Brave England out on penalties
Pearce (left) witnessed Taylor (centre) take a penalty while injured; and Hoyte (right) both scored and missed from the spot
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Wednesday, 20, Jun 2007 11:31
England's under-21s have been knocked out on penalties at the European Championships in Holland by the hosts and defending champions after a mammoth shootout.
As many as 32 kicks were needed to separate the nations – historically the two with the poorest international record in spot-kicks - as the Netherlands went through 13-12.
Every available player on the pitch for England took a penalty, with Justin Hoyte the only man to miss first time around, while Royston Drenthe failed for Holland when he hit the post.
Further misses from captain Nigel Reo-Coker and Matt Derbyshire on the second round of sudden-death kicks went unpunished as first Arnold Kruiswijk skied his kick for the home side then Daniel De Ridder saw penalty his saved by Scott Carson.
But when Anton Ferdinand's effort hit the bar with the very next penalty, Gianni Zuiverloon stepped up to slot the ball home and seal the win.
The match ended 1-1 after extra time; Leroy Lita having given England an unexpected lead before half-time before a late equaliser from Maceo Rigters took the game into an extra period.
Early on there was little sign of the drama to come, even though the game began at a high tempo.
The marauding Dutch had the lion's share of possession but were matched by Stuart Pearce's men, who had clearly set out their stall to close down a tricky and talented host nation.
Ryan Babel, reportedly a transfer target for Arsenal this summer, looked most dangerous for the hosts in the opening exchanges with a few jinking runs and silky turns but he failed to find a way through.
Wigan defender Leighton Baines and Manchester City youngster Nedum Onuoha, who later retired injured, thwarted the Dutch attacks time after time, keeping the scoresheet unexpectedly blank in the first half until Lita struck.
The Reading striker - the tournament's top scorer with three goals - turned his man and slotted past onrushing goalkeeper Boy Waterman from England's first real chance of the match to give the visitors a somewhat undeserved lead in the 39th minute.
After the break, Lita came closest to a second goal when he hit the woodwork from a free-kick after Aston Villa's Ashley Young was cynically felled on the edge of the box.
England's lead was left hanging by a thread just before the hour-mark however as Carson could only parry De Ridder's low shot. A last-ditch block by Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor prevented Maceo Rigters from snatching an equaliser with the follow-up.
Justin Hoyte was forced to receive treatment for a blow to the face soon afterwards as England visibly started to tire and the home side, backed by an increasingly raucous home crowd, gathered momentum.
One or two more close shaves followed, including a stinging long-range shot from Rigters and another chance for Drenthe.
And just as the visitors' defence looked to have held out, the dangerous Rigters swivelled and struck an overhead kick in the final minute of normal time.
The NAC Breda youngster spectacularly converted a header back across goal, despite two England players being down injured at the time – perhaps something of poetic justice after Matt Derbyshire's goal against Serbia in the final group match.
As the game went to extra-time, Stuart Pearce's men had to dig deep as Onuoha went off injured with all the England substitutes used up. Fellow centre-back Taylor carried a knock throughout the extra half-an-hour and even through the agony of the shootout.
Only heroics from Carson and some last-ditch defending from Liam Rosenior kept the scores level and the match went to penalties.
England head coach Pearce was forced to relive his penalty heartache from World Cup 1990 and Euro 1996 against Germany as he witnessed his gallant charges defeated, despite some impressive penalties before Ferdinand's ultimately fatal miss.