FRANCE 98 – Match Summary n°46

England booked a showdown with World Cup favourites Argentina in the second after Darren Anderton and David Beckham led them to a 2-0 victory over Colombia here on Friday.

England coach Glenn Hoddle said he had always believed his side would beat the South Americans. ” I didn’t expect any other result after seeing how focussed the boys were before tonight’s match. We knew they would cause us a few problems but we nullified those, “ said Hoddle.

But Hoddle refused to get too carried away about how far the team could go: ” I don’t want to talk about what’s going to happen, “ he said. England as expected made two changes with Manchester United’s Beckham, who did not start the first two games, in for David Batty, and youngster Michael Owen, who scored in the 2-1 defeat to Romania, picked up front in place of Teddy Sheringham.

Sheringham, who has formed a prolific partnership alongside Shearer in recent years, paid the penalty for an indifferent display against Romania. Hoddle also brought Beckham back into his starting team after claiming earlier in the week that the Manchester United star had not been totally focused on England’s World Cup campaign.

Liverpool’s midfield hardman Paul Ince had recovered sufficiently to maintain his place in the side but Beckham’s inclusion meant there was no place for David Batty, who had been one of England’s star players against Romania.  Colombia also made two changes from their 1-0 win over Tunisia. Antonio Moreno replaced suspended Santa Jose in defence and Leider Preciado, who came on as substitute to score against Tunisia, started the match in place of striker Adolfo Valencia.

England were immediately buoyed up by their large contingent of England fans, who made up about half the 41,000 capacity crowd, though there had been trouble outside the stadium before the match.

Mexican referee Arturo Brizio Carter booked Mauricio Serna for a late tackle on Owen before England went ahead after 20 minutes. A Jorge Bermudez header beat Paul Scholes to Owen’s cross but the ball then fell to Anderton who rifled the ball into the roof of the net from inside the box. It was Anderton’s sixth goal for his country and his first since he got two against Hungary in May 1996.

Paul Scholes was shown a yellow card for not retreating at a free-kick as Colombia tried to hit back. But both the yellow cards of Scholes and Sol Campbell, in a previous match, will not be held over to the second round. England went further ahead on the half hour.

Paul Ince was fouled by Preciado in a central position well outside the area and referee Carter awarded England a free-kick. Beckham then hit a goal worthy of Brazil, his first for England, as he curled the ball over the wall and past the flailing right hand of Colombia keeper Farid Mondragon.

Colombian coach Hernan Dario Gomez made three substitutions after the break but England dominated during the second half with Gary Neville, Graeme Le Saux and Scholes all close to scoring.  Owen looked set to score his second goal of the tournament when Shearer put him through with a perfectly weighted pass to beat the offside trap. But Owen’s shot was blocked by Mondragon.

Shearer had three chances to put his name on the score sheet but each time Mondragon, who broke into tears of despair at the whistle, deprived him with three superb saves. ” England were simply the better side, particularly in terms of attack which was our main weakness, “ said Gomez afterwards. ” We had no penetrating striking power. We tried to make changes in the second half but it did not do us much good.”

And on his future, Gomez added: ” I have made the decision to quit as coach for some time now. The team needs new, experienced people to run it. We have learnt a lot and we have been through tough times but I’m sure Colombia will do good things in the future. “