ENGLAND MATCH REPORTS

Jeffers 70
 Popovic 17
Kewell 42
Emerton 84
1. James (Robinson 46)
2. G Neville (Mills 46)
3. Ashley Cole (Konchesky 46)
4. Lampard (Murphy 46)
5. Ferdinand (Brown 46)
6. Campbell (King 46)
7. Beckham (Hargreaves 46)
8. Scholes (Jenas 46)
9. Beattie (Jeffers 46)
10. Owen (Rooney 46)
11. Dyer (Vassell 46)
Substitutes
12. Danny Mills
13. Paul Robinson
14. Paul Konchesky
15. Wes Brown
16. Ledley King
17. Owen Hargreaves
18. Danny Murphy
19. Jermaine Jenas
20. Darius Vassell
21. Francis Jeffers
22. Richard Wright
23. Wayne Rooney
24. Joe Cole
25. Matthew Upson
26. Scott Parker
27. Sean Davis

MATCH DETAILS

Match: Friendly
Venue: Upton Park
Date: 12th Feb 2003
Rankings: E8 - A50
Att: 34,590
Ref: M Gonzalez (Spain)
Weather: Mild
Rating: 

MATCH STATS

4 Shots on target 7
6 Shots off target 6
5 Blocked Shots 1
3 Corners 6
13 Fouls conceded 21
0 Offsides 4
0 Yellow cards 1
0 Red cards 0
54% Possession 46%
1. Schwarzer
3. Moore
4. Okon (Muscat 87)
6. Popovic (Vidmar 72)
7. Emerton
8. Skoko (Bresciano 46)
9. Viduka (Sterjovski 85)
10. Kewell (Aloisi 56)
11. Lazaridis
15. Neill
16. Chipperfield (Grella 76)
Substitutes
2. Muscat
5. Vidmar
12. Aloisi
13. Bresciano
14. Sterjovski
17. Grella
18. Kalac
19. Tiatto
 
MINI REPORT

England have produced some appalling performances since the World Cup but the first fourty five minutes at Upton Park will go down as one of the worst. Passionless, heartless and lacking any creativity they were over run by an Australian side clearly more up for the game.

Sven Goran Eriksson made wholesale changes at half-time giving Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Jenas, Paul Robinson, Paul Konchesky and Francis Jeffers their debuts. Rooney becoming the youngest ever England international. The younger players shamed their more experienced and over hyped colleagues with a much more spirited second half performance. Arsenal striker Jeffers scoring on his debut. But the damage was done by half-time and Australia ran out deserved winners.

 

PRESS MATCH REPORTS

AFTER MATCH COMMENTS


Incredibly England captain David Beckham hit out at the fans at Upton Park for booing his side off following their humiliating 3-1 defeat by Australia. (What did he expect cheers and flowers)

Beckham sid: "The disappointing thing was the way the fans reacted to the young lads at the end of the game. Maybe it wasn't directed at them - maybe for the first half - but it's disappointing. For me it's a bunch of young lads playing their first game - a lot of them were winning their first caps.

"We all get frustrated at results - it's the same for the players - but they're young lads who deserved a little bit more than that I think. It hurts losing to anyone - especially at home. It hurt drawing with Macedonia so losing tonight - a lot will be made of it. The fans have got to get behind us now in our next games and I'm sure they will. They've been getting behind us around the country but it was disappointing for the youngsters to receive that tonight."

Sven Goran Eriksson however admitted he could understand the frustration of the supporters.
"The fans wanted to win the game. If you lose at home you have to understand and accept it and do better next time. I can't complain about the England fans. They have been fantastic in the last two years. The support has been enormous but they don't like seeing England lose."