Sat, Jun 26, 2004 page20

• Beckham's balls-up scuppers England

  PENALTY PAIN Portugal beat England 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out at the end of the most heartstopping game of Euro 2004, sparking scenes of jubilation and despair

  • AP AND DPA
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  It was a night Portugal will long remember.

  In the most heartstopping game of Euro 2004 so far, the host nation beat England 6-5 in a penalty shootout on Thursday after a 2-2 tie in regulation time, becoming the tournament's first semifinalist and triggering wild celebrations across the country.

  For England, the evening turned bitter at Lisbon's Stadium of Light when captain David Beckham sent the first penalty kick of the shootout over the crossbar.

  

  Portugal's Helder Postiga celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Euro 2004 quarterfinal match against England on Thursday.

  PHOTO: AP

  "I have to go and get my heart checked it was so thrilling," Portugal's Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "This win, after everything that happened during this game, was truly spectacular."

  This was only a quarterfinal victory, but it turned the capital into a flag-waving street party, with the central Avenida de Liberdade clogged with parked cars.

  "During the penalties God was with us," Portugal's 19-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo said. "We have to celebrate this moment. It was wonderful the way the people supported us from inside and outside the stadium.

  

  England's David Beckham misses his penalty against Portugal's Ricardo in their Euro 2004 quarterfinal match.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  "Over the 90 [minutes] we were better than the English."

  In the other quarterfinals, Greece faced defending champion France yesterday at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade stadium. Today in Faro, Sweden faces the Netherlands. Tomorrow in Porto, it is the Czech Republic vs Denmark.

  The first semifinal is on June 30 at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade. Portugal will face either Sweden or the Netherlands. The other semifinal is on July 1 in Porto's Dragao. The final is on July 4 in the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

  

  ?

  Portugal had more possession than England, but it also was lucky.

  Tied 1-1, England seemed to have won the match in the 90th minute when Michael Owen knocked a header off the crossbar. As it came down in the area, England defender Sol Campbell leaped near the goal line and headed the ball into the net.

  However, Swiss referee Urs Meier disallowed the goal, ruling defender John Terry had pushed Portuguese goalkeeper Carvalho.

  "The referee decided, you can't do anything about that," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said.

  Eriksson was asked if Beckham blamed himself for the loss.

  "I talked to the squad in the dressing room after the game," Eriksson said. "He [Beckham] might do that, maybe."

  England suffered a major blow when 18-year-old striker Wayne Rooney -- he shares the tournament scoring lead with four -- limped off in the 27th minute with what turned out to be a broken right foot. He suffered the injury after defender Jorge Andrade clipped his heel as they chased a loose ball.

  Eriksson said the injury was similar to one Beckham picked up two years ago before the World Cup.

  "He will be out for, I don't know, maybe weeks, maybe months."

  Asked if Rooney would have helped, Eriksson replied: "I can't say that if Rooney was on the pitch we would have won. It is an excuse I don't want to use."

  England went ahead 1-0 in the third minute as Portuguese defender Costinha failed to clear a long ball. Michael Owen swooped in and, with his back facing the goal, turned and lifted the ball with his right foot over the head of Portugal 'keeper Carvalho.

  Portugal's Helder Postiga equalized at 1-1 in the 83rd minute, scoring on a header that went in over the outstretched hands of James. That forced extra time.

  Portugal's Rui Costa appeared to have scored the winner in the 20th minute of extra time, a powerful shot from 18 meters that hit the crossbar on the underside and went behind James to make it 2-1.

  England's Frank Lampard tied the thrilling match 2-2 in the 25th minute of extra time, scoring after a corner kick landed in the area. Lampard swirled and right-footed the ball into the net from 6m.

  In news off the field on Thursday, Germany's Rudi Voeller became the first coaching casualty of the tournament after Germany was ousted from the first round of the championship for the second time in a row.

  Germany was beaten 2-1 by a second-string Czech Republic team on Wednesday, a crushing blow for the three-time European and three-time World Cup champions.

  "I am stepping down," Voeller told a news conference at the team's training camp at Almancil on the south coast of Portugal.

  "The [federation] president was surprised and wanted me to remain but I told him that it wouldn't work."

  Ottmar Hitzfeld, fired by Bayern Munich at the end of last season, appears the leading candidate for the job.

  Voeller's resignation is a replay of Euro 2000 when the man he replaced, Erich Ribbeck, quit after the Germans finished last in their group.

  Under Voeller, the Germans bounced back by reaching the final of the 2002 World Cup, losing 2-0 to Brazil. But the loss to the Czechs and ties with the Netherlands and Latvia means they have not beaten a European team in a major championship since they beat the Czechs in the final of Euro '96.

  violent aftermath

  Riot police on Jersey held off hundreds of England fans besieging members of the Channel Island's Portuguese community, after England went down to Portugal on penalties in the Euro 2004 tournament on Thursday evening.

  Police in riot gear used CS gas to disperse crowds after around 1,500 England fans brought Minden Place in St Helier, the island's capital, to a standstill, the BBC reported.

  Traffic was diverted and police held back the crowd as bottles were thrown and Portuguese supporters were taunted.

  Although not part of England, much of the population on Jersey supports the England team. Around 10 per cent of the island's population is of Portuguese Madeiran origin.

  In the eastern English county of Norfolk, police escorted Portuguese fans to safety after they were besieged for two hours in a Portuguese-owned pub in Thetford.

  Seven people were arrested for public order offences and several police officers were injured.
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