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You do the math
Must-win for Colombia, draw's enough for England
Posted: Thursday June 25, 1998 05:41 PM
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Superb substitution: Michael Owen sparked England's offense in the 2-1 loss to Romania (Ben Radford/AP) |
LENS, France (AP) --
Colombia
confronts a win or bust situation, while England needs
only a draw to reach the last 16 of the World Cup, in their final Group G
match on Friday night. But it is England manager Glenn Hoddle
rather than his opposite number Hernan Dario Gomez who has the biggest
headache in a story of twists and turns. Hoddle's hopes of
England glory went soaring following an opening 2-0 victory over Tunisia with
goals from captain reliable Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes. Gomez, in
contrast, suffered pre-tournament torture after sending home star striker
Faustino Asprilla for disciplinary reasons, a decision which became even
more difficult to defend when his team subsequently fell 1-0 to Romania.
But all that changed Monday when England's bubble burst in a 2-1
loss to an attacking Romania and Colombia's confidence took off with a 1-0
victory over Tunisia. This left England and Colombia fighting
for second-place behind the Romanians, or the winner even qualifying as
group leader in the unlikely event of Romania losing big to Tunisia.
England's setback against Romania was damaging psychologically, but
more importantly an ankle injury threatens to sideline Paul Ince, the
bustling midfielder who says his favorite sound is the crunch of a tackle.
Significantly, Romania did not get onto the scoreboard before
30-year-old Ince limped off with injured ankle ligaments, and he is a key
constituent in the backbone of the England team with his defensive
qualities and surging runs. David Beckham, who came on as a substitute
against Romania, is more effective in an attacking role than Ince but lacks
his biting tackling. Colombia is back on solid footing after
the loss to Romania and the week-long crisis involving Asprilla. The
Colombians' victory against Tunisia came on a late goal by second-half
substitute by Leider Preciado. While Colombia struggled to
regain its form, England fell to Romania after several glaring defensive
lapses. In his team's last practice, Gomez stressed speed and
the aerial attack, England's two main weapons. Colombia will
start 10 of the 11 regulars used against Tunisia. Antonio Moreno will start
for defender Jose Fernando Santa, who has two yellow cards. As
for England, central defender Gary Neville is likely to keep his role as
stand-in for Gareth Southgate, who is still battling against a knee injury.
Up front, Hoddle is under strong pressure to give a starting
role to 18-year-old Michael Owen as Alan Shearer's strike partner instead
of 31-year-old Teddy Sheringham. Hoddle has been nursing the
precocious talents of Owen, but now seems ready to let the Liverpool
teen-ager off the leash. Owen came on as substitute for the last five
minutes of England's opener against Tunisia and then replaced Sheringham in
the 77th minute against Romania. Owen responded by equalizing
six minutes after coming on and then followed up with a fierce drive in
injury time which would have earned England a draw if the ball had not hit
the woodwork. Hoddle has indicated Owen will be in the
starting lineup Friday, saying his build-up had been pre-planned.
"I've always felt that it would be possible that Michael would start
against Colombia whatever happened. Even before we got to the tournament, I
felt that Colombia played very square at the back, with a flat four, and
against that sort of system is where Michael's pace can be so useful for
us. He's come on and scored against Romania and so now if we start him his
confidence is going to be sky-high." Hoddle blamed sloppy
defending for the loss against Romania and remained confident of
qualifying. "My belief hasn't changed, not at all. We gifted
Romania two goals, we've addressed that problem and the morale is right,
we're still very positive. Colombia's attack will be directed
by Carlos Valderrama, the 36-year-old veteran with the bushy dyed-blond
fizzy hair. "Valderrama is still a key figure in our team.
Every opportunity of a goal that we get seems to be provided by him," Gomez
said. Valderrama says England's main asset is their strength
and power in the air. "So we will not play the ball in the air, that's not
our style. We will make them run and we will make them tired. Then we will
go for victory."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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