Sunday, September 06, 2009England are through to the final of Euro 20097.30pm: The England camp hug and celebrate; their Dutch counterparts are heartbroken. Hope Powell's team have worked incessantly today to break down that wall-like Netherlands defence and they've kept up their endeavour throughout extra time. They'll be facing either Germany or Norway on Thursday evening - and we'll have live text commentary here again, so join us then! Full-time: England 2 Netherlands 1FULL-TIME: What a fantastic result - and thoroughly deserved. For the first time since 1984, England are through to the final. 120 mins: England 2 Netherlands 1 (ET)120 mins: The Netherlands are pushing up and giving everything, which they have to now, and we're into the one added minute. 118 mins: England 2 Netherlands 1 (ET)118 mins: The clock is ticking down, and all - ALL - England need to do is keep possession. GOAL! England 2 Netherlands 1116 mins: A header downwards from Jill Scott, it bounces in front of Geurts, who can't gather, and it slithers into the net! 115 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)115 mins: Kaz Carney's been immensely creative since coming on, and decides to have a shot from 20 yards out herself. It's curling away. 110 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)110 mins: Long-range free kick into the box, but nobody can put a foot on it - Katie Chapman runs round in a circle desperately looking for the ball, and the Netherlands defence are equally at sea. 102 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)102 mins: Scott comes flying in to meet Carney's corner - she keeps her eye on the ball all the way, and then she can't connect with it. It glances off her shoulder, and she swears angrily. 99 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)99 mins: Corner from Carney, aimed at Scott's head, and Smith attempts a strike from the edge of the box. Lots of Netherlands bodies packing the box, though. 95 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)95 mins: Jill Scott's header seems to deflect off Hogewoning but no corner is ensuing. 94 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)94 mins: Another mazy run down the left from Carney, who crosses to Sanderson, who's about four yards out - and her shot deflects off her standing foot, on to the crossbar, bounces down and the keeper gratefully gathers. 92 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)92 mins: A fantastic chance for Williams, who can't position herself correctly on the edge of the box as Sanderson sets her up, and her shot is always rising. 91 mins: England 1 Netherlands 1 (ET)91 mins: We kick off the first period of extra time as Jill Scott replaces Jess Clarke. Full-time: England 1 Netherlands 16.48pm: Extra-time, then. 90 mins: England 1 Netherlands 190 mins: Last roll of the dice for England - a free kick from Williams, which goes nowhere and allows Melis to run up the right. 88 mins: England 1 Netherlands 188 mins: Another shout for handball from Hogewoning, this time, but yet again the referee isn't interested. It is certainly a handball - it hits her right hand - and she looks unerringly guilty. 85 mins: England 1 Netherlands 185 mins: Clarke is taken by surprise as the ball pings in and takes a slight deflection of Bito. Sanderson wins a corner, and as Kelly Smith strikes from the edge of the box, there's an appeal for handball against Koster. The referee doesn't give it, the replay is unclear, and Casey Stoney gets herself booked for her trouble in complaining. 80 mins: England 1 Netherlands 180 mins: Carney wins a free kick just outside the box, and takes it herself. Kelly Smith, on the edge of the box, gets clattered as she attempts to shoot. It looks like it might be that ever-troublesome knee that's taken a knock. 78 mins: England 1 Netherlands 178 mins: A solo run down the left from Smith, taking on four defenders, but then she opts not to square to Sanderson and have a dig herself, and her shot is blocked. 76 mins: England 1 Netherlands 176 mins: Great run down the right from Carney, but the ball in is just behind Sanderson, and Kelly Smith on the far post can't do anything with it. 75 mins: England 1 Netherlands 175 mins: I don't know if it's tired legs or nerves, but this game has turned very tentative, playing out in the middle. 70 mins: England 1 Netherlands 170 mins: Lianne Sanderson replaces Eni Aluko. GOAL! England 1 Netherlands 164 mins: That lead didn't last long. Backheel from Stevens to Melis, who has acres of space down the right, and Pieete at the far post hits it first time into the bottom left corner. GOAL! England 1 Netherlands 061 mins: A layback from Eni Aluko, picking up a lucky deflection, and Kelly Smith is right there, with a fabulous shot into the bottom corner. 60 mins: England 0 Netherlands 060 mins: Kelly Smith continues to see what she can muster by herself, hugging the touchline, but there's never anyone right in the middle when she gets the ball in. 59 mins: England 0 Netherlands 059 mins: Corner to England from Carney, and it skims across the box - nobody can connect with it. Terrific ball in. 54 mins: England 0 Netherlands 054 mins: Alex Scott heads the Netherlands corner behind, before Hoogendijk can get there, and the second corner is out of danger immediately as the referee blows for a foul. 52 mins: England 0 Netherlands 052 mins: Melis drives down the right, but there's no support for her, so her rather optimistic ball into the middle ends up beginning an England counterattack. 