Unfortunately, the story of this match hasn't been the great performance by The Three Lions to grind out a convincing road win in a hostile atmosphere. It's been about the racist chants hurled at the England players from the Bulgarian fans. I'll get to that in a minute.
The match itself was indeed very impressive for England. You could tell that the hostility had them a bit unsettled in the opening minutes. After all, the not so tasteful among the Bulgarian supporters booed and jeered all the way through "God Save the Queen." England had a bit of a hard time getting a hold of the ball in the opening minutes, but Bulgaria couldn't carve out any chances on Joe Hart's goal.
England started to settle rather quickly though. In the 13th minute, defender Gary Cahill got his first goal for England as he poked it past the keeper to give England the 0-1 lead. Just eight minutes later Wayne Rooney headed a corner home to make it 0-2. The Red Devil ace completed his brace right before half time with a nice little tap in to make it 0-3 at the half.
The second half was pretty much all England again, even though there were no goals scored. Aston Villa's own Stiliyan Petrov got a header on goal in the 55th, but it really didn't bother Hart. A bit later Downing had a chance for England, but his nifty header clanked off the far post. The match ended with the same 0-3 score line.
Unfortunately the specter of racism in big time football showed up again, as the Bulgarian fans directed monkey chants at the black players for England. Theo Walcott said he heard it, but didn't offer much comment other than that he expected the FA would deal with it. Captain John Terry said:
"It was a great spectacle for everyone to watch this evening. Let's not let that spoil it."
England did complain to the Bulgarian FA and the UEFA delegate at the match. Bulgarian coach Lothar Matthaus apologized on behalf of the Bulgarian FA.
At any rate, the win puts England in control of the group and very close to qualification. They take on Wales on Tuesday.
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