Denmark defeat holders England to reach last fourDenmark 2 (Fischer 13, Zohore 21) England 0

A fine first-half display, including a splendid strike from Viktor Fischer, earned Thomas Frank's team a semi-final place as Group A winners. 

Denmark are assured of a place in the semi-finals following a 2-0 Group A victory against England.
The holders, unbeaten in a competitive game under coach John Peacock since their last group match of the 2009 finals, now need to beat Serbia on Monday to stand a chance of extending their title defence. Their attempts to retain the trophy were dealt a major blow by an impressive Denmark outfit, who won courtesy of first-half goals from Viktor Fischer and Kenneth Zohore.
Thomas Frank's team were brimming with confidence after their opening win against Serbia. Carrying on from where he left off on Tuesday, when he scored a late winner, Fischer was first to apply the finishing touch. Given all the time and space he needed, the striker let loose from 25 yards with a shot which whistled into the top corner.
Denmark's second came via Zohore, a real route one effort and his shotflew past Jordan Pickford. That setback briefly sparked England into life but still they were second best, Hope's tame header and wayward shot the only fruits of their labour.
Fresh from Peacock's half-time advice, England at last began to stretch their opponents down the flanks that proved so profitable against France. Still, though, chances were at a premium until midway through the half, Max Clayton smashing the bar with a splendid volley before turning narrowly wide from close range 30 seconds later.
Dominant in possession until the final whistle, Peacock's charges could simply find no way through a dogged Danish defence.

In todays other game France drew their second match 1-1 against hosts Serbia so it is between those two and England to decide the second semi fianlist from the group then they play on Monday.

Group B matches kick off at 4pm (BST)

Under20 World Cup Groups DrawnEngland given tough group

England have been handed a tough draw this morning after the Group Stages were drawn for the Under-20 World Cup Finals which is being held this year in Columbia.
England begin their campaign against North Korea but then have to play Mexico and arguably the best team at Under-20 level Argentina.
Brian Eastwicks side haven't covered themselves in glory in the past. The best the U20's have achived was a third place finish, beating Australia in 1993. Argentina on the other hand have won five of the last eight competitions so will no doubt be favourites to lift the trophy this year.
Mexico are five-time quarter finalists so are no mugs but England who could play Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell and Danny Welbeck should have enough to get past them and then there's North Korea
In the 2010 World Cup North Korea gave their all but just didn't have the skills or experience to put their stamp on the tournament and that is what is expected from their kids.
We are still waiting for the line-up to be completed. One game has yet to be played. New Zealand play Solomon Island for the final place which will see them in Group B with Portugal, Cameroon and Uruguay.

Do you think we should send in the big guns and go for glory or should the Premier League be the main priotity and let the likes of Wilshere and Rodwell get a pre-season under their belt ready for the new season.
Leave a comment.

Group Stages:

A) Colombia, France, Mali, South Korea
B) Portugal, Uruguay, Cameroon, New Zealand/Solomon Islands
C) Australia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Spain
D) Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Guatemala
E) Brazil, Egypt, Australia, Panama
F) Argentina, Mexico, England, North Korea

Tournament begins July 29th until August 20th

Aussie Trotter Leaves Job For Cup Semi

The FA Cup Semi Final might have been a game to forget for Bolton Wanderers supporters but one fan who lost more than most was 50 year old Ian Wagstaff.

A life long Wanderes fan, Ian lives in Australia so getting to games is as difficult as it gets but when Wanderers made the semi final he wanted to be there.

After a long drawn out encounter to find a ticket 'Waggy' finally got his dream ticket, a chance to see his beloved club at Wembley, but there was to be a problem. He couldn't get the time of work, so he did what any other supporter would've done, he quit his job!!!

He told us "I've been a Wanderer all my life. I've watched them in every league apart from the Premier League. I told my boss I wanted to go, but he said we were too busy. I told him I was going anyway. It's not every day you get the chance to watch Wanderers at Wembley."

Unfourtunately this story doesn't have a happy ending. Ian got to see his team at Wembley but Bolton were beaten 5-0 so it ended up being a nightmare trip home for 'Waggy' who not only witnessed his side emphatically beaten but now he has to find himself a new job.

After all this though, if Bolton find themselves back at Wembley you can bet he would do it all over again.

Bolton fans was Ian Wagstaff mad for quitting his job for the semi-final or does he deserve a pat on the back for commitment, let us know your opinion.

