England to face Germany in World Cup clash
Updated on 23 June 2010
Jermaine Defoe puts England through with the single goal that wins the game against Slovenia, keeping their World Cup hopes alive and putting them on course for a titanic clash with old adversaries - Germany.
In a tense nail-biting match England beat Slovenia 1-0 in Port Elizabeth ensuring their World Cup dream stays alive.
Slovenia only needed to draw to qualify and England needed a win, keeping the pressure on the England team throughout the game.
Jermaine Defoe, who started the game paired up with Wayne Rooney, received an excellent cross from James Milner heading the ball past Samir Handanovic into the Slovenian net.
That was the only goal of the game, despite another near miss from Defoe. However the clearest next chance fell to the feet of Wayne Rooney who found himself clear of the defence with only the keeper ahead of him.
Rooney, perhaps suspecting he was offside, scuffed the ball sending it to the hit the Fpost. Handanovic again had superb game denying England time and time again.
It was not all one way traffic however, Slovenia put shots on David James' goal several times and James - coupled with sterling defence work from John Terry kept out all traffic.
One particular spell saw three consecutive shots on goal from Slovenia blocked by Glen Johnson and John Terry.
Tackle of the day however must go to Matthew Upson. In the last stages of the match the ball he put through an important tackle that would have otherwise seen the Slovenians clear on goal.
Fabio Capello himself was no slouch during the game, seen charging up and down the lines screaming at all the players. Prior to the game there was talk that Capello would be fired if England lost the game.
Rooney was substituted off for Joe Cole having taken a knock to the leg, and later Defoe was substituted for Emile Heskey.
Neither Cole or Heskey had too many shots themselves, but they put in a valuable performance keeping the ball and putting the Slovenian team on the defence for the last minutes of the game.
The game ended after three minutes of extra time putting England through to the next stage of the World Cup. They will play Group D winners Germany after their 1-0 win against Ghana.
Slovenia had further salt rubbed into their wounds when the USA scored against Algeria, winning the game 1-0. That victory means Slovenia will be knocked out of the World Cup.
