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Broken bone despair for Rooney
WHAT a difference a day can make in football, as Wayne Rooney found out last night.
England’s teenage sensation was expected to be his country’s hero against Portugal last night, but instead he had to come to terms with the double blow of England’s exit from a competition he had threatened to dominate, and the news that a broken bone in his foot could keep him out of football for an extended period.
The Everton striker, who had scored four goals in England’s two previous matches and has been received in his own country as a messiah, sustained the metatarsal injury that afflicted Beckham before the last World Cup.
It was in a challenge with Jorge Andrade, the Portugal defender that the damage was done, Andrade appearing to stand on Rooney’s right foot, although it was the England player who was ajudged by referee Urs Meier to have committed a foul.
"It is the same injury as David had," said England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, with obvious regret. "He could be out of football for months."
Fresh from the deep disappointment of Euro 2004 quarter-final defeat, Eriksson also had to deal immediately with the question that comes as naturally as leaves on a tree to a media panting for a sensational post-script to elimination from a major championship.
Would he, he was asked, continue as manager of England? "Yes, I will," he said unequivocally. "After all the fuss in recent months, I can tell you I am staying. We have the World Cup in two years and I want to go further than quarter-finals (the stage they reached two years ago).
"I want to go to semi-finals and finals. We thought before we came to Portugal that we could achieve that in this tournament, and for most of the match tonight I thought we would win and that we deserved to.
"We created more chances than Portugal and could have had a two-goal lead in the first half with a little luck. And, although the Portuguese had much of the possession, that was what we expected. That is how they always are, because they are skilful and usually have more of the ball than their opponents.
"I thought it was magnificent that we were able to come back and equalise in extra time after going behind, but they [Portugal] were better at penalties than us. Penalties, of course, are about skill, but they are also a lottery."
Asked if David Beckham, who scooped England’s first in the shoot-out high over the bar, was blaming himself for England’s elimination, Eriksson said: "I have spoken to the squad, but not individuals. Beckham may blame himself, but there is luck involved, and I think he slipped once again as he tried to take the kick."
Beckham had also slid into a grotesque imitation of a penalty against Turkey last year, but, on this occasion, Eriksson said there had been a pre-match problem with the penalty spots at the stadium.
"We trained here and practiced penalties and discovered that the spot lost its covering of grass and became bare. I spoke to UEFA about it and was assured new grass would be put there, but I don’t think it was."
Michael Owen, who gave England a third-minute lead before the game went into extra-time, added: "It always seems to happen to us.
"Tournaments come along every two years so you can’t expect to win everything. But going out on penalties again is a bitter blow - although they put theirs away well."
WHAT a difference a day can make in football, as Wayne Rooney found out last night.
England’s teenage sensation was expected to be his country’s hero against Portugal last night, but instead he had to come to terms with the double blow of England’s exit from a competition he had threatened to dominate, and the news that a broken bone in his foot could keep him out of football for an extended period.
The Everton striker, who had scored four goals in England’s two previous matches and has been received in his own country as a messiah, sustained the metatarsal injury that afflicted Beckham before the last World Cup.
It was in a challenge with Jorge Andrade, the Portugal defender that the damage was done, Andrade appearing to stand on Rooney’s right foot, although it was the England player who was ajudged by referee Urs Meier to have committed a foul.
"It is the same injury as David had," said England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, with obvious regret. "He could be out of football for months."
Fresh from the deep disappointment of Euro 2004 quarter-final defeat, Eriksson also had to deal immediately with the question that comes as naturally as leaves on a tree to a media panting for a sensational post-script to elimination from a major championship.
Would he, he was asked, continue as manager of England? "Yes, I will," he said unequivocally. "After all the fuss in recent months, I can tell you I am staying. We have the World Cup in two years and I want to go further than quarter-finals (the stage they reached two years ago).
"I want to go to semi-finals and finals. We thought before we came to Portugal that we could achieve that in this tournament, and for most of the match tonight I thought we would win and that we deserved to.
"We created more chances than Portugal and could have had a two-goal lead in the first half with a little luck. And, although the Portuguese had much of the possession, that was what we expected. That is how they always are, because they are skilful and usually have more of the ball than their opponents.
"I thought it was magnificent that we were able to come back and equalise in extra time after going behind, but they [Portugal] were better at penalties than us. Penalties, of course, are about skill, but they are also a lottery."
Asked if David Beckham, who scooped England’s first in the shoot-out high over the bar, was blaming himself for England’s elimination, Eriksson said: "I have spoken to the squad, but not individuals. Beckham may blame himself, but there is luck involved, and I think he slipped once again as he tried to take the kick."
Beckham had also slid into a grotesque imitation of a penalty against Turkey last year, but, on this occasion, Eriksson said there had been a pre-match problem with the penalty spots at the stadium.
"We trained here and practiced penalties and discovered that the spot lost its covering of grass and became bare. I spoke to UEFA about it and was assured new grass would be put there, but I don’t think it was."
Michael Owen, who gave England a third-minute lead before the game went into extra-time, added: "It always seems to happen to us.
"Tournaments come along every two years so you can’t expect to win everything. But going out on penalties again is a bitter blow - although they put theirs away well."
