Crouch goal seals England win
England may have to beat Croatia to qualify for Euro 2008 without Owen and Wayne Rooney
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Published by Gibson Square, out November 15th, 204 pages, £12. |  |
Friday, 16, Nov 2007 10:07
A goal from Peter Crouch gave England a 1-0 win over Austria in a friendly in Vienna.
The Liverpool striker scored his 13th goal in 23 international caps on the stroke of half-time.
Michael Owen limped off in the first-half with a suspected thigh injury and could be sidelined for about a month.
Attention now switches to tomorrow night's clash between Israel and Russia in Tel Aviv, where England's Euro 2008 qualification hopes now lie.
If Israel hold Russia to a draw, England will scrape through to the finals if they beat Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday.
As expected, Scott Carson made his debut in goal. Everton's Joleon Lescott played at centre-back while Wayne Bridge started at left-back.
David Beckham returned to the right side of midfield for his 98th cap while Frank Lampard returned to partner Steven Gerrard in the centre.
In a dire first half, England created few chances with Joe Cole's scuffed shot on 21 minutes summing up their display.
Former Sunderland keeper Jurgen Macho was stretchered off after crashing into Crouch on 26 minutes. Macho was replaced by ex-Gunners shot stopper Alex Manninger.
A rare highlight came on 33 minutes when a sweeping move resulted in Crouch back-heeling for Owen, whose low shot was palmed away by Manninger.
Owen then limped off and headed straight to the dressing room before being replaced by Jermain Defoe.
A stunning tackle from Micah Richards denied Andreas Ivanschitz as the captain was about to pull the trigger on 42 minutes.
England should have taken the lead when Manninger dived bravely at the feet of Cole to deny the Chelsea winger. The ball rolled to Crouch, whose skewed wide shot was deflected for a corner.
A minute later, Crouch made amends by giving England the lead when he nodded in Beckham's swinging corner on the stroke of half time.
Boss Steve McClaren brought on Wes Brown, Gareth Barry and Ashley Young for Sol Campbell, Gerrard and Cole at the break.
Flying winger Young went on a mazy run and crossed for Crouch with the Liverpool striker heading straight at Manninger on 58 minutes.
A below-par Beckham was then hauled off and replaced by Blackburn Rovers winger David Bentley.
Goalkeeper Carson had little to do on his debut with the Euro 2008 co-hosts firing long-range efforts well wide of the mark in the closing stages.