46 mins: England 0 Netherlands 046 mins: Smit has some kind of ankle injury - she was in a challenge with Katie Chapman and then suddenly pulls up and falls to the floor. Replays don't show what happened - no obvious impact, and no twist. She goes off for treatment, anyway. 6pm: Second half kick-off6pm: Kaz Carney replaces Sue Smith for the second half. 45 mins: England 0 Netherlands 045 mins: After a minute of added time, the half-time whistle goes. England have certainly looked good on the attack, but they haven't been able to find a cutting edge, while the Netherlands have remained as resilient as ever in defence, ominously mounting an attack or two of their own towards the end of the half. 42 mins: England 0 Netherlands 042 mins: A shocking corner from Smit; her team-mates have packed the near post and all she can do is hit the side netting. Still, Rachel Brown is relieved. 33 mins: England 0 Netherlands 033 mins: Well-timed tackle from Casey Stoney on Pieete, who's speeding past the England defence and surging into the box. 32 mins: England 0 Netherlands 032 mins: A wild effort from Stevens on the edge of the box; it's always flying over the bar, and Brown doesn't have to move to it. 31 mins: England 0 Netherlands 031 mins: Aluko allows herself to get pushed out wide with two marking her. Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands regain the ball, and muster an attack. Rachel Brown is always in control when Melis has the shot, though. 26 mins: England 0 Netherlands 026 mins: England are having by far the best of the play, but the Netherlands are defending in numbers. Kelly Smith decides to give it a go herself, powering into the box from the left side, and then having an optimistic shot, straight at Hoogendijk. 22 mins: England 0 Netherlands 022 mins: Aluko's dispossessed by Meulen in the area, and though Kelly Smith reclaims possession, she can't get the shot in. 20 mins: England 0 Netherlands 020 mins: Kiesel's long free-kick in is an easy gather for Rachel Brown. 19 mins: England 0 Netherlands 019 mins: Too much delicate play in the penalty area from the England defence when they should be getting the ball as far away as possible, giving the Netherlands a couple of strikes on goal, all of which are blocked more by luck than judgement. 17 mins: England 0 Netherlands 017 mins: Hope Powell is urging her side not to allow the Netherlands to slow the play down. 13 mins: England 0 Netherlands 013 mins: The commentators are enthusing about Eni Aluko's wonderful solo goal against Finland. Not seen it yet? Look it up. They're likening it to Michael Owen's goal against Argentina in 1998. 11 mins: England 0 Netherlands 011 mins: Another Smith corner, and another dubious piece of handling from the Dutch keeper, who opts to punch. I think we saw enough of that yesterday at Wembley, thank you. 9 mins: England 0 Netherlands 09 mins: Kelly Smith crosses along the ground at an acute angle from the left, but it's just behind Aluko who ends up turning round to tap back to Williams, who can't get the shot in. 5 mins: England 0 Netherlands 05 mins: Smith swings it in and Johnson moves her boot in the ball's general direction - not a deliberate shot at all, but it still takes Geurts two efforts to claim. 4 mins: England 0 Netherlands 04 mins: New girl Jess Clarke is slotting in reasonably well, and not looking overawed by the occasion. England win their first corner, to be taken by Sue Smith. 2 mins: England 0 Netherlands 02 mins: The early chatter is about England's omission of Kaz Carney in favour of Jess Clarke, making her first competitive start. Nobody's quite settled into their game yet - all rather end-to-end with no result. 5pm: Kick-off!5pm: We kick off - England are all in white, the Netherlands in their traditional orange. 4.55pm: The teams4.55pm: Here are the teams: England line up as follows - Brown, Alex Scott, Stoney, Williams, Johnson, Asante, Chapman, Aluko, Kelly Smith, Sue Smith, Clarke. The Netherlands - Geurts, Bito, Koster, Meulen, Hogewoning, Hoogendijk, Kiesel-Griffioen, Melis, Stevens, Smit, Pieete. 4pm: England v the Netherlands
4pm: Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to Times Online's coverage of England v the Netherlands in the semi-final of Euro 2009. Hope Powell's side have done magnificently well to get this far after a rather unlucky start to the tournament (what with unwarranted red cards and mysterious penalties) and now they look to go one step further. Kick off is at 5pm. Wednesday, February 11, 2009Full-time: Spain 2, England 0England win a corner in the final minute of stoppage time, but Beckham's delivery is easily taken from the air by Reina. And that's it. It's been a night to forget for England but one to remember for David Beckham. England's winning run is halted by the European champions, and this has been a little reality check. England haven't been embarrased by any means but they have most certainly been second best out there. David Villa gave Spain the lead after 36 minutes with a wonderful piece of individual skill after England had started brightly. But after the break it was all Spain and they wrapped up victory when Fernando Llorente's powerful header flashed past David James with eight minutes remaining. Beckham's introduction at half-time took him level with Bobby Moore on 108 caps, but England begin the year with a defeat. It will be how they end 2009 that really matters.
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