10 Man Tottenham Keep Up Title Challenge Aston Villa 1 (Albrighton 82) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Van Der Vaart 23,67)

Tottenham's talismanic midfielder Rafael van der Vaart ensured manager Harry Redknapp maintained his hoodoo over Aston Villa after securing a 2-1 win.  Despite a 27th-minute straight red card for Jermain Defoe, the Dutch midfielder scored either side of that to take his tally to double figures for the season, with Spurs unbeaten in each of the eight games in which he has scored.

Although Marc Albrighton pulled one back eight minutes from time, it was not enough to spare the home side, with Redknapp unbeaten in his last ten Barclays Premier League games as a manager against Villa.

From the opening minute the suggestion was this was going to be an entertaining affair, as has often been the case between these two teams of late, and so it proved. After just 50 seconds Heurelho Gomes produced the first of a number of fine saves to deny Villa, initially from Albrighton who was then quick to pounce on the rebound, only for Gareth Bale to bravely block.

After Gabriel Agbonlahor nodded a free header wide a minute later there was perhaps the sense it was not going to be Villa's night. That view was strengthened when Villa appealed for a penalty in the ninth minute when Emile Heskey was felled by Gomes, but it was such a tight call it was no wonder referee Martin Atkinson was unmoved.

It was a challenge which left Heskey needing treatment and ultimately led to his withdrawal six minutes from the break. It was a key departure as Heskey had also played his part in two incisive Villa moves that sandwiched another moment of controversy in the 18th minute.

A minute earlier Heskey and Agbonlahor had spread play from one wing to the other where Stewart Downing strode forward, cut inside and unleashed a low drive that was picked up by Gomes. Three minutes later it was Heskey who played a delightful one-two with Agbonlahor, the latter eventually unleashing a stinging drive that bounced off a diving Gomes' knee. The ball looped up for Agbonlahor to nod goalwards, but again Gomes was on hand to push the ball around the post.

In between a strike from Younes Kaboul was ruled out by an assistant referee as he deemed a pull back from Alan Hutton had crossed the deadball line, although replays suggested otherwise.

In the 23rd minute, however, Tottenham's frustration was forgotten as a sweeping move cut Villa apart, sparked by a raking cross-field ball from Bale into the path of Hutton down the right wing. James Collins, serving as Villa's fifth skipper of the season with Ashley Young out with a knee injury, failed to cut out the right-back's low centre and Van der Vaart was in behind the centre-back to stab home from ten yards.

The visitors' joy was shortlived because just four minutes later they were contentiously down to ten men for an elbow from Defoe in the face of Collins. It appeared to be harsh because although Defoe led with his arm in jumping for a high delivery, his eyes were focused on the ball at all times. 

It left Spurs facing the final 63 minutes a man short, and for the first 18 of those through to half-time they were rarely troubled. And they could have doubled their lead prior to the interval as Van der Vaart teed up Wilson Palacios for a 20-yard effort which Brad Friedel tipped into the sidenetting.

Apart from an early second-half strike from Heskey's replacement Nathan Delfouneso, which stung the fingers of Gomes, Spurs easily held until breaking with devastating effect in the 67th minute. It was sparked by an 80-yard run down the right from Bale, who found Aaron Lennon in space on the left.The winger played a simple pass into Van der Vaart's path for a first-time left-foot shot beyond Friedel.

After Gomes had produced his save of the game from Agbonlahor nine minutes later, an 82nd-minute cross from Albrighton floated past the Spurs goalkeeper, who was arguably distracted by a diving Collins in front of him. There was no late reprieve for Villa and manager Gerard Houllier, though, who departed the field to a chorus of boos from the home fans.

Line Ups:

Aston Villa: 01-Friedel, 03-Warnock, 06-Downing, 12-Albrighton, 11-Agbonlahor, 16-Delph, 18_Heskey, 24-Cuellar, 28-Hogg, 29-Collins, 30-Lichaj SUBS USED: 08-Pires, 14-Delfouneso, 19-Petrov

Tottenham Hotspur: 01-Gomes, 02-Hutton, 03-Bale, 04-Kaboul, 07-Lennon, 11-Van der Vaart, 12-Palacios, 14-Modric, 18-Defoe, 20-Dawson, 32:Assou-Ekotto SUBS USED: 15-Crouch, 22-Corluka

Todays Other Scores:

Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Stoke City: SC-Huth, Wilson

Bolton Wanderers 2-0 West Brom: BW-Taylor, Elmander

Fulham 1-3 West Ham: FU-Hughes WH-Cole (2), Piquionne

Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland: MU-Berbatov (2)

Newcastle United 1-3 Manchester City: NU-Carroll MC- Tevez (2), Barry

Wolves 1-2 Wigan Athletic: WW-Fletcher WA-Rodallega, Cleverley

Germany 4 England 1

Scorers: Mueller (Ger) 2 goals, Klose (Ger), Podolski (Ger), Upson (Eng)

Attendance: 40510

Germany's youthful side delivered a striking statement of intent by overwhelming old rivals England 4-1 in Bloemfontein to take their place in the last eight of the FIFA World Cup™. 

