Ofir Krieff goal completes England Under-21s' humiliation against Israel

Posted Wednesday, June 12, 2013 by theguardian.com

The England Under-21 team's humiliation is complete. After chastening back-to-back defeats against Italy and Norway England plumbed new depths as they suffered the ignominy of losing to Israel, leaving them without a point and anchored to the bottom of the group. With Roy Hodgson, the senior coach, looking on from the stands, England delivered another insipid and thoroughly depressing performance in what will surely prove to be Stuart Pearce's last game in charge.

Bereft of ideas, unable to string together more than a couple of passes and painfully short of penetration in front of goal, England endured the ultimate embarrassment when Ofir Krieff, a midfielder who plays for Beitar Jerusalem, curled home a shot from the edge of the area.

England had been so clueless for the previous 80 minutes that there was no reason to suspect they would be capable of salvaging anything from the game.

If this is a glimpse into the future – Pearce stayed true to his promise to pick a team with one eye on the qualifying campaign for the 2015 European Championship – the next crop of players are every bit as poor as those they have replaced. Only Andre Wisdom, the Liverpool central defender who was made captain on the night, emerged with any credit. The rest of the team were little short of a shambles and will go down in the record books for delivering England's worst ever performance at these finals.

It was 33 minutes before England registered an attempt on goal, Boris Kleyman making a double save to deny Tom Ince and Wilfried Zaha in quick succession. The Israel goalkeeper might as well have taken the second half off. A starting XI that included seven players contracted to Premier League clubs looked devoid of passion and energy, never mind the familiar technical shortcomings associated with the English game.

There was a sense in the second half that an Israel goal was coming. Nir Biton, who had a trial with Manchester City and looked far more accomplished than any of the England midfielders, rattled the crossbar with a 25-yard shot and Ofer Verta drilled beyond the far upright as Israel began to play with more confidence. Jason Steele was forced into a last-ditch save to thwart Israel Zaguri before Krieff, nicking the ball off the toe of Biton, beat the England keeper with a left-footed shot that prompted raucous celebrations. For Pearce the flight home cannot come quickly enough.