The Hindu : Sport : England pays the penalty yet again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 02, 2006

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Sport

England pays the penalty yet again

GELSENKIRCHEN: Ricardo Pereira made three saves in the penalty shootout on Saturday to help Portugal beat England 3-1 after a scoreless draw and earned his team a place in the World Cup semifinals.

Simao Sabrosa, Helder Postiga and Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the shootout. Only Owen Hargreaves scored for England, which played for much of the match without David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.

Hugo Viana hit the post while Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed for England. Ronaldo scored to seal England's fate.

"I'm full of confidence and I shoot strong. I was tired in the second half but I haven't played for a week so it was OK. We have four days to recover now, so I think everyone's going to be ready," Ronaldo later revealed.

New-look teams

Portugal started Tiago and Petit in place of playmaker Deco and Costinha, who were suspended following ejections in the win over the Netherlands.

Gary Neville returned to right back for England after missing three games with a calf injury, and Owen Hargreaves moved up to defensive midfield, with Michael Carrick back in the bench.

England skipper Beckham was taken off in the 52nd minute with what appeared to be an injured leg, and Rooney was red-carded in the 62nd after getting tangled up with a Portuguese player and then pushing Ronaldo just a few steps from Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo.

After losing Beckham, England seemed to gain new energy and thousands of fans started singing louder and longer, trying to inspire their team.

Lampard then had an open volley from Gerrard in the 53rd, but mistimed his shot. Substitute Aaron Lennon made a deft move in the 59th minute, cutting around defenders to send the ball to Rooney in the middle. But he too mishit it and Ashley Cole's attempt went over the bar.

Rooney was then sent off after getting tied up with Ricardo Carvalho, hooking his arm around his thigh and stomping on him. As Carvalho was down on the field, Ronaldo came over and Rooney pushed him. The England striker had a look of disbelief on his face when he was shown the red card. Peter Crouch came on for Joe Cole in the 65th, taking over from Rooney as England's lone striker.

Luis Figo then had a great chance for Portugal in the 78th, but goalkeeper Paul Robinson dived right and just was able to push the ball away. At the other end, Lampard had a booming free-kick in the 83rd that Ricardo blocked with a dive, and Lennon's shot off the rebound didn't have enough pace and also was stopped by the custodian.

Both teams had chances in extra time, and Postiga headed the ball into the net in the 106th minute but was offside.

Coach feels sorry

"I'm really sorry about the penalties," said England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was coaching his last match for the team. "We have practised them so much I don't know what else we could have done."

The line-ups:

England: Paul Robinson, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, David Beckham (Aaron Lennon, 52nd; Jamie Carragher, 119th), Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole (Peter Crouch, 65th), Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Steven Gerrard.

Portugal: Ricardo Pereira, Miguel, Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Fernando Meira, Armando Petit, Maniche, Tiago (Hugo Viana, 74th), Luis Figo (Helder Postiga, 86th), Pauleta (Simao Sabrosa, 63rd), Cristiano Ronaldo. — AP

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