In it to win It: The tale of the Unknown bringing England back to its glory days...

Sorry everyone, my game went a little funny, so i couldn't do the match reports I usually do. So here's the picture of the final two World Cup Qualifiers of 2012 against Ukraine and Montenegro.
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And the Standings so far:

Friendlies

I had three friendlies two against Portugal and one against Brazil, managed to scrape a draw out of one and lose one with Portugal and lose against Brazil, not to good. The scorers were...
Portugal:
Postiga
Ronaldo
Santos
England:
Walcott
Smalling
Brazil
Fernando
Damiao

England scrape win against Poland

(No match report available)

World Cup Quals (EUR) Group 8: 27.3.13
England 1-0 Poland
Parker
Baines

Next Match vs Moldova (World Cup Quals (EUR) Group 8)

Comfortable win for England

Moldova 0 - 2 England (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 8)

Formation: 4-2-2-2
Line Up: Smithies, Cole, Shawcross, Terry, Johnson, Lampard, Rodwell, Lennon, Sinclair, Defoe, Rooney

England produced a good display this evening to see off the challenge of Moldova at Zimbru.

Winger Aaron Lennon gave England the lead with a tidy finish in the 32nd minute. Striker Wayne Rooney finally rounded off their victory on 84 minutes with a well timed finish from close range.

Man of the Match: Aaron Lennon (England)
Attendance: 10,500

Next Match vs Uruguay (Confederations Cup Group A)

England, have been drawn with Uruguay, Mali and New Zealand in the Confederations Cup Group A

England leave it late to qualify for the Confederations Cup Semi-Finals

Going to go through each of the three matches one by one in one post.

Match 1:
Uruguay 2 - 2 England (Confederations Cup Grp A)

England could count themselves somewhat fortunate to have escaped with a draw against Uruguay in their Confederations Cup Group A game at Estádio Castelão.

The match started tentatively for England with Glen Johnson nearly handing the opposition the lead on 3 minutes. An error from England's John Terry allowed experienced striker Diego Forlán to score a fierce shot. Striker Jermain Defoe then equalised for England in the 55th minute with a simple finish from close in.

Striker Wayne Rooney then put England in front after 64 minutes with a real poacher's effort. Defensive midfielder Walter Gargano equalised for Uruguay after 80 minutes with a curling shot.

Man of the Match: Walter Gargano (Uruguay)
Attendance: 75,263


Match 2:
England 0 - 0 Mali (Confederations Cup Grp A)

England fans will have been frustrated by their side's 0 - 0 draw with Mali at Morumbi.

England had a number of attempts at goal but their profligacy meant they didn't score as many as they maybe would have liked.

Man of the Match: Chris Smalling (England)
Attendance: 73,500


Match 3:
New Zealand 0 - 8 England (Confederations Cup Grp A)

Fans sang the praises of their heroes at Morumbi as England ran out 8 - 0 winners over New Zealand in their latest Confederations Cup Group A fixture. The highlight of the game was undoubtedly a superb hat-trick from England's Jermain Defoe.

Winger Ashley Young gave England the lead with a tidy finish in the 17th minute. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard doubled England's lead with a well timed close range finish on 28 minutes.

Striker Wayne Rooney saw a penalty beat the keeper but hit the post on the 41 minute mark. England also saw their 45th minute strike questionably chalked off.

Jones scored with a good header from just inside the six-yard box in the 45th minute to extend the lead further. Striker Jermain Defoe then added to the lead with a real poacher's effort on 47 minutes.

An error from New Zealand's Tommy Smith allowed Defoe to score a good diving header from close range. Gerrard added his 2nd goal of the game with a fierce effort from eighteen yards out on 54 minutes.

An error from New Zealand's Tim Peat allowed Jones to score a poorly struck effort from inside the penalty area. There were no prizes for guessing who completed the rout on 85 minutes as that man Defoe popped up again with an accurate finish.

Man of the Match: Jermain Defoe (England)
Attendance: 73,500

And with that we have now qualified for the Confederations Cup Semi-Finals, only just though.

Spain grab deserved win

Spain 2 - 1 England (Confederations Cup Semi Final)



Match Report:
A fine evening at Maracanã saw Spain come out on top against a surprisingly lacklustre England side.

Commanding centre-back Gerard Piqué got Spain off to a flyer by scoring a close range header on 10 minutes. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard then equalised for England in the 21st minute with a free kick from the edge of the area.

Then followed controversy as Spain were denied claims by full-back Álvaro Arbeloa for a penalty. Powerful striker Fernando Llorente then clinched a late winner on 82 minutes with an accurate finish.

Llorente's impact delighted the fans with his late goal.

Man of the Match: Pedro (Spain)
Attendance: 76,000

Next Match vs Uruguay (Confederation Cup 3rd place play-off)

Uruguay strike lucky

England 1 - 3 Uruguay (Confederations Cup 3rd Place Playoff)

England will be wondering what might have been this morning after a close encounter with Uruguay turned into a 3 - 1 victory for their opponents.

Striker Luis Suárez gave Uruguay the lead with a well struck effort which deflected in from the edge of the area in the 20th minute. Uruguay also saw their 23rd minute strike questionably chalked off.

