Capital One Cup: Second Round Draw

As the football season begins to get into full swing, eyes drew to the second round of the Capital One Cup. The first round games threw up some cracking games and some excellent entertainment. Seven Championship teams fell at the first hurdle with last years runners up Cardiff losing to League Two side Northampton Town the shock of the round. Derby were involved in a ten goal thriller at Pride Park which ended 5-5 after extra time. Their opponents Scunthorpe came out the eventual winners 7-6 on penalties and will face Norwich in the second round.

picture: thisisscunthorpe.co.uk

Other Championship casualties included Brighton, who were well beaten 3-0 by Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town. Paul Benson struck early on in the second half for the Robins, and an Alan Navarro brace soon after booked them a second round tie against Premier League side Stoke City. Bristol City also crashed out losing 2-1 to League Two side Gillingham Town at Ashton Gate. 

Relegated side Wolverhampton Wanderers needed a penalty shoot out to get past Aldershot Town at Molineux. Michel Rankine had cancelled out a Sylvain Ebanks Blake goal in the second half and after the first 13 penalty kicks had been successful, Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme kept out Jordan Robert's penalty to give the Championship side a second round tie away at Northampton Town.

All Premier League sides come into the second round bar the clubs competing in Europe meaning there are 13 top flight clubs playing for a third round tie. Everton are involved in one of the stand out games playing at home to League One side Leyton Orient. Morecambe's reward for dumping Blackpool out of the cup, is a trip to the North East where they will play Sunderland. 

Both Wigan and Fulham will have to play to their best if they are progress as they both travel to a Championship club. Having been dumped out of FA Cup by Swindon last season, Wigan face a tough task in playing Nottingham Forest. Fulham face newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. 

All ties will commence the week beginning the 27th August 2012

Second Round Fixtures: 

Aston Villa v Tranmere Rovers

Burnley v Plymouth

Carlisle v Ipswich Town

Coventry v Birmingham City

Crawley v Bolton

Doncaster v Hull City

Gillingham v Middlesbrough

Leeds United v Oxford United

Leicester City v Burton Albion

MK Dons v Blackburn Rovers

Norwich v Scunthorpe

Notts Forest v Wigan Athletic

Preston v Crystal Palace

QPR v Walsall

Sheff Wed v Fulham

Stevenage v Southampton

Stoke City v Swindon Town

Sunderland v Morecambe

Swansea v Barnsley

Watford v Bradford

West Ham v Crewe Alex

Yeovil v West Brom

Reading v Peterborough

Everton v Leyton Orient

Northampton v Wolves

England: Euro 2012 review

So just like in previous major tournaments, England once again fell at the quarter final stage on penalties. Despite there being such little expectation before the tournament, every England fan wanted and hoped that they would break the 'hoodoo' of the quarter finals and progress to a semi for the first time since Euro 96. Unfortunately for them, Italy ended England's campaign and sent them home wondering what would have been.

However looking back at England's tournament, there is plenty to take to be positive about. Firstly the group that we progressed from was never as easy as anyone would it out to be. Going into the tournament, France were on a 21 game unbeaten run and looked a real force in their pre tournament friendlies. With the likes of Frank Ribery, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri all playing to their best, it looked unlikely that England would finish above them.

picture: cantheyscore.com

With Sweden and Ukraine also in the group, England were facing two teams they had struggled to beat in previous encounters. Despite beating them in a friendly in November, England had never beaten Sweden in a competitive game having drawn their last encounter with them in World Cup 2006. The last time England faced Ukraine was in the qualifying group for the World Cup two years ago. Having beaten them narrowly at Wembley 2-1, England's last group game was away in Ukraine and were beaten 1-0 thanks to a goal from Sergiy Nazarenko.

Having only been appointed months before the tournament, Roy Hodgson had very little time to select and prepare a squad to take to the Championships. Despite the limited time, Hodgson gathered a squad full of youth and experience. Dropping Rio Ferdinand out of the squad, caused a massive uproar with both the media and the fans and threw questions into whether Hodgson was right in doing it. The selection of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain though was one that was praised and welcomed by many. Hodgson was not helped with his preparation with the timing of injuries to certain players. Both Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard were ruled out of the tournament before a ball was kicked, while central defender Gary Cahill joined them after suffering a jaw injury during the friendly with Belgium.

Having lost such experience in the centre of midfield, Jordan Henderson and Phil Jagielka were brought in as replacements, questioning whether England's midfield was good enough to cope with their opponents further on in the tournament. With both Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker ageing and injury prone, the lack of experience as back up was something  that caused serious concern.

picture: mirror.co.uk

Having won both their pre tournament friendlies 1-0 against Norway and Belgium, England went into their tournament with no pressure and nothing to lose. The opening game against France ended a 1-1 draw and meant a good start to their campaign. England's second game ended in a 3-2 win over Sweden and by far their best performance under Hodgson. Having gone behind early on in the second half, Hodgson's substitutions gave England more of an attacking threat and resulted in the two goals that won them the game. Needing only a point from their last game to qualify, England battled hard to a 1-0 win thanks to a Rooney header. Despite winning the game, England struggled to create other chances and were penned in their half for much of the game.

