Jermain Defoe came to England’s rescue last night by coming off the bench to salvage a draw against the Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena that had seemed unlikely at half time.
England quickly found themselves facing a 2-0 deficit as terrible defensive errors gifted the Dutch a host of chances, and left the field at half time very much outplayed by Bert van Marwijk’s side.
On several occasions in the early stages, England failed to deal with Dutch pressure and when Rio Ferdinand’s loose pass was intercepted by Dirk Kuyt, the Liverpool striker was able to go round keeper Rob Green before cutting back again to fire into the near post roof of the net via John Terry’s outstretched leg.
England had already had one let off from defensive lapses: Kuyt’s 10th minute goal was the result of the second dangerous backpass after Ferdinand allowed Glen Johnson’s ball to casually roll through to Green despite Kuyt lurking.
They did, however, manage to create some good opportunities, as Lampard and Young had long range shots on target and Barry fired narrowly over the crossbar. Rooney also looked dangerous with shots in quick succession, one of which was straight at Stekelenburg and the other marginally wide.
England had a penalty appeal dismissed: Gareth Barry’s backheel, aimed for Heskey, bounced up and struck De Jong on the arm, but referee Nicola Rizzoli ordered play to continue.
But defensive problems persisted and England were fortunate not to concede again when Van der Vaart’s free kick caught Green in no man’s land with two unmarked attackers at the back post. Green checked back and saved Kuyt’s header at his feet.
Lampard was then at fault for allowing former Chelsea team mate Arjen Robben to intercept a loose pass and the Dutchman’s pacy run ended in an explosive shot tipped over by Green.
The second goal was just as disastrous as the first for England. Deep in the England half, Barry gave the ball straight to Robben, who raced through on goal. Green saved the one on one, but the defence was woefully exposed with three orange shirts outnumbering the two English ones and Rafael van der Vaart had the simple task of smashing the rebound into the empty net.
The match was billed by captain John Terry as the start of the World Cup in South Africa next summer, citing the necessity to build momentum ahead of the tournament, but manager Fabio Capello will doubtless have had concerns about the ease and speed with which the Netherlands built a commanding lead due to basic errors.
Nevertheless he can be pleased by the manner in which his side fought their way back into the game, with Defoe leading the comeback.
Several changes were made at the break, Fabio Capello introducing Defoe in place of Emile Heskey to devastating effect. Michael Carrick and Shaun Wright-Phillips also were brought on for Beckham and Barry while Van Persie, Van der Vaart and Robben were withdrawn by their opponents.
Four minutes into the half, a clearance from Green was turned into a swift counter attack by Frank Lampard’s long ball, collected by Defoe as he outpaced the Dutch defence. The Tottenham striker produced a beautiful finish to beat oncoming keeper Maarten Stekelenburg by curling a well disguised shot with his left foot that clipped the post on its way in.
Suddenly with increased threat and incentive, England’s substitutes combined once again for the equaliser when Rooney’s replacement Carlton Cole, who caused problems for Holland’s defence, played a part in the goal when he managed to find James Milner on the left wing.
The Villa winger escaped Jonny Heitinga’s challenge, racing down the channel to slide a dangerous ball across goal from just inside the box, which Jermain Defoe was able to finish from close range with 13 minutes remaining.
England finished the stronger of the two sides and could even have won the game.
Posted by tomlfoley 
