A 10-man Belarus side managed to beat England ‘B’, but we shouldn’t despair! In the first half England dominated and every player put in a respectable enough performance. England deservedly went a goal up in the 35th minute: Owen hit the bar with a good header from a Downing free-kick, and Jenas followed up to score a simple tap-in from the rebound. England went downhill rapidly in the second-half and were very listless, failing to create a single decent scoring opportunity. Despite this they were, to some extent, unlucky to lose. Belarus only created one chance, which they happened to score, having had their first goal served up as a result of goalkeeper Robert Green’s injury. Belarus did also persistently foul late in the game, which prevented England from developing any impetus.

The three players (Owen, Campbell and Ashley Cole) that have been bedevilled by injury problems put in reassuring performances. Of the three I thought Cole looked particularly lively. England’s wildcard striker Theo Walcott also got a run out and, whilst it would be difficult to draw any concrete conclusions, he looked very confident and quite classy. He would have broken through the Belarus defence with a positive run but was baulked by two defenders, and he also struck a respectable shot from well outside the box. He’ll have to do more to convince England fans that he wasn’t a strange selection, but on this limited evidence, Sven could be vindicated! [selected ratings below]

7/10 – Lennon: Consistently beat his marker early in the game, and Belarus defenders kept fouling him in the second half to prevent him from completing his runs. Should make an impact in Germany.
Crouch: Caused the Belarus defence problems. Won the ball well and looked confident.
6/10 – A. Cole: Defensively strong and quite prominent on the overlap. Linked well with Downing on the left.
Carragher: Not really tested, looked competitive when he pushed forward into midfield late in the game.
Campbell: Not really tested either, but was solid.
Owen: Sprightly enough, and hit the bar with a good header which led to the goal.
Downing: A promising display and played well with Ashley Cole, but did not make the same impact as Lennon.
5/10 – Carrick: A disappointing performance. He started well, and tidily played Owen in for an early goalscoring chance, but then faded into anonymity.
Jenas: Scored the goal but did little else of note. Has nowhere near the same midfield presence as Lampard or Gerrard.
4/10 - Hargreaves: Looked ill at ease on the ball and distribution was poor.

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