We played six matches and won three but crucially we lost the fourth match which pretty much invalidates the earlier results.
In the last match against Colombia, England were looking much more like a team than in previous matches with good movement and possession. Colombia also have some nice moves but every tackle is hard. In fact every tackle was a foul and every free-hit was encroached. The referees chose not to take any action unless England responded and there were some truly incredible decisions. This relegation decider and the final are the most important matches of the final day and both deserve a professional job from the officials. Even though we have won this match, we see this as a valid criticism that should be investigated as there should be no concerns of this nature for any team. Does anyone else feel our concerns? Does anyone have any explanation?
Colombia joins USA and Holland in Group B which is due to be in South Africa next year.
I would like to thank Carlos Amaral and all of our players, Steve Taylor for skate repairs that kept us rolling on, and very special thanks go our newest “Team England” member, Pedro Coelho. Pedro came from Portugal to join us as physio at the last minute. He has done an absolutely brilliant job and he is very much part of our success.
Ron Barker
