Millions of fans breathed a sigh of relief as Mirror columnist Defoe scored the only goal in the nail-biting win over Slovenia.
Fabio Capello’s men now face old enemy Germany on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals. Beaming Defoe said after the game: “It was brilliant. I’m buzzing.”
John Terry (pic: Getty)
Capello danced with joy as England finally showed fighting spirit to beat Slovenia, then revealed his new secret weapon – beer.
The usually ice-cool Italian could not hide his delight, and relief, after a nail-biting finish.
And he told how he had relaxed the players by letting them enjoy a drink the evening before the game.
Mirrorman Jermain Defoe’s 23rd-minute goal was just enough to take us through to the knockout stages with a dramatic 1-0 win.
But a late fightback from one of the World Cup’s rank outsiders almost denied us a place in the last 16.
At the final whistle, captain Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard led the team in a spontaneous group hug in the centre circle as our 20,000 supporters went wild in the stands.
And Capello, jumping up and down and punching the air, ran across the pitch to join them.
Afterwards he admitted he had tried “something new” in the build-up – letting the players have a drink.
He said: “I found the team that I know. We played together, fight together and I am really, really happy. We can go forward without fear. They drank beer. You can ask them.”
Gerrard said: “The mood in the dressing room was 100% better.
“We thoroughly deserve to go through. If we play like that, we are a match for anyone.”
Lampard joked most were unsure about taking up the boss’s offer of a beer. He said: “I’m not sure if anyone had a drink. You can’t come away for a month and live like a monk for a month. The manager knows that.
“Sometimes those things are on offer and it’s up to you if you take them.
“But you don’t have 10 beers, you just have the one.”
Mirror columnist Defoe, 27, told how scoring the winner fulfilled a boyhood dream. He said: “We were fired up and we started to pass it after the goal went in. It was brilliant.
“The support was fantastic. It had been difficult for the supporters. They weren’t happy with the previous performances but they were fantastic. The belief has always been there.”
The scenes of joy at the end of the match sent out a powerful message after talk of a dressing-room mutiny this week: We are all in this together.
England were not going to “do a France” but the nerve-jangling final minutes kept millions back home on the edge of their seats.
The army of fans in Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay stadium were screaming for ref Wolfgang Stark to blow the final whistle.
Jut then, the USA’s 93rd-minute strike from Landon Donovan gave them a 1-0 win over Algeria. It means we go through in second place in Group C to face Germany on Sunday.
After the dismal draws against USA and Algeria we finally came good.
It was the first time Capello had included Defoe in England’s starting line-up since the opening competitive match of the manager’s reign.
The striker’s goal, from James Milner’s cross, sparked wild scenes in the crowd – and stirring renditions of: “We’re not going home.”
England were transformed and started playing and passing with confidence and fluency.
But Lampard, Gerrard and Wayne Rooney missed chances. And late on it was backs to the wall as first John Terry then Glen Johnson threw themselves in front of shots. Matthew Upson made a match-saving tackle.
There was concern as Rooney came off with a suspected injury.
But at the end the World Cup party truly kicked off as St George’s flags hung from every vantage point inside the majestic waterfront stadium.
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