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| Thursday, October 18, 2001 22:04 EST |
England gets late tie with Greece
[Reuters]
MANCHESTER, England -- David Beckham sent
England to the World Cup finals Saturday with a wonderful
stoppage time free kick that salvaged a 2-2 draw against Greece
at Old Trafford.
David Beckham celebrates his late goal that lifted England into a 2-2 tie with Greece, and earned the squad a spot in the World Cup next year. |
England's inspirational captain, playing on his club ground,
curved a 25-meter shot into the corner of the Greek net to
ensure his side finished top of Group Nine with a superior goal
difference to Germany, which only drew 0-0 at home against Finland.
As group winners, England claimed the automatic qualifying
spot for the finals next year in Japan and South Korea, condemning
Germany to the playoffs.
Beckham described it as "the best feeling ever" while coach
Sven Goran Eriksson said: "It was a marvelous afternoon, though
maybe not football-wise.
"I don't think they played very well today, certainly not in
the first half.
"We struggled, we suffered ... but we're in the World Cup
and that's what counts."
Before the dramatic finale England seemed likely to pay for
a woeful first-half performance and some dreadful defending
throughout the match.
Demis Nikolaidis looked to have snatched a shocking victory for the
Greeks with a goal one minute after England substitute Teddy
Sheringham's 68th-minute equalizer had canceled out Angelos
Charisteas's first-half effort for the visitors.
For most of the match, England were a pale shadow of the side
that had won all five of its previous World Cup qualifiers
under its Swedish coach, including its remarkable 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich.
Beckham's trademark strike, a near-identical goal to the one
he scored in England's 2-0 victory in Greece in June, completed its transformation from bottom of the group a year ago to group
winners.
It prompted an explosion of joy from the 66,090 fans at Old
Trafford and another roar followed seconds later as the final
whistle blew and Germany's result was announced over the
loudspeakers.
Eriksson, who walked onto the pitch at the end to milk the
rapturous applause, deserved his recognition for the miraculous
way he had transformed an England side beaten 1-0 by Germany in
its final match at the old Wembley a year ago and then held
0-0 in Finland.
The glorious finish was in stark contrast to the start of
the match, when England seemed to be suffering from a bad bout
of stage fright.
As inspired as Beckham was in his home stadium, United teammate Paul Scholes was unrecognizable, his performance marked by
a string of uncharacteristically bad passes.
Fellow midfielder Steven Gerrard also put on a display best
forgotten.
Goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, standing in for injured David
Seaman, let in two goals, but made several sharp saves to keep
England's campaign on track.
The absence of injured Liverpool striker Michael Owen
deprived England of its usual confidence and attacking flair
and it carried little attacking threat early on.
Greece, which lost five of its seven qualifiers before
Saturday, far exceeded expectations after being crushed 5-1 in
Finland last month.
Greece forced the issue early as Giorgos Karagounis forced a diving save from Nigel Martyn
after 17 minutes, Charisteas looped a snapshot over the bar and
Martyn needed two attempts to stop a superb volley by skipper
Theo Zagorakis from 25 meters.
The breakthrough came after 36 minutes when first Ashley
Cole and then Rio Ferdinand failed to make a clearance after
Christos Patsatzoglou's run down the right.
The ball ran to Charisteas and the Greek's angled
shot gave Martyn no chance.
England showed more purpose in the second half, with
Eriksson bringing on Manchester United striker Andy Cole to
partner Robbie Fowler, Owen's replacement, in attack with Heskey
moving to the left flank.
But it was Greece which should have scored next after
Karagounis twice failed to beat Martyn when clean through.
Sheringham's backward header from a Beckham free kick,
barely five seconds after the 35-year-old Tottenham Hotspur
striker had come on, brought England level for little more than
a minute.
Weak defending by Rio Ferdinand allowed Nikolaidis to steer
home Greece's second from close range.
It set up a thrilling finish which, thanks to Beckham,
climaxed in an explosion of joy as England rode its luck into
the finals and their fans celebrated the success chanting along
to the aptly-chosen theme tune, "The Great Escape."
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