Experienced striker Diego Forlán doubled Uruguay's lead with a well timed finish from close range on 39 minutes. Striker Luis Suárez was left red-faced in the 51st minute as he managed to put the ball into his own net.

Midfielder Álvaro Fernández completed the scoring for Uruguay with a tidy finish on 69 minutes.

Man of the Match: Álvaro Fernández (Uruguay)
Attendance: 75,263

Next Match vs Japan (Friendly)

Quality of possession provides victory

England 3 - 0 Japan (Friendly)



Match Report:
A highly polished performance from the England players saw their team run out 3 - 0 winners over Japan at Wembley. A brace from Wayne Rooney helped England to victory.

The match began in controversy with England seeing a goal disallowed in controversial circumstances. Rooney was able to keep his composure to score from the spot after Tezuka gave away a penalty. Centre-back Chris Smalling doubled England's lead with a real poacher's effort on 46 minutes.

Rooney was able to keep his composure to score from the spot after Tezuka gave away a penalty.

Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney (England)
Attendance: 73,987

Next Match vs San Marino (World Quals (EUR) Group 8)

England simply 'gr-eight'

England 8 - 0 San Marino (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 8)



Match Report:
Fans sang the praises of their heroes at Wembley as England ran out 8 - 0 winners over San Marino in their latest World Cup European Qualifying Section Group 8 fixture. The highlight of the game was undoubtedly a superb hat-trick from England's Wayne Rooney.

England captain Wayne Rooney gave England the lead with a well struck effort in the 18th minute. England also saw their 29th minute strike questionably chalked off.

Tenacious midfielder Scott Parker doubled England's lead with a well struck effort from the edge of the box on 41 minutes. Rooney added his 2nd goal of the game with a weak close range effort on 63 minutes.

Experienced striker Bobby Zamora then added to the lead with an attempt which took a fortunate deflection on 73 minutes. Shawcross then increased England's advantage further with a well timed finish from close range on 75 minutes.

Zamora added his 2nd goal of the game with a real poacher's effort on 79 minutes. Parker added his 2nd goal of the game with a free kick from the edge of the area on 86 minutes.

There were no prizes for guessing who completed the rout on 89 minutes as that man Rooney popped up again with a fine header from point-blank range.

Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney (England)
Attendance: 88,426

Next Match vs Ukraine (World Cup Quals (EUR) Group 8)

England unlucky in defeat

England 0 - 1 Ukraine (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 8)



Match Report:
England's players and fans came away highly disappointed from their 1 - 0 defeat at the hands of Ukraine.

With the game nearing an end, it was Eugene Seleznyov who scored a fierce shot to give Ukraine the lead on 91 minutes. Seleznyov's impact delighted the fans with his late goal.

England had a number of attempts at goal but their profligacy meant they didn't score as many as they maybe would have liked.

Man of the Match: Ryan Shawcross (England)
Attendance: 88,235

Next Match vs Montenegro (World Cup Quals (EUR) Group 8)

England scrape win

Montenegro 0 - 1 England (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 8)



Match Report:
England won a hard fought battle against Montenegro on a fine autumn afternoon at Pod Goricom.

England's winner came through Frank Lampard as he seized on Stefan Savic's mistake to score a penalty.

England covered a lot of ground but also conceded far too many fouls, meaning their effort was often for nothing.

Man of the Match: Chris Smalling (England)
Attendance: 15,230

Next Match vs Poland (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 8)

England manage to draw

England 1 - 1 Poland (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 8)



Match Report:
England came close to suffering an unexpected defeat at the hand of Poland at Wembley.

Poland finally took the lead when midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski scored a well timed finish from close range on 51 minutes. FC Sochaux-Montbé captain Damien Perquis suffered the agony of putting the ball into his own net after 67 minutes to deny his team the win.

Man of the Match: Eugen Polanski (Poland)
Attendance: 90,000

Final World Cup Qualifiers Group 8 Standings:



Next Match vs Spain (World Cup Quals (EUR) Semi-Finals Leg 1)

England in control as Spain brushed aside

England 1 - 0 Spain (World Cup Quals (EUR) Playoff)



Match Report:
England battled to a deserved 1 - 0 victory over Spain on a fine autumn afternoon in their World Cup European Qualifying Section Playoff game at Wembley.

Centre-back Chris Smalling got England off to a flyer by scoring a fine header from point-blank range on 8 minutes. Things went from bad to worse for Spain as tireless defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets earned himself an early bath for a vicious foul on 41 minutes.

England covered a lot of ground but also conceded far too many fouls, meaning their effort was often for nothing.

Man of the Match: Chris Smalling (England)
Attendance: 90,000

Next Match vs Spain (World Cup Quals (EUR) Semi-Final Leg 2)

England qualify for World Cup

Spain 1(1)-2(3) England



Match Report:
(No Match Report available)
Scorers:
Zamora (2)
Llorente

Man of the Match: Zamora
Attendance: 54,851

Next Matches: Pre-World Cup Friendlies vs Denmark, Italy, France, Montserrat, Chile, Brazil, and Sao Paulo.

Great stuff!! Hope you do as well as I did in my England save (England- World Cup Win) and won the World Cup!