The curse of penalties has come back to haunt England yet again.
It was barely a watchable game from the beginning except maybe for the heroics of Owen Hargreaves who deservedly received the Man Of The Match award,for it was he…the only in the England camp that played well and actually scored a penalty!.
England pretty much played better in this game than they did previously but it was not to be their day as master tactician - Scolari - got it right yet again to the dismay of Sven and his men.
Funny aint it?…play ‘boring’ footy and you reached the quaters..the moment you play a little better -your out.
It was pretty much even in the first half as both teams tested their respective goalkeepers,but maybe Portugal had an upper hand at proceedings.
Than came the dreaded moment for all England players and fans alike as Wayne Rooney saw red in the 62nd-minute.Rooney was battling to keep possession from three Portugal defenders when he raked his studs across the leg of Carvalho, who was on the floor trying to win the ball.
Chelsea defender Carvalho over-reacted but it looked like the referee was going to be lenient towards Rooney until Ronaldo sprinted to the referee, apparently to demand a red card.
Rooney turned to his Manchester United team-mate and pushed him away.
Referee Horatio Elizondo then reached for the red card and sent Rooney off.
Huh?..say what?@!!
It appears that Ronaldo was very very cheeky indeed,winking an eye to Scolari after Rooney got his marching orders…he definitely knew how hot-tempered Rooney was..and he duly took advantage of the situation,but than again i still think the ref could have just shown a yellow instead of a red card.
Ronaldo instantly became the target of abuse for the thousands of England fans packed inside the AufSchalke Stadium.
He was jeered for his dramatic dive to win a free-kick under pressure from Ashley Cole a few minutes later, but Ronaldo buried those jeers with a fantastically taken penalty to sent his side through to the semi-finals after both side were locked at 0-0 after extra time.
A little sidenote here….i think the people in charge of music in the stadium has a sense of humor..i heard Doris Day’s Que Sera Sera just before the penalty shootout..hahahaaa…and the other day in the shootout for Germany -Argentina i heard Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping,music has a positive effect you know…..
Friends & Foes
In the end it was misery for England and they will have to wait another 4 years to try to win the cup, their next time out though..they will be without Becks.
Gerrard,Lampard & Carragher missed their penalties,so much for training!
To Dad with love
Luis Felipe SCOLARI (POR):
It was a wonderful match, with everything a World Cup match could want – chances, passion, drama - it was electrifying. Only penalties could separate the teams. I want to congratulate England, they played an incredible match with only ten players.
Sven-Goran ERIKSSON (ENG):
I thought we played very well, we played good football and were in control of the game at the start of the second half. Even after the red card we still played well and created good chances. But losing on penalties is not good enough. We should still be in the tournament but we are not.
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