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Argentina kicks out England
Roa denies Batty to end thrilling penalty shootout
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 07:58 PM
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Roa constrictor: Carlos Roa (center) stopped two penalty kicks to strangle England's hopes and propel Argentina into the round of eight (AP) |
SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) --
They won't be talking about the "hand of God" goal anymore in Argentina and
England.
They might never stop talking about the best game of this World Cup.
Argentina defeated England on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie through 120
exhaustingly tense minutes Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinals.
"It was as exciting as a game can be," said Argentina coach Daniel
Passarella, captain of the Argentine team that won the World Cup in 1978.
"It's the most dramatic way to end a game. It's very hard to watch it from
the sidelines." Unable to penetrate England's defense, even when
it had a man advantage for nearly an hour and a quarter, Argentina survived
when goalkeeper Carlos Roa stopped David Batty's penalty kick on the final
attempt in the shootout. Argentina won the shootout 4-3 as
Roa also stopped Paul Ince, while Robert Ayala connected on his team's
final kick, setting the stage for Roa's heroics.
Batty stared at a lot of empty net, but the ball found the hands of Roa (AP) | |
"In a
shootout, you must forget everything else," Roa said, "and think only of
stopping the shot. You are not expected to stop it, and if you do, you can
win." It was another tough defeat for England, which played
valiantly after David Beckham was ejected one minute into the second half.
This had to be more painful than the 1986 World Cup loss to Argentina when
Maradona scored a goal with the help of a well-disguised fist, which he
later called the "hand of God." "We are almost
distraught," said England coach Glenn Hoddle. "It's a bitter, bitter pill
to take. Even with 10 men we set up so many set pieces we could have won
it." Argentina plays the Netherlands
on Saturday in Marseille. But matching the excitement of its game against
England will be difficult. Gabriel Batistuta and Alan
Shearer swapped penalty kick goals in the opening nine minutes. Then
18-year-old striker Michael Owen fired England ahead 2-1 with one of the
best goals of any World Cup. Javier Zanetti curled in a left-footed shot
for the tying goal off a crafty set play on a free kick just seconds from
halftime.
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Adios, amigo: England played the majority of the second half with 10 men after Beckham received a red card (AP) |
"We worked on that in practice, and it came off perfectly," Passarella
said.
Beckham got a red card one minute into the second half for intentionally
kicking Diego Simeone, but England still found ways to attack. And it
thought it went ahead 3-2 with eight minutes remaining when Sol Campbell, a
standout all game on defense, headed in a corner kick. But Shearer was
called for pushing off and, even as Campbell celebrated on the sideline,
Argentina began a counterattack.
But like so many others throughout the tense game, it went nowhere.
"England fell back into a more defensive position and it was very tough
to get through," Passarella said. "Both teams played with much courage."
Before a crowd decidedly pro-Argentina in size -- officials
and fans in England have complained all tournament about a lack of
available tickets -- the English fans were in full throat for the entire
game. With a sea of blue-and-white Argentina fans at one end of
Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium and pockets of mostly white-clad England rooters
mixed among the Argentine flags and banners at the other -- the game could
have been in Buenos Aires, not the wine country of France. But then Owen
gave the English much to roar about.
Sheer excitement: Alan Shearer (9) put England on the scoreboard with a penalty-kick goal in the 10th minute (AP) | |
He first used a bit of trickery, diving to draw England's penalty kick in
the ninth minute. Shearer knocked it in for the first goal allowed by
Argentina in the tournament.
Then Owen showed the type of brilliance that would have made Maradona
proud. He sped around Jose Chamot, leaving him groping, and then beyond
Ayala, two of the pillars of Argentine's defense. He easily beat Roa with a
high shot to the far post for a 2-1 lead in the 16th minute.
Batistuta had made the Argentines sing with his penalty-kick goal in the
sixth minute after Simeone tripped over goalkeeper David Seaman, who drew a
yellow card as a warning.
Argentina could not get by Campbell all night, but his one mistake was
costly. In injury time, Campbell was caught for holding just outside the
penalty area. An intricate series of fakes on the free kick freed Zanetti
for a 15-yard left-footed boot to tie the score.
It was scoreless until the shootout, when the crowd finally was silenced.
After Roa's last save, the stands rocked with pandemonium, Pampas style,
while the English players hugged each other, applauded their fans, and
marched off.
"We certainly can't play any harder than we did tonight," English
midfielder Darren Anderton said. "But things don't always go your way."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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