Poland 1 England 2: The slender nature of the score should give broad satisfaction. England may have been pegged back to 1-1, but the resilience lacking since Euro 2004 was recovered in Chorzow. The winner, with Poland forced into an own goal, was deserved.
Despite the draw in Austria, England can now claim a satisfactory start to the World Cup qualifiers. They will talk with more glee, though, of the 21-year-old Jermain Defoe, who dispatched the opener with deadly adroitness. His inclusion was just one of the surprises.
Sven-Goran Eriksson had stated immediately after the draw with Austria that he could not imagine David James's absence from this fixture. Considering that James is now 34, Paul Robinson had the opportunity to make the adjustment permanent.
Robinson had never before had an outing in a competitive match for his country, but interest was greater for a team-mate of whom the same was true.
Forwards always hog the attention and, with England making their usual bright start, circumstances were favourable to Defoe. There had been a suspicion he had too great a stylistic resemblance to his fellow scurrier Michael Owen for a partnership to be attempted, but Eriksson had looked at the matter from a different perspective.
It was as if he was concerned less with link-up between them than with the possibility of either quick and nimble attacker being released by a team-mate. After 21 minutes, Wayne Bridge fed the overlapping Ashley Cole and when he found Defoe the striker fired a presentable opportunity wide.
No attacker can prosper, however, if he is readily discouraged and Defoe's confidence did not go into hiding. In the 35th minute, a David Beckham free-kick on the left was cleared back to the captain and when he then picked out the forward, Defoe controlled the ball and deceived a marker by spinning behind him to shoot home.
The scorer was one of three Spurs men in the starting line-up, a greater representation than Manchester United or Chelsea enjoyed. Given Eriksson's penchant for picking Champions League types, he must foresee thrilling times ahead at White Hart Lane. Less speculatively, there is mounting evidence of Defoe's quality and the bargain the club enjoyed in buying him for £6 million.
Contentment came from various sources in the first half here and there was no immediate disruption even when the forceful Gary Neville was injured and had to be replaced by Jamie Carragher. One of the sanctions for recent disappointments is that England can be met with a trace of cynicism when their initial work is impressive.
Pessimists will just imagine that it presages decline. Poland, all the same, would not have taken that view then. They had emerged from a morass of troubles to win 3-0 in Northern Ireland, but soon had confirmation that this was a contest of a higher order. They did not match up to it particularly well before the interval.
In the third minute a mere throw-in gave Michael Owen a hint of an opening and Arkadiusz Glowacki had to bash the ball behind for a corner. Such was England's gusto, that Neville was soon ahead of his captain to take a pass from him inside the penalty area.
England's concerns, then, were relatively slender, although any piece of penetrating play might have brought the equaliser. When a cross from the left was not dispatched to safety in the 25th minute, John Terry had to block a Maciej Zurawski shot in the goalmouth. England were more alarmed three minutes before the interval when Jacek Krzynowek stroked the ideal cut-back, but the much-vaunted Sebastian Mila completely miskicked.
Despite all the soul-searching and video-watching, the concentration of Eriksson's team flagged as it had in the 2-2 draw with Austria.
After 48 minutes, Kamil Kosowski was able to split the central defence open with a pass that Zurawski converted.
Trouble also ensued between the two sets of supporters. The Polish riot police moved in but English minds were soothed by the quality still evident in their team despite the equaliser. If Defoe was a tonic, others also made fans feel better.
Ashley Cole got behind the Polish defence on the left after 58 minutes and placed the sort of low cross towards the near post that is beloved of forwards. Owen lunged and even though he did not notch the goal the desperate situation saw Glowacki knock the ball into his own net.
POLAND: Dudek, Mila (Kukielka 63), Rzasa, Zewlakow, Glowacki, Bak, Rasiak (Niedzielan 69), Krzynowek, Zurawski, Lewandowski, Kosowski (Gorawski 80). Subs Not Used: Boruc, Klos, Baszcyznski, Smolarek. Booked: Glowacki, Kukielka.Goals: Zurawski 48.
ENGLAND: Robinson, Neville (Carragher 32), Terry, King, Ashley Cole, Beckham (Hargreaves 90), Lampard, Gerrard, Bridge, Defoe (Dyer 87), Owen. Subs Not Used: James, Wright-Phillips, Smith, Vassell. Booked: Owen. Goals: Defoe 37, Glowacki 58 og.
Referee: Stefano Farina (Italy).
Guardian Service
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