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Colombia out early again
England wins 2-0 to gain 2nd-round match with Argentina
Posted: Friday June 26, 1998 06:12 PM
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Beckham bent a 30-yard free kick around a wall of defenders and inside the left goalpost in the 30th minute to give England a 2-0 lead (AP) |
LENS, France (AP) --
Shooting stars Darren Anderton and David Beckham put England into
the second round of the World Cup Friday in a one-sided 2-0 victory over Colombia that
left the South Americans first-round losers again.
Although England needed only a draw to guarantee a place in the final
16, Anderton drove home a fiercely-struck angled drive in the 20th minute.
Beckham curled in a 30-yard free kick nine minutes later to the delight of
Prince Charles, Prince Harry and a huge following of English fans at the
Felix Bollaert stadium.
The result meant that England finished second behind Romania in the
Group G standings and will meet old foe Argentina in
Saint-Etienne for a place in the last eight.
The Colombians go home early for the second time in a row. Their
disastrous 1994 performance led to the shooting death of Andres Escobar,
who scored an own goal in a loss to the United
States, and was gunned down in his home town of Medellin.
Glenn Hoddle's players, beaten by a late goal by Romania in the
previous game, looked impressive against a low-quality Colombian team whose
goalkeeper, Farid Mondragon, prevented a crushing loss with seven
second-half saves.
England's first shot on goal was less than two minutes into the match
when the power of Alan Shearer in the air, even when challenged by two
Colombian defenders, set up the opportunity for Paul Scholes.
Allowed room 25 yards from goal, the Manchester United forward hit the
ball with plenty of power and keeper Mondragon saved awkwardly, moving
slightly the wrong way.
England put together a slick four-man move that ended with a tame
side-footed shot from Graeme Le Saux in the 19th minute before taking the
lead with a far more impressive finish.
The Colombian defense struggled to clear a right wing cross and the
ball dropped to the unmarked Anderton, just inside the right side of the
penalty box.
The Tottenham winger, who has barely played during the last two
seasons because of a series of injuries, hammered the ball first time into
the roof of the net from an acute angle with Mondragon powerless.
It should have been 2-0 four minutes later when another
well-constructed move involving Beckham and Anderton saw Scholes go close
and the ball fell to the unmarked Michael Owen who settled and fired over
the top from 12 yards.
But the second goal came in the 29th minute in spectacular style.
Valderrama and Columbia put 10 of its 13 shots on goal, but couldn't tally a goal off keeper David Seaman (AP) | |
Paul Ince was brought down 30 yards from goal and Beckham produced one
of his specialty free kicks, curling the ball round the wall past the dive
of Mondragon and inside his left-hand post.
Jorge Bermudez rescued Colombia with an deft tackle on Owen as the
18-year-old striker headed for goal after being released by Shearer's pass.
Then Colombia came up with its first on-target shot four minutes before
half time, Leider Preciado forcing David Seaman to make a difficult save at
the foot of the near post.
The Colombians made three substitutions at half time, including
bringing on a replacement strikeforce of Hamilton Ricard and Adolfo
Valencia with Victor Aristizabal going to operate behind them. But it was
still England making the running and Mondragon did well to make four good
saves in the first eight minutes of the second half.
The Colombian keeper arched his back to palm over a shot from Scholes,
keep out a header and shot from Shearer and then block another close-range
effort from Owen after defender Sol Campbell had run through the defense on
a 30-yard run.
The Colombians had plenty of possession in deep positions but did
little to worry the English defense. They clearly missed star striker
Faustino Asprilla, who was dropped from the squad after criticizing coach
Hernan Gomez in a radio interview.
Freddy Rincon moved into a good shooting position 30 yards from goal
but the alert Campbell moved in quickly with a block that took the sting
out of the shot long before it reached Seaman.
Then Owen burrowed through the Colombian defense again only for Everth
Palacios to get back with a well-timed tackle just as the youngster was
primed to shoot.
Ricard, who plays in England for Middlesbrough, curled a speculative
20-yard volley just wide of the post as Colombia made a rare threat with 11
minutes to go. But Owen should have made it 3-0 with seven minutes to go
when he shot straight at Mondragon after Shearer had put him clear. In the
final few minutes, the keeper threw himself to his left and right to keep
out more shots from Le Saux and Shearer.
Lineups
England: David Seaman; Gary Neville, Tony Adams, Sol Campbell;
Darren Anderton (Robert Lee, 80th), David Beckham, Paul Ince (David Batty,
83rd), Paul Scholes (Steve McManaman, 74th), Graeme Le Saux; Alan Shearer,
Michael Owen.
Colombia: Farid Mondragon; Everth Palacios, Jorge Bermudez,
Wilmer Cabrera, Antonio Moreno; Mauricio Serna (Victor Aristizabal, 46th),
Harold Lozano, Carlos Valderrama, Freddy Rincon; Anthony De Avila (Hamilton
Ricard, 46th) Leider Preciado (Adolfo Valencia, 46th).
Referee: Arturo Brizio, Mexico.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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