“?England and Australia are two nations that face each other on a semi-regular basis when it comes to rugby or cricket. But battles on a football pitch are far less frequent, with Friday’s international friendly at the Stadium of Light 13 years in the making.
It was a miserable February night for England at Upton Park – one of the national team’s many homes away from home while the new Wembley Stadium was being rebuilt – as they were embarrassed by the Socceroos in their first ever defeat to Australia.
England were just starting to see the emergence of a golden generation after a promising World Cup a few months earlier. But this would largely be an evening to quickly forget.
It was a strong line up that started the game for Sven Goran Eriksson. Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole is arguably the strongest back four England have ever had, while David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard all played in midfield.
Michael Owen was still shy of the serious injury problems that would later dog his career and render his talent unfulfilled, and James Beattie was one of the Premier League’s in-form strikers at the time in the best season of his career.
Despite that, Australia were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Tony Popovic and Harry Kewell. England were, it must be said, distinctly average and a distant second best.
Then came the controversial decision from Eriksson, albeit one he had made before the game, to play an entirely different team in the second half. Every player was brought off, with 11 new faces replacing them from the substitutes bench.
Among them was a teenager called Wayne Rooney, who broke a record that had previously stood for 124 years to become England’s youngest ever player at the age of 17 years and 111 days.
Rooney was, of course, already very well known to English fans. He had burst onto the scene for Everton as a 16-year-old in 2002, scoring an incredible goal against Arsenal just four months before being handed his international bow.
The youngster, just as he would do at Euro 2004 the following summer, made a big difference. He was involved in the move that ultimately saw Francis Jeffers, also making his England debut, pull one back for the Three Lions’ second string.
While Rooney has since played over 100 times for his country and is now the all-time leading goalscorer after breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s long standing record, that 45 minute outing proved to be it for Jeffers in an England shirt – a one-cap wonder.
Australia scored another goal late on through then Blackburn winger Brett Emerton to restore their two-goal lead. Overall, the game finished 3-1, but where the near full strength seniors had been embarrassed, the experimental young XI had held their own.
England’s 1st Half Team:
David James; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole; David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Kieron Dyer; Michael Owen, James Beattie
England’s 2nd Half Team:
Paul Robinson; Danny Mills, Wes Brown, Ledley King, Paul Konchesky; Owen Hargreaves, Danny Murphy, Jermaine Jenas, Darius Vassell; Wayne Rooney, Francis Jeffers
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