Joachim Low's side built a two-goal lead through early goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski and although Matthew Upson reduced the deficit before the break, the Germans made sure of their quarter-final place when Thomas Muller concluded two lightning breakaways with a quick-fire double midway through the second half. While Germany can look forward with confidence to a quarter-final meeting with Argentina or Mexico, England will go home to lick their wounds and reflect on yet another FIFA World Cup defeat by their old nemesis.

It was a lapse of concentration which allowed Germany to take the lead in the 20th minute, the goal coming after a spell of prolonged England possession. Manuel Neuer's long goal-kick upfield should have been dealt with by England’s central defenders, but Klose, back from suspension, got between John Terry and Upson, outmuscling the latter before poking the ball past David James with his outstretched right boot.

While having plenty of the ball, England were creating little in the way of genuine scoring opportunities, with only a Gareth Barry shot from distance which went straight at Neuer. Indeed, Germany should have doubled their advantage on the half-hour when Sami Khedira combined well with Muller to set up Klose, who fired straight at James. Yet Die Nationalelf did not have to wait too long for their second goal as Muller floated a delightful ball into the path of the unmarked Podolski. With England's defence stretched, the Cologne man had the time to recover from a poor first touch and produce a left-footed finish that squeezed through the legs of the goalkeeper and just inside the far post.

England pulled a goal back in the 37th minute when a short Lampard corner from the right was played to Gerrard who crossed into the box. Upson, atoning for his earlier error, rose highest above the Germany defence and with Neuer stranded, powered a header into the net. Meetings between these two sides often provide talking points and this one's came 60 seconds later when Lampard's shot from the edge of the box struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, with the referee ruling the ball had not crossed the goalline.

England started the second half strongly with Gerrard hitting a right foot shot just wide in the opening minutes and Lampard rattling the crossbar with a free-kick 30 yards from goal. However, Germany increased their advantage in the 67th minute through a counter-attack. Lampard's free-kick hit the German wall and, with England having committed men forward, they were left exposed as Schweinsteiger broke quickly before playing a delightful ball for Muller, who had started the breakaway, to fire past James.

Germany's fourth was more or less a carbon copy of their third. With England deep in their opponents' half, searching for a way back into the game, Germany won possession on the edge of their box and sprayed the ball to Ozil on the left. The midfielder outpaced Barry and played in Muller to sidefoot home from close range. England, to their credit, never gave up and only a fine one-handed save by Neuer from Gerrard stopped them from reducing their deficit – the heaviest in their FIFA World Cup history.

England 0 Algeria 0

Scorers: None

Attendance: 64100

Algeria held England to a goalless draw in the Group C encounter in Cape Town, leaving both sides still with a chance of qualification for the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup™. Although most of the play was dominated by England, it was the north Africans, 22 places below Fabio Capello's men in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, who were the happier of the two teams at the final whistle

All the talk pre-match surrounded Capello's starting XI, with the Italian selecting David James in favour of Robert Green, the keeper culpable for Clint Dempsey's equaliser against USA. Out too went James Milner for the fit-again Gareth Barry, while Jamie Carragher deputised for the injured Ledley King. The early signs were encouraging for England who began pressing from the first whistle. Their passing certainly looked crisper than during last Saturday's 1-1 draw in Rustenburg and they created several good chances during a first half, that while ending goalless, had plenty of entertainment value.

England captain Steven Gerrard had the game's first real opportunity when he almost caught Rais Mbolhi out with a dipping shot. Then Emile Heskey rose highest from Barry's inswinging corner from the right, but failed to direct his header on target. The patient build-up, all too infrequent in the Three Lions' last performance, was proving beneficial. Yet it was by no means one-way traffic. Algeria fired their first warning shot when Karim Ziani's cross found Hassan Yebda, whose back-header landed comfortably into the grasp of James. Karim Matmour and Ziani also had attempts on goal during a point midway through the opening 45 minutes as the Desert Foxes enjoyed a territorial advantage.

England came to life again thanks to the prompting of Wayne Rooney, who dropped deeper to increase his influence. A move begun by the Manchester United man saw Aaron Lennon find Frank Lampard who forced Mbolhi into a scrambling one-handed save from 12 yards. Barry and Rooney both tested the keeper on the stroke of half time, but Algeria had more than earned parity at the break.

