Match: Costa Rica vs England

Stadium: Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Result: Costa Rica 0-0 England

Goal Scorers: N/A

Report:

England’s World Cup campaign ended without even the sufficient consolation of a victory as they played out a tedious draw with Costa Rica in the City of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

This game was England’s last chance to play for pride as the next round of the World Cup was already out of the country’s reach due to taking a defeat by Italy and Uruguay. Even at that, there was nothing on show to offer any belated cheer at the end of a miserable tournament for ‘The Three Lions’.

Daniel Sturridge came closest for the group’s bottom side but wasted a succession of chances while goalkeeper Ben Foster, who stepped in for the rested Joe Hart, did brilliantly to turn Celso Borges’ free-kick on to the bar in the first half.

England manager, Roy Hodgson, had hoped his team and the chances of securing their first three points, would have been inspired by the selection of fresh faces. But as he and England’s squad applauded their travelling fans at the final whistle, there was an air of disappointment and anti-climax.

Ben Foster was impressive for England, especially in dealing with a Borges free-kick that was bound for the top corner, as mentioned before, but otherwise it was a game that was as low key as expected in such a meaningless fixture.

As everyone expected, Joe Hart would be dropped from the starting line-up to have a rest from all that so-called hard work he done in England’s first two group games. However, Hodgson surprised the majority of the England and Celtic support as he decided to pick 31-year-old Ben Foster, who most likely won’t be in the England squad for their next tournament, over 26-year-old Fraser Forster, who has been outstanding for Celtic in the Champions League and also broke a Scottish League record of 1,256 minutes without conceding a goal.

However, even with the English and Celtic support being left disappointed due to Fraser Forster not getting any game time in Brazil, Ben Foster done a great job with doing his bit for the team and keeping a clean sheet.

Ben Foster’s match rating: 4/5

Final Group Table:

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@leeFlood27

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