because he was just as ineffective and performed far from the "World Class" standards that some people believe he is capable of.

Glen Johnson was one of the better performers on the night and was robbed of his first ever England goal by the offside flag.

Despite the dismay at half time and an uninspiring performance in general, we shouldn't be too disheartened with this result and it is certainly no cause for panic.

They may have been part-timers but it is always going to be a struggle for a team low on confidence to break down a stubborn, niggly outfit that very rarely committed themselves to an attack.

Joe Cole was the star of the show after coming on for the woeful Stewart Downing (watch him put one past us next week now) and surely the Chelsea man should start against Croatia on Wednesday.

And it is in Zagreb where the real test comes and an opportunity to silence all the doom and gloom merchants that are claiming that we will fail to qualify for the World Cup despite a victory tonight.

If you think we're poor then what do you reckon Lassana Diarra is thinking right now after his side were beaten 3-1 by Austria? The Pompey midfielder played the full match but goals from Marc Janko, Rene Aufhauser and Andreas Ivanschitz meant that Sidney Govou's goal was nothing but a consolation for the French.

Hermann Hreidarsson played the full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw for Iceland in Norway whilst John Utaka did the same for Nigeria in a 1-0 win in South Africa to keep their World Cup hopes well on track.