LIVERPOOL, England -- Sven Goran
Eriksson's competitive England era got off to a stuttering but
ultimately successful start on Saturday as goals by Michael Owen
and David Beckham gave his side a 2-1 World Cup qualifying
victory over Finland at Anfield.
England, playing their first competitive home game away from
Wembley since 1962 and their first ever under a foreign coach,
fell behind to an Aki Riihilahti header after 26 minutes as they
failed to impose themselves in the first half.
Owen banged in the equaliser just before halftime and a
screamer from Beckham four minutes after the restart had the
home fans sitting back and waiting for the goals to come.
Owen hit the bar and Cole missed badly from close range but
England were indebted to goalkeeper David Seaman who made a
great double save in the last minute to deny the ever-dangerous
Jari Litmanen.
England, who lost their opening World Cup game 1-0 at home
to Germany, sparking the resignation of coach Kevin Keegan, and
drew their next 0-0 in Helsinki, now have four points from three
games. They visit Albania on Wednesday.
Eriksson almost got off to a dream start as Cole lashed a
shot inches wide after just 30 seconds but it proved something
of a false dawn as England were unable to stretch the
hard-working visitors over the next half-hour.
The congested midfield left England struggling for space and
too often resorting to hopeful long balls which were all too
easily gobbled up by Finland's central defensive rocks, Sami
Hyypia and Hannu Tihinen.
Finland grew in confidence, with Liverpool's Litmanen
inevitably at the heart of most of their attacks.
And they got their reward after 26 minutes when Crystal
Palace midfielder Riihilahti rose virtually unchallenged to meet
a Joonas Kolkka corner and saw the ball fly into the net off the
knee of Gary Neville, with Seaman left helpless.
Finland almost grabbed a second after 40 minutes when a
delightful Litmanen flick sent Jonatan Johansson clear but the
Charlton Athletic striker's shot was well gathered by Seaman.
England equalised three minutes later after Beckham finally
injected some much-needed pace to the build-up.
Beckham fed Neville on the right, whose low cross reached a
third Manchester United player, Cole, who laid the ball back to
Owen on the edge of the box for the Liverpool striker to drive
it expertly into the corner.
England were ahead four minutes into the second half with a
cleverly worked and brilliantly finished goal.
Steve McManaman drove through the middle of midfield before
laying the ball off to Paul Scholes. Scholes in turn rolled it
into the path of Beckham, who took one touch before blasting it
past Antti Niemi for only his second goal in 39 England
appearances.
The goal clearly lifted England, attacking the Kop end, and
the fans almost had a second Owen goal to celebrate on the hour
when the Liverpool man sent a header against the bar while Cole
blazed horribly wide from 10 metres after a clever touch by
Scholes.
Eriksson introduced Emile Heskey, another Liverpool player,
for McManaman after 72 minutes and England continued to press
forward, looking for the third goal.
But instead of securing the game England spent the last five
minutes rather desperately hanging on to it.
And only Seaman's point-blank reaction save from Litmanen's
late header followed by a scrambling clearance enabled them to
take the three points they so dearly needed to get their World
Cup campaign back on course.
Newcomer Klose helps Germany to late win
LEVERKUSEN, Germany -- Germany needed a
late goal from newcomer Miroslav Klose to beat a brave Albanian
side 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
The young Kaiserslautern striker, who came on in the second
half to win his first cap, hit the winner with a diving header
with two minutes remaining in a dull game with few highlights.
Midfielder Sebastian Deisler had put the home team in front
with a thunderous drive from some 25 metres five minutes into
the second half but the vistors levelled with a powerful effort
from 20 metres by midfielder Bledar Kola 15 minutes later.
The only time Germany has failed to beat Albania was a 0-0
draw in 1967 in Tirana but they have often struggled against
east European side and Saturday's points were hard won.
The 22,500 crowd packing the Leverkusen stadium whistled and
jeered until the 22-year-old Klose saved Germany from an
embarrassing result.
The result gave the Germans a perfect score of nine points
from three games in group nine, ideally placed to make it to
next year's finals in Japan and South Korea.
But their performance on Saturday, coming after friendly
defeats to Denmark last November and France last month,
confirmed they had a long way to go to recapture their place at
the top of the world game.
Coach Rudi Voeller now takes his squad to Athens for their
next group nine match against Greece on Wednesday.
He will have to do without creative midfielder Mehmet
Scholl, who will be suspended after collecting his second yellow
card in the qualifying competition on Saturday.
Germany started well, threatening just three minutes into
the match when captain Oliver Bierhoff headed the ball just over
the bar from a deflected Sebastian Deisler cross.
The home side wasted another opportunity four minutes later
with a header from Marco Bode which went just wide.
Albania, fired up by a 2-0 win over Greece in their previous
qualifier, warned they could be dangerous too with an effort
from inside the box by striker Igli Tare in the 19th minute
which tested German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn's vigilance.
A long-range drive from striker Alban Bushi which flew
narrowly wide five minutes later provided further evidence of
the visitors' determination.
After their promising start, the Germans faded and looked
sluggish while Albania gained confidence. Bierhoff was
substituted at halftime and now faces a struggle to keep his
place in the starting line-up.
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