Euro 2012 – Gareth Barry’s injury hampers England Win

With the UEFA Euro 2012 competition just a couple of weeks away England kicked off their preparations for the tournament in Poland & Ukraine with a friendly against Norway to kick off England Euro 2012 Campaign.

For England it was the beginning of a new era as it was Roy Hodgson’s first game in charge as England Manager & first game as official England Captain Steve Gerrard.

As with all friendlies before a major competition the game was used as a chance for players in England’s Euro 2012 squad to show the manager why they deserve a place in the starting 11 for the opening game of Euro 2012.

Euro 2012 – England v Norway at the Ullevaal Stadium

The game itself took place in Norway at the Ullevaal Stadium which is the home ground for Valerenga IF and the chance for England to defeat Norway for the first time in 32 years.

The games only goal came in the 9th minute when Man Utd’s Ashley Young scored after a nice pass from Liverpool’s Andy Carroll and that early goal was the decisive one as England ran out victorious with a 1- nil win.

The positives to be taken out of the game from an England point of view for their preparations is that they got a win & kept a clean sheet but the performance was far from perfect. England across the whole of the pitch were guilty of wasting possession. Which when faced off against better opposition in Euro 2012 will doubt be punished where Norway were unable to.

Norway had many opportunities to draw the game level and even win the game but their inability to convert the chances cost them dearly & explains their absence from this summers European Championships.

Gareth Barry Injury Concern for Euro 2012

For England their was one injury concern as Gareth Barry limped off after being brought on as a half time substitute with a groin problem. England will have to asses Barry’s injury before finalising their 23 man squad for Euro 2012.

Englands Euro 2012 preparations will continue next Saturday where they will play Belgium in their final warm up game before facing France on June 11th.

Keeping checking out Real Sporting News for all the news from this summers Euro 2012 Competition.