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ENGLAND 2 (Sheringham 68, Beckham 90) Greece 2 (Charisteas 36, Nikolaidis 69) _________________________________________________________________________ World Cup football home page This final World Cup 2002 group qualifying match at home to Greece took place on October 6, 2001 at Old Trafford in Manchester. In the other match in the group, Germany were playing at home to Finland at the same time. England needed to win to ensure they qualified top of their group, but they could come top if they drew and Germany drew (or if both England and Germany lost their final group games). The England team was: Martyn G Neville Keown Ferdinand Ashley Cole (McManaman 78) Beckham Gerrard Scholes Barmby (Andy Cole 46) Heskey Fowler (Sheringham 68) Subs not used: Southgate, Wright, Carragher, Murphy Greece: Nikopolidis, Patsatzoglou, Dabizas, Vokolos, Costas Konstantinidis, Fissas, Zagorakis, Kassapis, Karagounis, Charisteas, Nikolaidis This was not a great England performance but they got the result they needed to come top of the group and so avoid a play off with the Ukraine. Michael Owen was injured so Emile Heskey and Robbie Fowler started up front. England did not start well and with the Greeks defending in numbers, England had few chances. The Greeks became more confident and England often lost the ball when they had it in the first half. The Greeks were having the better chances at goal. After 36 minutes Greece scored. Patsatzoglou got past Ashley Cole on the right wing and his cross was only partially cleared by Ferdinand. The ball went straight to Charisteas who scored with a good goal. Striker Andy Cole replaced Nick Barmby at half time and then Sheringham came on after 68 minutes. He scored immediately to make it 1-1. A Beckham free kick was flicked on by Sheringham in the box and the keeper watched it loop into the net near the far post. England did not keep their concentration after the goal, however, and were 2-1 down a minute later. Ashley Cole conceded a free kick - Nikolaidis was given the ball by Dabizas - he got past Ferdinand and scored. By now the England fans were keeping an eye on the Germany v Finland game, which was 0-0 and running a couple of minutes ahead of the England game. England was now playing much better but could not find the goal to level the game. The Greek goalkeeper saved well from Scholes and Beckham almost scored from a free kick.  The German game ended 0-0 and England were in injury time. They therefore only needed a draw to qualify for the World Cup directly. England pushed forward and got another free kick outside the Greek penalty box. It was the 93rd minute of the second half and injury time was almost up. Beckham took the free kick and curled it into the top corner of the net to the goalkeepers right - England had scored right at the end of the game which gave them the result they needed. Who did well: David Beckham had a great captain's game and was clearly the best player. Sheringham helped change the game round when he came on as a substitute. Who did not have a great game: Most of the team! Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Nick Barmby and Robbie Fowler certainly did not play well. The last minute free kick was a great relief to England and they went straight into the World Cup draw. Click here to see the full review of England's World Cup 2002 qualification group 9 (including the final table). Click here to see all England's results since Euro 96
____________________________________________________________________________ Note: This England World Cup 2002 website is also available using http://clik.to/england
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