And so England’s post-season visit to the United States ended on a victorious note and a triumphant one for Michael Owen. The validity of this tour is a topic that will continue to attract legitimate criticism, but Owen will retain fond memories of his time in New Jersey after a hat-trick elevated him to fourth in the all-time list of England scorers.
He has now accumulated 32 goals for his country after completing his first hat-trick since England’s 5-1 defeat of Germany in Munich. The circumstances here could hardly have offered a greater contrast, but the Real Madrid striker’s contribution helped to produce an afternoon of surprisingly good entertainment, one that concluded with their second victory in four days and also produced some encouraging performances from the newcomers.
Michael Carrick deserves special acclaim for his intelligent use of the ball and Peter Crouch can reflect on setting up Owen’s second goal, even if he will be disappointed not to have had the opportunity to show off his own finishing skills. In central defence, Zat Knight and Glen Johnson are entitled to reflect on a job well done in subduing Juan Pablo Angel, and Jermaine Jenas was far more impressive than he had been against the US during last Saturday’s win in Chicago.
On the minus side, Sven-Goran Eriksson will have been pained by the way England disintegrated after Owen completed his hat-trick. The manager is blessed to have a striker with Owen’s predatory skills — he has now scored 24 goals in 47 games because without him, matches such as this would be lost.
His third goal was the pièce de résistance, a sublime volley from David Beckham’s cross, but it was his first two which epitomised Owen. An air of inevitability descends when he runs clear on goal and on both occasions, he showed the assuredness that has seen Manchester United, among others, monitor his potential availability at Real Madrid.
His first, after a lovely pass from Joe Cole, brought him level with Sir Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse and Alan Shearer on 30 England goals and he had to wait only eight more minutes to move further towards Bobby Charlton’s record of 49. This time his appreciation should go to Crouch for a quick defence-splitting ball. Again he scampered clear of the Colombia defence, picking his moment before finishing with a clinical execution.
In the build-up, John Jairo Restrepo had flattened Beckham with a crude forearm smash, but the England captain will have been even more pained by the nature of Mario Alberto Yepes’s goal that made it 2-1 a minute later. Eriksson will want to scrutinise the positioning of David James as Yepes scored with a soft header, but part of the blame should be apportioned to Ashley Cole, who allowed the ball to squeeze past him on the goal line.
James was withdrawn at half-time and his replacement, Robert Green, had a far busier 45 minutes. Apart from one fumble, he coped admirably, but Eriksson will shudder to think what the score might have been if Colombia had had a striker in Owen’s form. Phil Neville, deputising at right back, had a particularly uncomfortable 90 minutes and it was surreal to see him finish with the captain’s armband.
Alan Smith, another Manchester United player, will also wince when he sees the replays of Aldo Leao Ramirez’s second goal for Colombia. Smith, a substitute striker helping out in defence, had contrived to give the ball away in his own penalty area.
It would have mattered more had Owen not already produced the game’s most illuminating moment — a finish so sublime there was only one serious contender for the most-valuable-player award.
From that moment on, England scarcely emerged as an attacking force although, in mitigation, they were not helped by the patchwork-quilt pitch. The Americans had spent $150 000 on laying grass on top of the usual artificial turf, but the result was a pockmarked, clumpy surface, which meant the ball sometimes stopped as though it had landed in a puddle.
In view of that, Eriksson’s men deserved credit for passing the ball so slickly, particularly given that they also had to contend with temperatures in excess of 27 degrees Celsius. Indeed, the heat may explain why they lost their way in the final exchanges and might conceivably have surrendered their lead. — Â