As Fabio Capello's England upped their preparations for the 2010 World Cup, many places were still up for grabs in the starting lineup ahead of the trip to Ukraine. Certain players looked certain to start, of course, including the likes of John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney down the spine of the side, but for many this was a chance to showcase their talents and make themselves undroppable.
The Three Lions had already made certain of their spot at the following summer's finals thanks to a perfect qualifying record, which had seen them remain unbeaten in competitive action under experienced Italian boss Capello. That all came to an end on this day six years ago, however, as England fell to a narrow defeat in Dnipropetrovsk with the cracks beginning to show.
It may be a game best remembered for Capello being on the receiving end of a defeat for the first time as England manager, but it was also an historic occasion for a different reason. Rob Green, one of those whose place in the side was very much still in the air, was dismissed in the first half to see him become the first Three Lions goalkeeper to be shown a red card.
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Green had been used in each of his side's previous five games, taking over from David James who was battling hard to win over Capello. This sending-off, and the subsequent ban that came with it, put the then-West Ham United keeper's starting berth even more in doubt with just eight months to go before the showpiece tournament got underway.
The mistake itself which led to the referee reaching into his back pocket came as a result of Rio Ferdinand's costly error, as the Manchester United man let a ball over the top bounce for Artem Milevskiy to latch on to. It was a desperate piece of defending from the previously flawless Ferdinand, whose own place in the team appeared to be crumbling away somewhat at this stage.
With Milevskiy now one-on-one and favourite to score, Green opted to bring the striker down to not only concede a penalty but also write his name in England folklore for all the wrong reasons with the subsequent red. It allowed James to establish himself between the sticks once more and, while he did not technically keep out the resulting pen himself, Andriy Shevchenko could only strike the post with his attempt from the spot.
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The big talking point up until that moment 13 minutes in had come off the field, with a barrage of flares causing the game to be temporarily halted. After the officials finally got things under control, Ukraine were the quicker to find their feet but squandered a glorious chance when Shevchenko failed to hold his nerve.
England actually looked fairly comfortable despite the numerical disadvantage, thanks largely to the tireless workload of Rooney up top to carry out the task of two forward players. The visitors could only hold their opponents off for so long, though, and it was through another piece of questionable defending - this time from full-back Ashley Cole - which allowed Sergiy Nazarenko to fire home what would prove to be the only goal of the game.
Again flares from the stands threatened to disrupt the game, which was not such a bad thing from Capello's perspective as his side continued to gift the Eastern European's a number of openings. There was a late chance for Rooney to rescue what would have been an undeserved point at the end, but his miss signalled scenes of joy around the Dnipro Arena as Ukraine closed in on a World Cup playoff place.
England would round off their qualification campaign with a far simpler 3-0 win over Belarus at Wembley Stadium just a few days later, yet it was a similar story at the World Cup as they once more failed to make any sort of impact beyond the first knockout round in South Africa. Green himself was left humiliated when his howler allowed USA to rescue an unlikely opening-game draw in the group stage, which very much set the tone.
James was thrown in for the remainder of the tournament at the expense of his goalkeeping companion, but it is only in the subsequent years that Joe Hart has finally resolved England's troubles in goal by nailing down the position on a permanent basis.
Ukraine XI: Pyatov, Kucher, Kobin, Rakitskiy, Khacheridi, Gai, Tymoschuk, Nazarenko (Yarmolenko 67), Rotan, Shevchenko (Gusev 90), Milevskiy
England XI: Green, Johnson, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lennon (James 15), Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard (Milner 46), Rooney, Heskey (Carlton Cole 72)