Only some sublime defending from Madjid Bougherra denied Gerrard a clear scoring opportunity after the interval, when Rooney's intelligent flick-on seemed destined to set up the Liverpool midfielder. As time ticked on, though, England's frustrations at those missed opportunities grew, never more so than when Gerrard himself passed the ball straight at an Algeria defender, with Rooney and Lampard lurking in the box.

That said, it took a last-gasp intervention from Rafik Halliche to prevent England from taking the lead. Gerrard fed Heskey in the box and with the striker's shot apparently destined to hit the target or at least present Rooney with the simplest of tap-ins, the defender's outstretched leg deflected the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner, taken by Lampard, Gerrard's bullet header was claimed at the first attempt by Mbolhi. England were knocking at the door, but just not finding an answer. Either that, or they were finding the door firmly closed in their face by Bougherra, who was simply outstanding at the heart of the defence.

But the England fans, who made up the majority of the crowd at the Green Point stadium cared little of the merits of the opposition and showed their frustration by booing a wayward Lampard effort and again when the full-time whistle went. Capello, on the occasion of his 64th birthday, left the arena with his head bowed, as did the majority of the England players. It all comes down to the final group matches with England playing current section leaders Slovenia in Port Elizabeth and USA facing Algeria in Pretoria.

England 1 USA 1

Scorers: Gerrard (Eng), Dempsey (USA)

Attendance: 44026

A terrible mistake from England’s Robert Green gave USA a share of the spoils in Group C’s opening match played in front of a passionate crowd in Rustenburg. The goalkeeper, given the nod by Fabio Capello to start the match ahead of David James and Joe Hart, allowed Clint Dempsey’s 25-yard drive to slip through his grasp, giving last year’s FIFA Confederations Cup finalists a deserved share of the spoils.

The game had begun so well for England, who enjoyed an ideal start to their FIFA World Cup™ campaign, taking the lead with just four minutes on the clock. Frank Lampard found Emile Heskey who played a perfectly-weighted ball to Steven Gerrard and the skipper made no mistake with an intelligent finish past Man of the Match Tim Howard with the outside of his right foot.

From then on, however, USA gradually got more of the ball and a grip of the game. They fired their first real warning when Landon Donovan’s teasing cross from the right was headed wide by Jozy Altidore. Oguchi Onyewu also glanced wide a header, again from a Donovan set-piece, and the LA Galaxy man himself tested Green with a curling 25-yard effort which swerved just wide of the upright.

If USA seemed not to be enjoying any luck, they got their deserved equaliser in fortunate fashion five minutes before the break. Dempsey’s shot appeared to be straightforward enough to handle, but Green’s failed attempt to claim the ball drew them level. It was a horrible mistake by the England goalkeeper – one which he immediately acknowledged - but one which England ultimately failed to recover from.

The Three Lions upped the tempo in the second half and Emile Heskey spurned a good chance to put them ahead – firing straight at the keeper after being put clean through by Aaron Lennon. Lampard stung the palms of Howard with a long-range effort and Glen Johnson also snatched a shot when well placed. Green went some way to atone for his earlier error when he pushed Altidore’s shot onto the post after the pacy striker had powered past substitute Jamie Carragher down the left.

As the half wore on, Wayne Rooney began to find more space and consequently his influence on the game increased. First he headed over from a Gerrard cross and then a quickly-taken free-kick almost caught Howard out, but the ball flashed wide of the far post. The No10 also set up Shaun Wright-Phillips in a fantastic position, but his shot lacked conviction and Howard was able to make a comfortable save.

With the clock ticking down, both managers introduced striking substitutes in the hope of a late winner, but a winning goal failed to come. With such a fearsome rivalry between the sides, there was a feeling of anti-climax at the final whistle, but there is still plenty to play for at the FIFA World Cup

England: 12. Green, 2. Johnson, 3. Cole, 4. Gerrard, 6. Terry, 7. Lennon, 8. Lampard, 10. Rooney, 16. Milner, 20 King, 21. Heskey

Subs Used: 9. Crouch, 17. Wright-Phillips, 18. Carragher

USA: 1. Howard, 3. Bocanegra, 4. Bradley, 5. Onyewu, 6. Cherundolo, 8. Dempsey, 10. Donovan, 13. Clark, 17. Altidore, 15. DeMerit, 20. Robbie Findley

Subs Used: 11. Holden, 14 Buddle