Portugal reach World Cup semi-final By MSN’s Matt Ball
Last updated July 1 2006
England’s World Cup penalty shoot-out losses: 1990 against Germany; 1998 against Argentina and now 2006 against Portugal. It was tense - again, it was dramatic – again, but ultimately it was the same old story.
Portugal will have won few friends with their past two matches – a street fight against Holland and a feeble and cynical display this time – but England had won just as few friends after a string of below par performances. Though they defended bravely once Wayne Rooney had been sent off on 61 minutes, they hardly threatened the Portuguese goal in two hours of football.
Blame will no doubt be placed at the door of departing head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson who stuck with the 4-5-1 formation that he had used to such little effect against Ecuador. Again it proved toothless but at no point did he look like bringing on a second striker. Rooney, increasingly isolated, got increasingly frustrated and received a red card after stamping on Carvalho and pushing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo hardly covered himself in glory, trying to wind up Rooney before the match and then rushing to the referee after Rooney and Carvalho tangled. He also found the time to perform the odd dive. Should he stay at Manchester United he may be for an interesting Premiership season.
And so to penalties
Almost inevitably, it was Ronaldo who scored the winning penalty. Here is how the shoot-out proceeded:
Portugal: Simao – low to keeper’s right. 1-0
England: Lampard – low to keeper’s left. Saved. 1-0
Portugal: Viana – to keeper’s right. Hit post. 1-0
England: Hargreaves – to keeper’s right. 1-1
Portugal: Petit – to keeper’s right. Missed. 1-1
England: Gerrard – to keeper’s left. Saved. 1-1
Portugal: Postiga – to keeper’s right. 2-1
England: Carragher – to keeper’s right. Saved. 2-1
Portugal: Ronaldo – to keeper’s left. 3-1
All members of the England squad had, according to reports, practised penalties in training and once the team was down to 10 men it seemed like they were playing to reach the shoot-out. But all that counts for little if the players involved do not deliver when the moment comes.
Credit to the England players, though. They took the defeat with far more dignity than Argentinean players had done the previous day.
England player ratings:
Paul Robinson 7
A more assured performance. Saved the shots that came his way. More accurate kicking this match, too.
Gary Neville 8
Solid defending all afternoon
Ashley Cole 8
Not only defended well but supported Joe Cole down the left with good runs
John Terry 9
Strong under increasing pressure
Rio Ferdinand 9
Put some wayward passing behind him to command the defence with Terry as 10-man England defended their way to penalties
David Beckham 5
Quiet game from the captain. Substituted due to injury after 51 minutes
Joe Cole 6
Perhaps his least effective performance at the tournament. Substituted after 64 minutes
Owen Hargreaves 9
Ran all day, chasing attackers, tackling and generally being heroic. Won Fifa Man of the Match. Scored his penalty, too
Frank Lampard 6
Kept going til the end but well below his best. Poor penalty – no disguise, too soft, not far enough towards the corner
Steven Gerrard 7
Slightly better performance than Lampard but also below his best. His penalty, however, was worse than Lampard’s
Wayne Rooney 5
Found it hard to get involved as a lone striker and became more and more frustrated. Sent off after petulant stamp and pushing
Substitutes:
Aaron Lennon 6
Came on for Beckham after 51 minutes and created one of England’s best chances but should have got more involved
Peter Crouch 6
Came on for Cole after 64 minutes. Held the ball up well at times and gave it away too easily at others
Jamie Carragher unrated
Came on for Lennon with seconds to go so he could be one of the penalty takers. Took the penalty before the referee had blown the whistle and had to retake. His first attempt was perfectly placed in the corner to the keeper’s left. The retake was a tamer effort to the keeper’s right which was parried onto the crossbar.
The rest:
Sven-Goran Eriksson 4
Poor tactics that proved too unadventurous against a team that was there for the taking.
Referee Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Argentina) 8
Very good game | 
