Had the stars aligned for England’s young team (six players under the age of 22) to go for a victory with Gianluigi Buffon out for Italy (reportedly due to the terrible pitch in Manaus) and Costa Rica shocking group favorite Uruguay earlier in the day? Would the pitch at Manaus claim another victim?
England looked to be off to a flier early on in the match in the 4th minute when Raheem Sterling smacked his effort off of the side netting. Shoot on sight seemed to be the strategy early for the Three Lions, surely looking to capitalize on arguably the best goalkeeper of all time in Buffon missing out. Jordan Henderson followed just 2 minutes later as his long shot from outside the box dipped low and right and forced a save from Salvatore Sirigu.
There was a penalty shout for England in the 22nd minute when  Danny Welbeck was crashed into in the box following a cross from the left, but the ball had already past him by the time the dirty deed was committed and the Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers waved off all protests.  This was followed by a very good chance for England when Welbeck stormed down the right and played a low cross back across the face of goal, but it was deflected by an Italian defender and bounced up and past Sturridge on the chase. 2 corners back to back for England were easily dealt with and cleared by the Italians.
Italy began barnstorming down the right hand side and exploiting the space being left by Rooney who was not tracking back on defense. The game was absolutely turned on it’s head with two goals in quick succession. First in the 33rd minute there was a slight chance worked down the right flank but Balotelli fluffed it and it was deflected out. The first goal came in the 35th minute for Italy as they again exploited the right flank and had a chance cleared out for a corner. During the ensuing corner, Italy played it quickly and short, then passed it towards Pirlo who used a great dummy fake and left the ball for Marchisio who was completely unmarked to blast home from about 25 yards.
England would quickly respond in the 37th minute when Sterling hit Rooney on the left side on a quick counter. Rooney crossed to the far right post where Sturridge was waiting to put it home with a volley from about 3 yards out. In a possible omen to how the rest of the game would unfold, England and Arsenal physio Gary Lewin was stretchered off after celebrating England’s tying goal with a reported broken ankle. After the second half, several of  the players would fall victim to cramps and dehydration in the sweltering Amazonian conditions.
Italy nearly made it 2-1 before the break when a ball was played in towards Balotelli forcing Hart to come out to shut off his angles. Balotelli stopped, cut back to his right and maintained possession and upon seeing that Hart wasn’t tracking back to the goal, “Why Always Me” attempted a chip that would have put the Italians ahead had it not been for Phil Jagielka’s clearing header off of the line to leave the score at 1-1 at the interval.
The scoring was completed early in the 2nd half when in the 50th minute Antonio Candreva ran down the right, cut back to his left boot to lose Leighton Baines and whipped a cross back post that would catch Chelsea stalwart Gary Cahill off guard as Balotelli rose up and headed it past Joe Hart. The commentators would give Cahill a slacking off but surely the fullbacks should have done better for England on this night in Manaus.
As expected of an Italian team with a lead in the 2nd half, the match became a bit drab and one sided as far as chances. The Izzuri set up deep in defense and looked to hold things as they were. Some of the English players gave a spirited attempt at a comeback several chances from set pieces and open place that ended up being wasted. First in the 75th minute when Sturridge won a FK near the edge of the box that was blasted over by Baines. Rooney didn’t want to be outdone and took a corner soon after which he appeared to be trying to kick out of the stadium behind the goal. Then another FK from a dangerous area in the 85th minute was blasted over by Steven Gerrard.
Ross Barkley came into the game and provided a spark off of the bench for the Three Lions. In the 87th minute, Barkley made a run from the left, cut into the middle, and as it looked like there was a pass opening up on the right, Rooney appeared to take the ball away from him and then blasted a shot off target. A corner in the 89th minute from Gerrard to Rooney was easily dealt with by the Italians, and the last chance for England came in the 90th minute when Raheem Sterling blasted a shot over and wide from the edge of the box. An Italian freekick in the 93rd minute nearly compounded misery for England when Pirlo’s shot rattled off of the crossbar.
In a game that could easily be dubbed, “The Game of Cramps”, the English National team will surely be feeling a bit of mental cramp as well. In a position to take control of the group, they just weren’t clinical enough on the night to get a result. There could be a positive though for English fans because with the result in the first match of the group there is still a chance that if England can beat Uruguay, (Without Pereria due to red card suspension and possibly Suarez to injury still), that the final group game against Costa Rica could be a match-up for a place in the knock-out stages.
