Portugal ousts England, France eliminates Brazil
2/7/2006 10:50
Lucky Portugal struggled into the 2006 World Cup top four after ousting
England 3-1 on penalty shootout, while France stunned the world by eliminating
Brazil yesterday. Cristiano Ronaldo sealed Portugal's semifinal berth by
striking into the right corner in the penalty shootout, after the English lost
David Beckham to a leg injury and Wayne Rooney to a red card. "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," said the Manchester United star proudly. An
amazing night witnessed five shootout missed. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and
Jamie Carragher missed to end their hopes and Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign, while
Petit and Hugo Viana put Portugal in danger after missing the target. "We
practised penalties so much, I really don't know what more we could do about it.
I was sure these players could get to the final and we should have done it,"
said heart-broken Eriksson. The Man-United forward wrestled for the ball with
Ricardo Carvalho on the halfway line and stamped on the defender's crotch in
the 62rd minute. Argentina referee Horacio Elizondo showed the first red card
of the match and sent Rooney off. "We started the second half very well and
controlled the game exactly what we wanted to do.Then there was the sending
off. We held the game up very well and lost on penalties again and
I'm really sorry about that," said Eriksson. However, Portugal coach Luiz
Felipe Scolari did not think they got advantage over England after Rooney's
sending off. Scolari said: "We didn't take advantage, we shot too much from
outside the area. England closed the way to goal very well and it was like
playing against 11." England dominated the first 20 minutes as Frank Lampard
almost broke the tie in the 12th minute. Rooney played a tight pass to
Lampard in the area and the Chelsea man pulled back from the right to find
the ball denied by Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo. Portugal got the chance six
minutes later when Luis Figo's free-kick turned England's defence into a
mess. Both sides got chances in the second half as Peter Crouch only just
failed to get the ball to a teammate in the Portuguese area and Simon had a shot
saved by Paul Robinson in the counter-attack. Eriksson was forced to change
things six minutes into the second half with David Beckham struggling with an
ankle problem. Beckham almost won a penalty with his last contribution of the
game, and probably his chances of winning a World Cup when his cross hit the
hand of Nuno Valente but England's appeal came to nothing. He was replaced by
Aaron Lennon and was seen on the sidelines looking anguished as treatment was
performed on his ankle. England's best chance to score a goal was a set-piece
and Lampard fired in a free-kick that Ricardo did well to keep out, with
Lennon scuffing his attempt to put in the rebound. "We gave a good
performance but we're out and that's very painful. I'm sorry for the fans, who
have been fantastic, we couldn 't give them a final," said Eriksson. Portugal
almost sealed a win in the second extra-time when Postiga headed home, but the
goal was denied by referee Horacio Elizondo who saw the off-side clearly. In
Frankfurt, former World Cup champions France stunned the world after eliminating
five-time title winners Brazil with a 1-0 victory in their quarter-final
encounter. Parreira took the responsibility, saying "I would like to thank
the players. I didn't do my job as my job was to get to the final." "In
Brazil when the national team loses the coach is to blame so I believe we will
follow this script once again. We never prepared for this moment. This is a very
difficult moment for all of us," he added." the Brazilian coach
added. Arsenal striker Thierry Henry scored the decisive goal of Saturday's
game, volleying in Zinedine Zidane's floated free-kick on the 57th minute while
lingering unmarked at the back post. "We played well. We didn't steal
anything from anybody. We had a tactical plan and it worked perfectly," Henry
said. "We wanted to prove after what happened in 2002 that we were not
rubbish," he added, referring to France's early exit four years ago. France's
playermaker Zidane, playing what could have been his last game, has been in full
flow with his graceful sight and showed some sublime touches, while Brazil's
attacking aces were disappointing and produced a similarly listless display with
the 1998 final. Zidane was moved to describe the 1-0 quarter-final win
over Brazil as "beautiful". Man-of-the-match Zidane said: "We needed a great
match and we delivered. We knew we would have to be fit physically and we
were. Zidane, 34, has led the dazzling show in the center. He won back
possession at the 28th minute and played a neat lay off to send France
careering down the left to force a corner. Again on 44 minutes, he collected,
twisted and passed the ball to release Patrick Vieira before the Juventus
midfielder was brought down by Juan. It was also the Real Madrid midfielder
who gave France the best chance in the additional minute of the first half. He
drove a free-kick straightly at the wall after the referee forced the line back
for full five meters since Henry's earlier free-kick hit the wall and Ronaldo's
arm to force the second one. "We fought closely together for a well-deserved
victory. Now we 'll try to win a place in the final. This is so beautiful, we
want it to carry on," added Zidane, who retires after the World Cup. Just
three minutes ahead of Henry's goal, the former top scorer of England Premier
league, whose backheel strike in box at the 52nd minute was just cleared by a
Brazilian, slotted home after collecting Patrick Vieira's flick-on, but his
effort was ruled out by a late wave of the lineman's flag for offside. The
last eight matchup between France and Brazil has been dubbed as a 1998 World Cup
final rematch after eight years since the French side won a historic 3-0 against
Brazil in Paris for their first ever world trophy.
Xinhua
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