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June 10, 2006
THEIR OWN WORST ENEMIES
Gamarra’s Own Goal Gives England 1-0 Win
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David Beckham's free kick set up England's lone goal.
Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images |
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
Frankfurt, Germany -- In a game that started out on a promising note, but became more tedious as time wore on, England managed to get past Paraguay, 1-0, in the World Cup opener for both teams on Saturday.
The victory gave England three points and the Group B lead, pending the result of the Sweden-Trinidad & Tobago encounter later in the day.
You could have closed your eyes and thought the game was somewhere in England, the crowd was so partisan for the English. Except for a conclave of red and white clad Paraguayan supporters in the corner of the stadium, the crowd was decidedly British.
In fact, the English fans were so bored with their team in the second half that they started to chant, "Roo-nay!, Roo-nay!," as they tried to urge coach Sven Goran-Eriksson to bring in the Manchester United star who is recovering from a broken bone in his foot. Eriksson did not comply.
The English all-hawking quartet of Peter Crouch, Michael Owen, David Beckham and Joe Cole made life difficult for the Paraguayan backline, forcing their foes to give up the ball or make hurried passes.
The Paraguayan defender who paid dearly for the problems was veteran defender and 35-year-old captain Carlos Gamarra, who accidentally headed a Beckham corner kick into the back of the net in the third minute.
After a Paraguay foul, Beckham sent in a 45-yard free kick from the left side. Gamarra, trying to clear the ball out of harm's way, instead nudged it toward the far corner of his goal. The ball bounced once past a lunging goalkeeper Justo Villar.
Villar wouldn't have an opportunity to stop any more shots as he was forced from the game with a head injury in the eighth minute after colliding with an England player. Aldo Bobadilla replaced him, becoming the fastest keeper substitution in the 76-year history of the World Cup.
The Paraguayan defense looked like it was in disarray after Bobadilla came on. It didn't help that Bobadilla looked very unsure of himself.
England continued to ball-hawk and pressure the South Americans and was rewarded with a number of free kicks and corner kicks, but could not put anything on net and Paraguay escaped with only a one-goal halftime deficit.
England
Paul Robinson; Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry; Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (Owen Hargreaves-82); Michael Owen (Stewart Downing-55), Peter Crouch.
Paraguay
Justo Villar (Aldo Bobadilla-7); Delio Toledo (Jorge Nunez-81), Carlos Gamarra, Julio Cesar Caceres, Denis Caniza; Carlos Bonet (Nelson Cuevas-67), Roberto Acuna, Carlos Paredes, Cristian Riveros; Roque Santa Cruz, Nelson Valdez.
Goals
England -- own goal (Carlos Gamarra) 4
Discipline
England -- Steven Gerrard (yellow card) 19
Paraguay -- Nelson Valdez (yellow card) 22
England -- Peter Crouch (yellow card) 63
Attendance -- 48,000
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