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Brilliant Beckham Last minute strike earns World Cup berth
Updated: Saturday October 06, 2001 1:43 PM
MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- David Beckham's twisting 25-meter (yard) free kick three minutes into injury time gave England a dramatic 2-2 draw against Greece on Saturday and a place in next year's World Cup. Beckham's soaring shot curved from the right to the left over a wall of Greek defenders and into the net to the right of 'keeper Antonis Nikopolidis with time running out. Teddy Sheringham also scored as the English came from behind twice to match Greek goals from Demis Nikolaidis and Angeles Charisteas. "We didn't play very well today but we got the result we had to. Lucky or not we are in the World Cup," said England's Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who gave all the credit to Beckham and admitted his team was nervous but hadn't underestimated the Greeks. "You could see that he (Beckham) worked really, really hard to win this game. We saw once again that this is a really big player, but also a really big captain." "In the last minute Beckham hit his marvelous free kick and the tickets for the World Cup were ready." Beckham, who is lethal on free kicks, had taken a half dozen in the match. He described the goal as one of the "big ones" of his career. "It's something that I have practiced my whole life, scoring goals and scoring free kicks. It's not about my goal or Teddy's (Sheringham) goal, the character of every player out there was exceptional. ... It wasn't the prettiest of games, but we kept fighting back." "If we show that character in every game ... in the World Cup we can go far." Germany drew 0-0 with Finland and will face Ukraine in the playoffs. Greece took a 2-1 lead in the 69th minute on Nikolaidis's goal, a score that would have forced England into a playoff next month for a qualifying spot and would have given Germany the spot. Nikolaidis's goal from six meters (yards) came as he fought off defenders, and just a minute after Sheringham -- just 13 seconds after entering as a substitute - scored to tie the match a 1-1. That score was would have been good enough to qualify the English. Greece took a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute on an 18-meter (yard) goal from Charisteas, beating Nigel Martyn diving to his right and stunning a sellout of 67,500 at Man United's Old Trafford stadium. The first half was dominated by the underdog Greeks, who were hammered a month ago by Finland 5-1 and had no chance to reach the World Cup in South Korea and Japan. The victory was the sixth without a loss or draw in a World Cup qualifier for England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson., who took over after Kevin Keegan resigned a year ago with England last in its qualifying Group Nine. The English swarmed all over the Greeks in the first minutes of the second half and had a half dozen chances before the 35-year-old Sheringham scored. "It wasn't really happening for us today," Sheringham said. "The pitch was sticky and the Greeks frustrated us. We couldn't get our passing going. The crowd got upset, we got upset and that makes you more panicky. "But you just have to dig deep. The captain did that when we needed it. He ran himself into the ground." Liverpool's Robbie Fowler -- filling in for injured Liverpool teammate Michael Owen -- and Emile Heskey started up front for England. But it was Sheringham who came in for an ineffective Fowler. Eriksson made three changes because of injuries from the team that beat Germany last month 5-1. Besides Fowler, Leeds goalkeeper Martyn started in goal for David Seaman, who is out with a shoulder injury, and Arsenal's Martin Keown got the nod at central defense for injured Sol Campbell. England: Nigel Martyn; Gary Neville, Ashley Cole (Steve McManaman 79th), Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Nicky Barmby (Andy Cole 46th), Emile Heskey, Robbie Fowler (Teddy Sheringham 68th). Greece: Antonis Nikopolidis; Christos Patsatzoglou, Takis Fissas, Nikos Dabizas, Leonidas Vokolos, Costas Constantinidis, Theo Zagorakis (Angelos Bassinas 57th), Michalis Kasapis, Giorgos Karagounis, Angelos Charisteas (Vassilis Lakis 71st), Demis Nikolaidis.
Germany 0, Finland 0GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) -- Germany blew an unexpected opportunity to move past England and clinch a berth in World Cup finals when it was held to a 0-0 draw by Finland on Saturday.England trailed Greece at home for much of the match and clinched a 2-2 draw in injury time that gave it first place in Group 9 and the single automatic berth in next year's World Cup finals. Germany, a three-time World Cup champion, will now have to beat Ukraine in a playoff to qualify. Ukraine finished second in Group 5 after drawing 1-1 with Poland, which had already qualified. The first playoff match is Nov. 10, the second leg is in Germany four days later. A German victory would have qualified Rudi Voeller's team, and even the goalless draw would have been enough had England not equalized. "Nothing is lost yet, we have a second chance," Voeller said. "We came very close, but we played without courage and determination in the first half," he said. "We put on a lot of pressure in the second half and had some great chances. Looking at that performance, we shouldn't fear the playoff." "We tried everything, but the golden goal didn't come," Voeller said. Germany, vastly improved after the break, twice hit the crossbar and once the post in the second half. "Some players are greatly disappointed, but we have a few weeks to build them up again," Voeller said. Voeller and his players waited expectantly on the field to hear the final result in England, then quickly left for the locker room as soon as they got word that David Beckham had driven in a free kick to salvage the draw. England and Germany both finished with 17 points, but England had a much better goal difference thanks to its 5-1 drubbing of Germany last month. "It was the first point we ever won in Germany," said Finland's coach Antti Muurinen. "We are very proud of that. We have to thank out brilliant goalkeeper." Germany, missing a half-dozen starters because of injuries, looked harmless in the first half against Finland. The Germans, still trying to shake off the loss to England, failed to create a single opportunity in the first 45 minutes. Finland wasn't willing to risk much, although it already had been eliminated and had nothing to lose. The Finns had a couple of long-range free kicks late in the first half and that was about as much as they did to threaten Oliver Kahn's goal. Before the half was over, the capacity crowd of 52,333 at Schalke's brand new arena, was beginning to whistle in disappointment. Germany displayed more desire after the break, with substitute Gerald Asamoah speeding up his team's game. Striker and captain Oliver Bierhoff, back in Germany's starting lineup for the first time in several games, wasted three opportunities inside five minutes. He shook the crossbar with a right-foot shot in the 64th, then hit goalkeeper Antti Niemi from six meter (yards) out and finally had a header cleared off the line by Mika Nurmela in the 69th. Six minutes later, Bierhoff blasted a volley that Niemi diverted onto the crossbar. Oliver Neuville pounced on the rebound, only to hit the far post from a narrow angle. With the pace becoming hectic, Kahn was nearly beaten by a powerful drive by Jari Litmanen into the left upper corner. With the time running out, Niemi made a stunning save to stop midfielder Michael Ballack's powerful shot form inside the penalty area. "We were very bad in the first half, but we applied more pressure in the second and wasted five, six great opportunities," said Voeller's assistant Michael Skibbe. Germany: Oliver Kahn; Marko Rehmer, Christian Woerns, Jens Nowotny, Christian Ziege; Michael Ballack, Carsten Ramelow, Joerg Boehme (Gerland Asamoah, 45), Sebastian Deisler; Oliver Bierhoff, Oliver Neuville (Miroslav Klose, 76). Finland: Antti Niemi; Juha Reini (Petri Helin, 79), Hannu Tihinen, Sami Hyypia, Janne Saarinen; Aki Riihilahti, Jari Litmanen, Teemu Tainio (Tommi Gronlund, 83); Mika Nurmela, Mikael Forssell, Jonathan Johansson (Shefki Kuqi, 66).
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