The clock showed that 90 minutes were up, the tension inside the stadium was palpable and the ball, somehow, had found its way to Zlatko Dedic in the penalty area. In that moment, England’s World Cup life flashed before their eyes — until Matthew Upson intervened and a nation breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the moment, perhaps more than any other yesterday, when that Nike advert — with its slogan “Write the future” — came to mind.
Had Upson not made that superb saving tackle, Slovenia would probably have won the group and England would have been flying home in humiliation today, rather than looking ahead to an enthralling meeting with Germany in Bloemfontein on Sunday afternoon.
In top-class sport, the margins between success and failure can be wafer-thin. It should never have been so tight for Fabio Capello’s team yesterday — not in the final game of what must be regarded, even after the torturous past 11 days, as one of the easier groups in this World Cup — but, as Wolfgang Stark, the referee from Germany, blew the final whistle a few minutes later, the tension eased and a huge cloud disappeared from the skies above Port Elizabeth.
The ones crying on the pitch and in the stands were the Slovenes.
Advertisement
This, however, was far from straightforward for England. It probably should have been, given that this was their most comprehensive performance since the end of the qualifying campaign last October, but by the time England started to tire midway through the second half, they had only Jermain Defoe’s 23rd-minute goal to show for their efforts.
Thereafter, with Slovenia sensing weakness, they were reliant on some heroic defensive blocks from Glen Johnson, John Terry and, finally, Upson.
It was perhaps only right that it should come down to such rudimentary acts, embodied by Terry and Upson as they threw their bodies in the way of shots from Dedic, the lively Slovenia substitute, in the closing stages.
Capello and his players had spent the build-up talking about the need to get back to doing what English players do best — playing at a high tempo, not giving their opponents time to relax — and if it does not necessarily represent a World Cup-winning formula, it was a much-needed return to the basics of their game.
It worked. If Capello was appalled at times by his players’ lethargy — of mind, as well as body — in the dire 0-0 draw with Algeria in Cape Town last Friday, here they played, for 70 minutes at least, at the kind of tempo he demands.
Advertisement
It was a tempo set by a midfield quartet of James Milner, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard, and, with Defoe lively in support of Wayne Rooney in his first start of the tournament, there was a sustained period in the middle of the game, with Gerrard and Rooney combining effectively, when England looked menacing.
Capello knew what he wanted from his team yesterday, which is why he turned to Milner, rather than Aaron Lennon, on the right wing. It is also why he ignored the clamour from the English public — and, more to the point, the recommendations from within his squad — for the inclusion of Joe Cole and decided to keep Gerrard stationed on the left. He wanted perspiration, with inspiration coming second. The important thing was that England started well. Against Algeria, his team had played anxiously and been quickly overcome by what he darkly refers to as “The Fear”.
Here there was none of it. There was sloppy passing and poor control early on from Upson and Johnson, but it never looked like throwing them off course as Gerrard drove them forward, with Johnson, Lampard and then Rooney showing an eagerness to shoot.
The inspiration, when it came, was supplied by Milner. The Aston Villa midfield player suffered the indignity of being substituted in the first half against the United States in the opening group game, when he was still suffering the effects of a virus, but, hugging the right touchline, he found space in the 22nd minute and produced an exquisite cross from which Defoe, attacking the ball ahead of Marko Suler in the six-yard area, beat Samir Handanovic with a confident side-foot volley.
All three of the new additions to the starting line-up — Milner, Defoe and, in the dying moments, Upson — made invaluable contributions, but it was, above all, a team performance.
Advertisement
Barry and Lampard played with far more composure and energy than they had against Algeria, but they also provided quality service. Twice Barry picked out Terry’s head from corner kicks, with Handanovic denying the defender superbly on the second occasion, while Lampard produced a pass from which Rooney set up Defoe early in the second half, only for England to be denied by the tightest of offside verdicts.
If there was just a small concern, it came with the performance of Rooney. It was perhaps his best all-round display since an ankle injury at the end of March took the wind out of his sails, but he is clearly still struggling for confidence as well as fitness.
He produced some delightful touches and some excellent runs off the ball, but, when sent clear of the offside trap by Terry on the hour, he had a scuffed shot pushed on to a post by Handanovic.
When Capello took him off with 17 minutes left, a decision he attributed to a minor ankle problem, Rooney’s shoulders dropped and he trudged to the bench, looking disappointed with his manager and himself.
That disappointed look had gone by the end as Rooney raced on to the pitch to join his team-mates in a celebratory huddle on the halfway line. There, the tension of the past few days and certainly of the previous 20 minutes or so subsided. Terry was at the heart of the celebrations, but there were some almighty slaps on the back for Upson, for Milner and for Defoe.
Advertisement
It was the day that England showed there is, after all, some depth to their squad. It was the day that they briefly stared into the abyss and decided, quite rightly, that the round of 16 represented a far more appealing option.
Referee: W Stark (Germany). Attendance: 36,893.