Sluggish England Qualifies for Cup
Franz Beckenbauer was wrong.
“If the World Cup was held in Europe next month, then England would probably win it,” Germany’s former World Cup-winning captain and coach said a few days ago.
However, the World Cup is not until next year, when it will be jointly staged by Japan and South Korea. By then, England might be considerably more ready than it looked Saturday.
On a day when six countries--Croatia, Denmark, England, Italy, Portugal and Russia--qualified for soccer’s biggest show, the English had to rely on one of David Beckham’s patented swerving free kicks, three minutes into injury time, to tie Greece, 2-2, on Beckham’s home turf at Old Trafford in Manchester.
The late goal clinched England’s place in the 2002 tournament and consigned Germany to a tricky two-legged playoff against the Ukraine in November.
“It was dramatic,” said Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swedish coach who this year has revived England’s fortunes. “But you always hope until the end of the game.”
England had thrashed Germany, 5-1, at Munich last month, a performance that prompted Beckenbauer’s praise. It also brought a quotable remark from a compatriot.
“We will have the rage to win,” Germany Coach Rudi Voeller said before his team played Finland on Saturday. Had Germany won, it would have qualified and England would have met Ukraine in the playoffs. The rage never materialized and Germany was held to a 0-0 tie at home in the new AufSchalke Arena at Gelsenkirchen.
“We are enormously disappointed,” Voeller said.
Croatia, the surprise third-place finisher at the France ’98 World Cup, upset Belgium, 1-0, in Zagreb, on a 75th-minute goal by Alen Boksic, consigning the favored Belgians to second place and a difficult playoff against the Czech Republic.
For other European teams, the final step to Korea/Japan ’02 was an easy one.
At Lisbon, 80,000 saw Portugal, which will host the European Championship in 2004, qualify in emphatic style with a 5-0 victory over Estonia as Nuno Gomes scored twice.
Ireland finished second in the group after defeating Cyprus, 4-0, at Dublin. In the playoffs, the Irish will face whichever country finishes third in Asian qualifying play.
At Copenhagen, Denmark made short work of Iceland, 6-0, as Ebbe Sand scored twice.
Russia, too, won with ease, beating Switzerland, 4-0, at Moscow to secure its World Cup place.
Three-time world champion Italy qualified in less spectacular fashion, edging Hungary, 1-0, at Parma, Italy, on a curling free kick by Alessandro Del Piero in the final minute of the first half.
Romania finished second in the group after being held to a 1-1 tie by Georgia.
In the playoffs, Romania Coach Gheorghe Hagi’s team will meet Slovenia, which shut out the Faroe Islands, 3-0, to finish second behind Russia and eliminating Yugoslavia despite its 6-2 rout of Luxemburg.
The Czech Republic, which had to defeat Bulgaria to reach the playoffs, rolled to a 6-0 triumph at Prague to set up the playoff series against Belgium.
Saturday’s game between Israel and Austria was postponed by FIFA in the wake of the Russian airliner crash in the Black Sea. The winner will face Turkey in the playoffs.
Scotland closed its disappointing World Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over Latvia at Glasgow, Scotland, good enough only for third place. Afterward, Craig Brown, Europe’s longest-serving national team coach with eight years at the helm, resigned.
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2002 Qualifiers
Countries that have qualified for the 2002 World Cup, through Saturday’s games:
Africa: Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia.
Asia: Japan, South Korea (co-hosts).
CONCACAF: Costa Rica.
Europe: Croatia, Denmark, England, France (defending champion), Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Spain.
South America: Argentina