The inability to hold onto possession for lengths of the game and the lack of chances created was something that needed to improve if they were to make any progress in the competition. Having topped their group, England faced the task of Italy in their quarter final avoiding the much fancied Spain. At this point expectation back home was a lot higher and a place in the semi finals was a realistic possibility. However this possibility quickly disappeared as England lacked a serious attacking threat throughout much of the game leaving Italy to dominate with Andrea Pirlo dominating the midfield. Having just about got away with similar performaces in the group games, England battled through 120 minutes of the game before falling to the lottery of a penalty shootout. It was fair on Italy who deserved to go through, but for England, the lack of chances and the inability to keep the ball in the game ended their hopes of progressing to the semis.

Despite all this, the progress England made under Hodgson in a short period of time, is something to be proud of. The spirit within the camp was a lot better than in previous tournaments and the inclusion of some promising youngsters in the squad is one step in building a team for the future. Though if England are to compete and cope with the likes of Spain, Germany and Netherlands, then there is a lot of hard work to be done if we are to see an England captain lifting either a World Cup or a European Championship in the near future. 

Euro 2012 result: England 0-0 Italy AET (2-4 pens)

England suffered penalty heart ache in a major tournament once again as they were beaten by Italy in their Euro 2012 quarter final game in Kiev.

England were second best through much of the tie which saw Ashley Young and Ashley Cole miss the decisive penalties resulting in the Italians progressing to the semi finals where they will face Germany.

Despite going out, Roy Hodgson and his team will take great credit in their defensive displays which saw them frustrate the Italians for 120 minutes.

For the opening 20 minutes of the first half, early chances were exchanged for both sides. It was almost a terrible start for England as De Rossi unleashed a swerving left footed half volley which cannoned off Hart's post. Moments later it was England who almost took the lead with Glen Johnson being denied by Gigi Buffon's strong left hand.

Good combination play between, Johnson, Ashley Young and James Milner, saw the Man City midfielder's cross arrive at Johnson's feet who did well to scoop an effort from six yards, only to see Buffon deny him a goal.

picture: ctpost.com

The opening period of the game was by far the best display by England in the tournament and they almost went ahead when Rooney headed over from a well directed cross from Glen Johnson.

With the pressure coming from England, Italy started to work their way into the game with Andrea Pirlo pulling the strings from midfield. Pirlo's ball over the top was collected by Mario Balotelli whose attempted chip was well blocked by the on rushing John Terry.

Pirlo was once again involved in Italy's next chance of the half. The Juventus man sent over a delicious far post ball which was headed across goal by Cassano. With Balotelli waiting for an easy tap in, he could only watch as he was denied by his club team mate Joleon Lescott who cleared the ball over his own crossbar.

Despite losing control of the game, England created one more chance before the break. Having played with each other all season at Old Trafford, the combination of Welbeck and Rooney engineered a chance for Welbeck who could only side foot his shot wide, when really he should have done better.

Italy continued their dominance after the break with Pirlo continually bossing the midfield. Having hit the post in the second half, De Rossi tried his luck again from range. This time Hart palmed it straight to Balotelli, whose shot was saved by the legs of the goal keeper. With the goal gaping, Montolivo managed to hit the second rebound over the bar.

England once again escaped going behind as De Rossi shot wide from the easiest of positions after he had been set up by the head of Marchisio.

With the team tiring and pinned back into their own half, Hodgson made the first move bringing Theo Walcott and Andy Carroll on for Milner and Welbeck. Both were involved in England's notable chance in the second half when Ashley Young's goal bound shot was blocked by the Italian defence out for a corner.

With extra time looming, Italy brought on ex West Ham man Alessandro Diamanti who was denied by a sharp stop from Joe Hart. Glen Johnson did well to deny sub Nocerino when his goal bound shot looked set for the net. At the other end, Wayne Rooney nearly stole it for England as his overhead kick went miles over the bar after Andy Carroll had nodded the ball back across goal.

With extra time to be played, England looked shattered and happy to settle for a penalty shoot out. Scott Parker was replaced by Jordan Henderson to freshen up the midfield early on in the first half.

picture: dailymail.co.uk

With eleven players behind the ball, England escaped once again as a Diamanti cross come shot evaded everyone and struck the base of the post with Joe Hart beaten. Nocerino had a goal rightly ruled out in the second half of extra time for offside which meant the tie would be decided on a penalty shoot out.

With England ahead after the first two penalties, belief started to build that we would make the semis. But after a nonchalant chip from Pirlo to draw the Italians level, Ashley Young saw his penalty smack the bar. Nocerino converted Italy's fourth penalty meaning Ashley Cole needed to score England's next penalty.

Having converted his spot kick in the recent Champions League final, Cole could only stare in disbelief as his kick was saved by Buffon. Up stepped Diamanti knowing if he found the net, he would knock England out. Sending Hart the wrong way, Diamanti ran with his team mates to celebrate the deserved win with Buffon and a semi final tie with Germany on Thursday.

For England, the same old story of losing in a quarter final on penalties continues, but with little expectation before the tournament, England have made some progress. Having only had little time to prepare before the tournament, Roy Hodgson will have great hope for the future of the England team.

Teams:
England: Hart, G.Johnson, Terry, Lescott, A.Cole, Gerrard, Parker (Henderson 94') Milner (Walcott 60') Young, Rooney, Welbeck (Carroll 61')

Italy: Buffon, Balzaretti, Abate (Maggio 90') Barzagli, Bonucci, Marchisio, De Rossi (Nocerino 80') Montolivo, Pirlo, Balotelli, Cassano (Diamanti 78')

Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)