Penalty agony for England
Penalty agony for England
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Saturday, 01, Jul 2006 11:42
England crashed out of the World Cup on penalties once again after a 0-0 draw with Portugal in the quarter final.
The inevitable penalty defeat came after Wayne Rooney was bizarrely sent off just after the hour. Portugal were unable to take advantage of the extra man and the game drifterd to a goalless finale.
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Jamie Carragher were the players guilty of missing from the spot. Only man of the match Owen Hargreaves scored.
The first half was a dull affair as neither side was able to settle. England started brightly with players bursting forward from midfield. However that soon faded as Portugal got better and the game seemed to reach a stalemate by half time.
At the start of the second period England were again struggling to pass the ball and the Portuguese looked the more dangerous, without ever really testing Paul Robinson.
Ten minutes into the half David Beckham hobbled off close to tears and Sven Goran Eriksson brought on Aaron Lennon.
On 62 minutes the referee shocked England by sending off Rooney for a gentle shove on Cristiano Ronaldo. The push was so soft that even Ronaldo did not feel compelled to hurl himself to the ground.
The referee flourished the red card and England were without their best player and their captain. Eriksson introduced Peter Crouch as his replacement.
Crouch put in an excellent performance shielding the ball and leading the line superbly with the assistance of the marauding Lennon.
Portugal had the lion share of possession and were easily able to bring the ball to the edge of the England area, but could not find the killer pass.
At the other end England had the better chances against the run of play as Lampard and Lennon should have opened the scoring.
Neither keeper had a save to make and extra time brought more of the same, Portugal with the ball but unable to break down the stubborn England defence.
England were only able to score one of their four penalties and Ricardo was the hero in the Portugal goal despite the Portuguese missing two of their own spot kicks.