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Beckham breaks rib as England tops Wales
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-10 10:58
David Beckham scored on a curling, 25-yard shot to lead England past Wales
2-0 in a World Cup qualifier Saturday in which he wound up with a suspension and
broken rib.
The England captain, rebounding from his poor play for Real Madrid in the
Spanish league, picked up a yellow card ruling him out of England's next game
against Azerbaijan on Wednesday.
But he wouldn't be able to play anyway. Beckham was injured minutes after his
76th-inute goal when he was challenged by Wales defender Ben Thatcher. The
English team initially said there was no break but a second X-ray revealed a
hairline fracture.
On a day when 38 qualifiers were played across the globe leading to the 2006
World Cup in Germany, the Czech Republic beat Romania 1-0 in Prague, stopping
the Romanians' runaway start. Finland beat Armenia 3-1 to draw even on top with
Romania.
Tiny Liechtenstein delivered a shocker with a 2-2 tie against Portugal, the
runner-up three months ago in Euro 2004. Slovakia leads Group 3 with 10 points
after a 4-1 win over Latvia. Portugal is second with seven.
Thomas Beck had the tying goal in the 76th minute for Liechtenstein after
Franz Burgmeier scored earlier. Paulo Pauleta had a goal for Portugal with the
other coming on an own-goal by Daniel Hasler.
In Group 2, Turkey and Ukraine share the lead with five points. Ukraine drew
with European champion Greece 1-1, and Turkey routed Kazakhstan 4-1.
Germany, which as host does not need to qualify for the World Cup, scored a
2-0 exhibition victory at Iran before 100,000 fans in Tehran. Fabian Ernst and
Thomas Brdaric had the goals.
England used with three strikers and created plenty of chances against the
Welsh at the home of Manchester United. Only several fine saves by Paul Jones
prevented a rout.
Frank Lampard's deflected shot in the third minute opened the scoring for
England. Beckham's curling shot into the top corner of the net was exceptional,
even by his high standards.
"It was a special goal," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. "To find
that shot was extremely good. As long as it is 1-0 you never know, but 2-0
killed the game."
Beckham fouled Thatcher for his second yellow card of the qualifying round,
meaning he won't play as England goes for a third straight Group 6 victory.
While the English are taking big strides, neighbors Wales and Scotland are
stumbling. Wales has just two points from three games and faces a tough game
against Poland on Wednesday.
Scotland, beaten 1-0 in Glasgow by Norway, has just one point from two home
games. Coach Berti Vogts is under big pressure and his team has yet to face
Italy, the Group 5.
"My only target is the 2006 finals and I do not expect to be sacked," Vogts
said.
Belarus' 4-0 victory over Moldova means Vogts' team is at least three points
behind every Group 5 team except the Moldovans.
Norway's Steffen Iversen scored on a 55th-minute penalty kick for Norway,
which won for the first time in three games. With four points, Norway is back in
contention.
Jan Koller scored the only goal of a Group 1 game in which the Czechs ended a
run of three games without a goal to collect their first points. The Czechs lost
to the Netherlands 2-0 in their qualifying opener.
"Nothing but victory would've worked for us, and we got it," Czech coach
Karel Bruckner said.
In Group 3, Russia's Dmitri Sychev scored three goals in a 4-0 victory at
Luxembourg and Slovakia rallied past Latvia 4-1 in an upset. Sweden beat Hungary
3-0 in Group 8 behind goals from Fredrik Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson and Anders
Svensson. Malta and Iceland tied 0-0.
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