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| October 9, 2005 | Sunday | Ramzan 4, 1426 |
World Cup Qualifiers: England hang on; Beckham sent off
MANCHESTER (England), Oct 8: David Beckham was sensationally ordered off but England hung on for a 1-0 win over Austria on Saturday that keeps them in control of their own World Cup destiny.
A Frank Lampard penalty mid-way through the first half proved enough to get England back on a winning track after last month’s embarrassing defeat in Northern Ireland.
The win could be enough to send England to the finals — depending on other results on Saturday — and England will go to Germany as group six winners if they beat Poland on Wednesday.
Beckham’s first red card for England since his infamous sending-off against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup was handed out on the hour mark after two fouls in quick succession on Andreas Ibertsberger.
In attack, Wayne Rooney’s absence through suspension allowed Peter Crouch a second opportunity to prove himself as an alternative partner for Michael Owen.
England’s belief that the beanpole striker’s physical presence would have an unsettling impact on the Austrian defence was vindicated inside a minute, his deft flick-on sending Joe Cole into the box for a shot that was deflected wide.
Owen was presented with an even better opportunity minutes later when Crouch got the faintest of near post touches on a Beckham corner, but the Newcastle striker’s own header was blocked by the Austrian defence massed on their goal-line.
Austria’s first moment of menace came from midfielder Markus Kiesenebner, who almost caught Paul Robinson by surprise with a venomous 30-yard drive that the England goalkeeper was relieved to palm over the top.
An England goal was looking inevitable and it duly arrived in the 25th minute.
As Owen attempted to control yet another Crouch knock-down on his thigh, his marker Scharner was tugging at his arm, right in front of Spanish referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo.
Lampard converted his first penalty since taking over spot-kick duties from David Beckham by sending Macho the wrong way.
The Austrians responded immediately with their solitary striker Roland Linz hitting the bar with an opportunistic volley after John Terry’s backward header.
Eriksson responded to Beckham’s sending-off by introducing the defensive skills of Ledley King in midfield and the fresher legs of Ferdinand in the defence, in place of Campbell.
Qualifying results
Group One
Finland 0……………………..Romania 1
Group Three
Slovakia 1……………………Estonia 0
Russia 5……………………....Luxembourg 1
Group Five
Scotland 0…………………….Belarus 1
Group Six
Northern Ireland 2…………….Wales 3
England 1……………………..Austria 0
—Agencies
Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo qualified for the 2006 World Cup finals on Saturday after beating Sudan 3-1, Cape Verde Islands 4-0 and Congo 3-2 to clinch berths from African qualifying groups.
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