THIS was the third meeting of these two sides in the space of five weeks but this time there was far more at stake. The winners would progress to the World Cup quarter-finals as runners-up in their group behind Brazil. England made three changes to the team held by Austria with Ronnie Clayton returning and Peter Brabrook and Peter Broadbent coming in for their first caps. The new right-wing partnership quickly established itself with excellent work.
 
England played well but lacked the one ingredient they needed . . . good fortune. Nothing went right for them on this day. The match was evenly contested for the first half-hour but from the moment Broadbent forced Yashin into a fine diving save low to his right England were on top. Yashin showed all his marvellous talents as he and his defenders worked overtime to keep the English attack at bay. The Soviet Union were almost on their knees but, alas, England could not find the knock-out blow.
 
Seven minutes before the interval they missed a fine chance. Broadbent, showing some silky skills, carved his way down the right before laying off a perfect pass to Brabrook. It seemed the Chelsea man must score, but the winger succeeded only in stabbing his shot straight at Yashin.

It was not all England, however, as the Soviets, too, had their moments. Don Howe kicked one effort from Apukhtin off the line and then saw Simonyan miss an open goal from close in. Colin McDonald had to be alert at all times and showed plenty of confidence. Billy Wright and his co-defenders gradually gained a grip on Soviet attack and by the end of the first half their goal chances evaporated.

Clayton, Bill Slater, Howe and Tommy Banks all tackled like lions but up front England lacked the necessary class they needed to break through. Haynes looked tired, and A'Court and Derek Kevan, although showing they had big hearts, were often found to be struggling.

Broadbent was the big hope for England. After that 35th minute effort he showed magnificent form. His display lifted everyone and England were eventually well on top. At the end of the first half the shot ratio had been Soviet Union 8 and England 3, but after the break the pattern was reversed with England having ten shots to the Soviets' three.

Twice in the second half, England were desperately unlucky. Both times Brabrook hit the right-hand post of Yashin's goal and then the winger had the ball in the net only to be penalised for handball. It was all very frustrating as the Soviets were down and almost out.

But, as so often happens, the one clear chance that came Russia's way after the break was clinically tucked away. Ironically, having played so well throughout the tournament, it was a mistake by McDonald which led to the winning goal. His poor goal-kick in the 65th minute was intercepted by Ilyin. Voinov came into the action and flicked the ball to Simonyan. A return pass to Ilyan and the winger raced through to shoot past the luckless McDonald. Just to rub salt into the wound, the ball went in off the post, thus highlighting the small margin between success and failure.

England's best effort in the remaining minutes came from Kevan. He once powered his way through only for Yashin to pull off a wonderful save diving low to his right.

At the referee's final whistle the England players trooped off looking very dejected. The whole team had played their hearts out and, for effort, could not be faulted. Looking back over their four matches, one could point to several 'if only's'. But at the end of the day the long-term question was whether some of the England players were up to the standard required of modern-day international football? Only time would tell.
   

Chelsea winger Peter Brabrook came in for his debut along with Wolves inside-forward Peter Broadbent, but Bobby Charlton was left kicking his heels on the touchline. Brabrook almost became an instant hero with a shot that struck the Russian post and then bounced into Yashin's hands. In the second-half he had a goal disallowed before the Russians scored the winning goal when Ilyin's shot went in off a post to put England out of the World Cup. When England arrived back in London, Walter Winterbottom was met at the airport by his young son, Alan, who asked the question on the lips of thousands of football fans: "Daddy, why didn't you play Bobby Charlton?"