Ben, get your facts right - England was near World Cup strength for the friendly when Australia towelled them 3-1. England brought on the youngsters in the second half and did a lot better but the damage had already been done against the senior players.
And to cite EA ratings that US has more higher rated players than Mexico is not really valid. The whole point of this thread was that EA ratings are skewed.
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Socceroos win 3-1 against England
February 14 2003
By Shifty Silkstone
Related links:
Australia v England International Friendly
Australia stunned England in one of the biggest upsets in soccer history today winning 3-1 against a near World Cup strength English team.
The victory was Australia's first win over England and was set up by goals from Tony Popovich and star striker Harry Kewell to give the Socceroos a deserved 2-0 advantage midway through the international friendly at Upton Park in London.
The team of novices which came on for England in the second half pulled a goal back when Francis Jeffers headed in a Jermaine Jenas cross in the 69th minute.
A late goal from Brett Emerton put the result for Australia beyond doubt.
"I'm very happy. Happy doesn't cover it," said Australian manager Frank Farina after the game.
"I thought we performed magnificently well and thoroughly deserved the three goals. We could have had more."
The Socceroos stunned England in the first half, putting early pressure on the home side as Harry Kewell forced several saves from the English keeper and Birmingham's Stan Lazaridis raided up and down the left flank.
Crystal Palace defender Tony Popovich took the lead for the green and gold when he jumped above Gary Neville to head home a curling Lazaridis free kick in the 17th minute.
Kewell, who was under an injury cloud before the game, doubled the lead three minutes before half time when a Rio Ferdinand stumble enabled him to cooly dribble around goalkeeper David James.
The talk before the game was of the wholesale changes English manager Sven Goran Eriksson planned to make at half time but the Socceroos made the English first stringers look decidedly second rate.
Leeds star, Kewell was the dominant player on the field, darting down the right side and coming close to scoring on at least four occasions before adding his name to the scoresheet.
The capacity crowd included a large Australian contingent, whose chants of, "Come on Aussie, Come on," drowned out the traditional songs of the England supporters.
For the home side, Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes thought he had scored from a goalmouth scramble just minutes after Popovich's goal but England's woes increased when the goal was ruled offside by the assistant referee.
Liverpool striker Michael Owen came close but pushed his shot wide at the half way mark of the first term while defender Sol Campbell had a header cleared from the Australian goal line.
But the half belonged to Australia with skipper Paul Okon holding down the central midfield and Birmingham's Stan Lazaridis, an Upton Park regular during his stint with West Ham, giving England's superstar captain David Beckham plenty of trouble.
All week the clash had shaped as a game of two halves with Eriksson under extreme pressure from Premier League managers to rest star players.
Despite the surprise half-time deficit, the English manager made good on a promise to change the entire team, replacing his established stars with an under 26 lineup spearheaded by Aston Villa's Darius Vassell and 17-year-old Wayne Rooney, who became the youngest player ever to don the England shirt.
The youthful Englishmen mustered more of a fight than their illustrious counterparts but the second half was a scrappy affair as both sides made plenty of changes and struggled for rhythm.
Rooney looked sharp and Newcastle youngster Jermaine Jenas caused problems on the right flank, whipping a cross for Jeffers to score with a glancing header in the 67th minute.
But Australia settled and finished the stronger with Emerton imposing himself on the game after Kewell's substitution in the 60th minute.
The Feyenoord star sealed the result for Australia when striker John Aloisi put him through on goal and he coolly slotted past the English keeper in the 84th minute.
