Ecuador vs Germany May 29, 2013

Germany scored within 10 seconds and were four up inside 25 minutes, but their second string were ultimately unconvincing in beating Ecuador in their international friendly game in Boca Raton, Florida. Lukas Podolski and Lars Bender scored two each as a team without their Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund contingent received a more than helping hand from their opponents. Missing also Real Madrid pair Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira and featuring two debutants in midfielder Sidney Sam and forward Max Kruse, this was a chance for the fringe players to impress Joachim Low. But it was hard to imagine the coach being too impressed, given how utterly awful Ecuador were in the opening half-an-hour. Indeed, Low’s men were comfortably second best after the break. Ranked 10th in the world, lying second in South American World Cup qualifying and with seven wins and two draws from their last nine games, including a 3-2 success in Portugal in February, Germany would have expected Ecuador to offer a real test. Instead it was anything but as Podolski netted within seconds and Bender added a second in the fourth minute. Two more goals later and the game was over as a contest inside 30 minutes, but Ecuador did improve, pulling one back through Antonio Valencia shortly before half-time and scoring again through Walter Ayovi late on. Straight from kick-off Ecuador played the ball back to defender Gabriel Achilier, who dallied and lost it to Podolski, the Arsenal man scoring with a smart low finish. The goal was timed at just over nine seconds, just slower than Davide Gualtieri’s goal after 8.3 seconds for San Marino against England in 1993 – the fastest goal in international football. Bender soon made it two, running through a yawning chasm of a gap in the Ecuador defence following Sam’s pass and finishing stylishly with the outside of his right foot. Podolski rifled home a third in the 17th minute after Kruse had got down the left side of the area and pulled the ball back. And Bender got his second in the 24th minute, given time to shoot on the edge of the area and firing past goalkeeper Maximo Banguera, who should have done much better. Facing a humiliation, the South Americans finally started to get their act together and Jefferson Montero curled an effort against the bar. Felipe Caicedo twisted and turned in the area to work a shooting chance only to send his effort too close to Rene Adler, who also parried a Valencia shot. But the Manchester United man did pull a goal back, volleying home a low strike after the ball sat up for him nicely in the area. Valencia went close shortly after the break, his fierce shot from a narrow angle on the right punched away by Adler. It was now Germany looking unsteady and Heiko Westermann had to produce a brilliant block to deny Joao Rojas what looked a certain goal. Ecuador got a second goal in the 84th minute when Ayovi curled a free-kick into the near post and Adler could only help the ball into the net. Pedro Quinonez blasted a shot just wide as Ecuador threatened a third, but their mad first 30 minutes had cost them. Next up for Germany is a friendly game with the United States in Washington DC on Sunday, while Ecuador will hope to be rather quicker out of the blocks when they travel to Peru for their next qualifier on June 7.

England vs Ireland May 29, 2013

England departed for Brazil with a whimper as they were held to a disappointing draw against the Republic of Ireland. Having slipped further behind Montenegro in their World Cup qualifying campaign two months ago, this friendly game was a perfect chance for Roy Hodgson’s men to end their home calendar with a victory. However, they could not deliver. Shane Long had two men marking him in Glen Johnson and Phil Jagielka, but neither of them could prevent the West Brom man glancing a header past Joe Hart with 13 minutes gone. Only a defensive mix-up at the other end allowed Frank Lampard to level 10 minutes later. The game that promised to be a thrilling end to end Premier League-style scrap ended up being a tepid affair thereafter. England failed to create any real chances until the 83rd minute, when Forde saved superbly from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Although Ireland’s organisation made it tough for England, if they are serious about reaching the World Cup, let alone progress to the latter stages of the competition, they should be winning games like this. The Three Lions cannot afford to drop any more points in their qualifying campaign and of late they have failed to beat Poland (ranked 63rd in the world), Ukraine (37th), Montenegro (27th) and now Ireland, who sit 39th in the ladder. England looked tired at times and their hopes of a surprise victory in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday look slim, especially after Daniel Sturridge limped off with an ankle injury. The only positive point for England was that both national anthems were well observed despite fears there would be a repeat of the trouble that marred the last meeting between the two sides 18 years ago. Ashley Cole, as Hodgson eventually made clear after much head scratching, led the team out and looked moved as he collected a golden cap to commemorate reaching a century of caps in February. Most England supporters respected the FA’s wishes, with only a handful singing “no surrender” during God Save The Queen. The colourful 10,000 travelling fans made a lot of noise and they had something extra to cheer about when Long scored. Jon Walters fed the ball to Seamus Coleman, who whipped in a cross to the near post and Long got in front of Johnson and Jagielka to glance the ball beyond a sprawling Hart. The West Brom striker cupped his ears in front of the England fans while one member of the travelling support at the other end of the stadium tossed a green smoke bomb on to the pitch which caused a brief stoppage in play. England had Lampard to thank for coming to the rescue 10 minutes later. Sturridge bought half a yard with some nifty footwork and drove a low ball across the box which Lampard controlled with his thigh after a mix-up between Sean St Ledger and Glenn Whelan before flicking the ball past Forde with his right foot. Given that Forde was hurtling off his line at full speed, the quality of the finish proved exactly why Lampard now sits joint seventh in England’s all-time top scorers list. Then came the sight Hodgson did not want to see – one of his players hobbling off with an injury. Sturridge’s right foot got trapped under Whelan’s trailing leg and the Liverpool man needed five minutes of treatment before he was carried off on a stretcher, to be replaced by Jermain Defoe. England improved, with St Ledger and Coleman putting in crucial blocks to deny Theo Walcott on separate occasions. Ireland were denied a penalty in the final minute of the first half when Wayne Rooney hauled down Robbie Keane after Phil Jagielka’s poor attempted clearance. Cole came within a whisker of scoring his first international goal three minutes into the second half, but Coleman came to the rescue again, cutting out Walcott’s cross before the skipper could tap in. The Chelsea defender then paid his respects to the crowd after being substituted for Leighton Baines. Lampard took the armband which had caused so much confusion. A raft of substitutions took the pace out of the game and chances were few and far between at either end. Defoe raced at the Ireland defence and passed to Walcott, but Forde saved at the near post. England found a way through the Ireland defence with seven minutes left when Rooney’s deflected shot fell for Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Forde saved well with his legs. Forde then pulled off another top stop with his feet to deny Walcott and the game ended with the away fans singing “You’ll never beat the Irish”.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Montreal Impact May 29,2013

The Montreal Impact were crowned Canadian champions Wednesday night after clawing back to a 2-2 draw against the Whitecaps in Vancouver. With the first leg between the two sides finishing 0-0, Hassoun Camara’s late equalizer in the second half was the difference maker as the Impact won the Voyageurs Cup on away goals. In the first half, the Whitecaps came flying out of the gate and found the breakthrough in the fourth minute of play courtesy of a bullet-like long distance free kick from Brazilian forward Camilo. With their high tempo game, the Whitecaps continued to cause the Impact all sorts of problems at the back and created a slew of scoring opportunities in the opening 25 minutes, but ultimately failed to double their lead. Vancouver was then made to rue its missed opportunities in the second half as the Impact made it 1-1 four minutes after halftime through Felipe, whose shot from outside the box smashed past Whitecaps’ goalkeeper Brad Knighton. Daigo Kobayashi would temporarily put the Whitecaps back in front in the 69th minute, but a late goal from Hassoun Camara in the 84th pulled the Impact level once more, granting Montreal its eighth Voyageurs Cup and leaving the Whitecaps empty-handed in the competition. The victory will also see the Impact qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, which kicks off in August.