Wayne Rooney: Betting hero, betting villain

Internationals / Editor / 17 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

England's Moscow collapse produces big disappointment for 1.33 backers

England's Euro 2008 qualification looked all but assured when Wayne Rooney fired them into a first-half lead against Russia and Betfair punters jumped in as the 2.68 to back at the kick-off shortened to 1.33 (with England as low as 1.04 in the qualification market) while the Russians were matched at 26.

But after the break the English defence simply couldn't clear its lines, numerous goalmouth scrambles followed and it seemed something had to give.

In the 69th minute, Rooney went from hero to villain with a clumsy challenge on Zyrianov and - although it looked outside the area - Pavlyuchenko stuck away the resulting penalty. Both teams were now trading at around the 5.15 mark with the draw favourite at 1.6.

But England looked rattled and just 4 minutes later, more panic in defence, a sharp save by Robinson but Pavlyuchenko was on hand to stab in the rebound.

Betfair punters certainly thought the game was up for England - Steve McLaren's men are now trading at 3 to qualify, Russia at 1.54 - and the rest, as they say, is a roasting in tomorrow's papers.