England National Review: All Systems Go for the FA as Rooney Earns the Plaudits in Dominant Victory

Wayne Rooney captain of England

It’s been a busy week for the England team, both on the field and off it. Not only did they have a World Cup Qualifier to contend with, but issues involving Twitter as well as the opening of the Football Association’s new center of excellence have contributed to a week full of talking points regarding the Three Lions.
The first notable event of the week took place on Tuesday October 9, as St. George’s Park, the FA’s new £100 million development facility, was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The center, located in Burton-upon-Trent, will provide a base for all 24 of England’s football teams, from the senior side of Wayne Rooney and company, all the way down to the junior boys’ and girls’ teams.
The complex includes a running track, swimming pools, 12 full-size training pitches, an exact replica of the Wembley playing surface, hydrotherapy and biomechanics gyms as well as educational and coaching suites. The project began in 2001 and thus has seen an incredible amount of time and money invested into its creation. Much like the French “Technical Centre” in Clairefontaine, the FA are hoping that St. George’s Park will produce a whole host of talents capable of challenging for some  long-awaited silverware on the international stage. Whether or not that will be the case, the center of excellence certainly puts England in good stead to compete amongst the elite of world football.

Another feature of the opening of St. George’s Park was a PowerPoint presentation, delivered by Adrian Bevington, the managing director of Club England, which outlined a new code of contact regarding the use of Twitter. However, in a rather unfortunate case of bad-timing, Ryan Bertrand hit the headlines just two days later after launching an angry Twitter tirade directed at reports that claimed his withdrawal from the England squad was due to “a sore throat”. It in fact transpired that Bertrand was suffering from a much more serious viral infection. Though the FA chose to refrain from punishing the Chelsea left-back, his foul mouthed hash tag made headlines across the country. Bertrand later issued an apology and even deleted his entire Twitter account.
With the Bertrand incident coming less than a week after Ashley Cole’s offensive Tweet directed toward the FA, it would appear the decision to implement a new Twitter code of conduct was a prudent move from the senior figures of English football. The initiative is scheduled to be formalized in time for England’s friendly against Sweden in Stockholm next month, and will hopefully avoid such unbecoming instances from occurring in future.
Of course, amongst all this excitement, there was the small matter of a football match to be played by the Three Lions. Roy Hodgson’s men hosted European minnows San Marino, as his side looked to dethrone Montenegro from top spot in UEFA Qualifying Group H and claim 1^st place for themselves.
England fielded a vibrant and spritely-looking side, with Leighton Baines and Kyle Walker coming into a new-look defense, and Arsenal pair Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain offering an abundance of pace on either flank. Wayne Rooney captained the side in Steven Gerrard’s absence, and was partnered by Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck to formulate a fluid and innovative front line.
San Marino are ranked 207^th in the world, joint bottom of FIFA’s list alongside Bhutan and Turks and Caicos Islands, so a big win for England was always going to be on the cards. But the game didn’t start quite as planned. The most notable moment in the early exchanges was Walcott’s ugly clash with Sammarinese goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini, which forced the winger to be replaced by Aaron Lennon after just ten minutes. The rest of the play was dominated by the English, but San Marino remained organized and resolute and England struggled to break their opponents down. After some loose passing, Rooney began to take control of affairs, linking well with Oxlade-Chamberlain before firing in a penalty won by Welbeck to give his country a 1-0 lead. Welbeck then notched a goal of his own three minutes later with a brilliant flick reminiscent of his finish against Sweden at this summer’s European Championships.
The story of the second half was much the same as that of the first. San Marino rarely threatened but managed to frustrate Hodgson’s men, who were unable to transform their possession into penetration. Their spirit was finally broken on 70 minutes though, as Rooney, Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain each scored in the next nine minutes to wrap up a largely unspectacular but deserved 5-0 win. The Sammarinese will certainly take heart from the game though, particularly when one considers that just one of their starting eleven is actually a professional footballer.
But for England the result sees them top the group, although rivals Montenegro and Poland remain just three points behind and each have a game in hand. A tough trip to Warsaw is next up for Hodgson’s men, in a game that could have very lasting effects on each nation’s qualification prospects. Though Theo Walcott has been sidelined, as well as Chelsea teammates Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand, the Three Lions will have high hopes for victory after the morale-boosting result against San Marino.
One final mention goes to Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United forward captained his country but his two goals saw him move into fifth place on England’s all-time record goalscoring charts. Having surpassed the likes of Alan Shearer, Nat Lofthouse and the great Sir Tom Finney, Rooney will be confident of climbing even higher up that list; something that remains a very strong possibility given that he is still just 26 years of age. It was an impressive performance to cap off a very memorable few days for Rooney, and in conclusion an eventful but ultimately rewarding week for his country.
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