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Friday, 26 June 1998
1998 FIFA World Cup Finals First Phase Group G, match five/six

England 2 Colombia 0 [2-0]
 

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Avenue Alfred Maes, Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France
Attendance: 41,275;
Kick-off: 9.00pm CEST, 8.00pm BST
Live on BBC One (UK) - Commentator: John Motson and Trevor Brooking

England - Darren Anderton (20), David Beckham (thirty-yard free-kick 29) Match Summary
England Squad
Colombia Squad
Colombia - Mauricio Serna (20), Victor Aristizabal (86), Jorge Bermudez (89).
England - Paul Scholes (22), Alan Shearer (89);
Results 1995-2000

? kicked-off. ? minutes (? & ?).

 

Match Summary

Officials

England

Type

Colombia

Referee (black) - Arturo Brizio Carter
x (x), Mexico, FIFA listed x.

Assistant Referees - Laurent Rausus, Switzerland, and Elias Santinas Rostran, Honduras.

Fourth official - Ryszard Wojcik, Poland.

Amongst the celebrity attendance were Prince Charles and Prince Harry.

12 Goal Attempts 23
4 Attempts on Target 13
0 Hit Bar/Post 0
1 Corner Kicks Won 5
2 Offside Calls Against 4
13 Fouls Conceded 18
  Possession  

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (20 May 1998) 5th
EFO ranking

ELO rating 8th to 7th
Colours: The 1997 Umbro away uniform - Red shadow striped collared jersey, navy collar/cuffs with white/red trim, white shorts with red/navy lower side panel, red socks with two navy hoops.
Capt: Alan Shearer, thirteenth captaincy Head Coach: Glenn Hoddle, 40 (27 October 1957), appointed 2 May 1996, effective 27 June 1996,
23rd match, W 15 - D 4 - L 4 - F 34 - A 9.
England Lineup
1 Seaman, David A. 34 19 September 1963 G Arsenal FC 43 20 GA
2 Campbell, Sulzeer J. 23 18 September 1974 D Tottenham Hotspur FC 19 0
3 Le Saux, Graeme P. 29 17 October 1968 D Chelsea FC 28 1
4 Ince, Paul E.C., off 83rd min. 30 21 October 1967 M Liverpool FC 42 2
5 Adams, Tony A. 31 10 October 1966 D Arsenal FC 54 4
12 Neville, Gary A. 23 18 February 1975 D Manchester United FC 29 0
7 Beckham, David R.J. 23 2 May 1975 M Manchester United FC 17 1
14 Anderton, Darren R., off 79th min. 26 3 March 1972 M Tottenham Hotspur FC 21 6
9 Shearer, Alan 27 13 August 1970 F Newcastle United FC 41 19
20 Owen, Michael J. 18
194 days
14 December 1979 F Liverpool FC 8 2
16 Scholes, Paul, off 73rd min. 23 16 November 1974 M Manchester United FC 9 4
England Substitutes
11 McManaman, Steven, on 73rd min. for Scholes 26 11 February 1972 M Liverpool FC 22 0
17 Lee, Robert M., on 79th min. for Anderton 32 1 February 1966 M Newcastle United FC 18 2
8 Batty, David, on 83rd min. for Ince 29 2 December 1968 M Newcastle United FC 34 0
unused substitutes: 6-Gareth Southgate, 10-Teddy Sheringham, 13-Nigel Martyn, 15-Paul Merson, 18-Martin Keown, 19-Les Ferdinand, 21-Rio Ferdinand, 22-Tim Flowers.
team notes: Michael Owen becomes the youngest England player to start in a Finals match, aged 18 years and 194 days.
David Beckham's first ever England goal is also the first free-kick his country have scored in a Finals Tournament. It is their first successful free-kick for nearly five years. Fifteenth overall.
 
- -

Averages:

Age 26.1 Appearances/Goals - -

 

Colombia Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (20 May 1998) 10th
EFO ranking

ELO rating 24th to 26th
Colours: Made by Reebok - Yellow v-neck collared jerseys with broad blue sleeve trim/collar, blue shorts with yellow side trim, red socks.
Capt: Carlos Valderrama Manager: Hernan Dario Gomez Jaramillo, 42 (3 February 1956), appointed in 1995.
Colombia Lineup
22 Mondragron Ali, Faryd C. 27 21 June 1971 G CA Independiente, Argentina   GA
16 Moreno, Luis Antonio 27 25 December 1970 D CD Tolima SA    
3 Palacious, Ever 29 18 January 1969 D Asociacion Deportivo Cali    
13 Cabrera Linares, Wilmer 30 15 September 1967 D Millonarios FC SA    
5 Bermudez Morales, Jorge H. 27 18 June 1971 D CA Boca Juniors, Argentina    
6 Serna Valencia, Mauricio A., off 46th min. 30 22 January 1968 M CA Boca Juniors, Argentina    
7 de �vila Charris, Anthony W., off 46th min. 35 21 December 1962 F Barcelona SC, Ecuador    
8 Lozano Prado, J. Harold 26 30 March 1972 M Real Valladolid CF SAD, Spain    
19 Rincon Valencia, Freddy E. 31 14 August 1966 M SC Corinthians Paulista, Brazil    
10 Valderrama Palacios, Carlos A. 36 2 September 1961 M Miami Fusion FC, United States   11
21 Preciado Guerrero, Leider C., off 46th min. 21 26 February 1977 F Independiente Santa Fe SA    
Colombia Substitutes
9 Valencia Mosquera, Adolfo J., on 46th min. for Serna 30 6 February 1968 F Deportivo Independiente Medellin    
15 Aristizabal Posada, Victor H., on 46th min. for De Avila 26 9 December 1971 F Sao Paulo FC, Brazil    
20 Ricard Cuesta, Hamilton, on 46th min. for Preciado 24 12 January 1974 F Middlesbrough FC, England    
unused substitutes: 1-Oscar Cordoba, 2-Ivan Cordoba, 4-José Santa, 11-Faustino Asprilla, 12-Miguel Calero, 14-Jorge Bolano, 17-Andres Estrada, 18-John Wilmar Perez.
 
- -

Averages:

Age - Appearances/Goals - -

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

 

Source Notes

Shooting stars Darren Anderton and David Beckham put England into the second round of the World Cup in a one-sided 2-0 victory over Colombia that left the South Americans as first-round losers again.  Although England needed only a draw to guarantee a place in the final 16, Anderton drove home a fiercely-struck angled drive in the 20th minute.  Beckham curled in a 30-yard free kick nine minutes later to the delight of Prince Charles, Prince Harry and a huge following of English fans at the Felix Bollaert stadium.

The result meant that England finished second behind Romania in the Group G standings and will meet old foe Argentina in Saint-Étienne for a place in the last eight.  The Colombians go home early for the second time in a row. Their disastrous 1994 performance led to the shooting death of Andres Escobar, who scored an own goal in a loss to the United States, and was gunned down in his home town of Medellin.

Glenn Hoddle's players, beaten by a late goal by Romania in the previous game, looked impressive against a low-quality Colombian team whose goalkeeper, Farid Mondragon, prevented a crushing loss with seven second-half saves. 

England's first shot on goal was less than two minutes into the match when the power of Alan Shearer in the air, even when challenged by two Colombian defenders, set up the opportunity for Paul Scholes.  Allowed room 25 yards from goal, the Manchester United forward hit the ball with plenty of power and keeper Mondragon saved awkwardly, moving slightly the wrong way.

England put together a slick four-man move that ended with a tame side-footed shot from Graeme Le Saux in the 19th minute before taking the lead with a far more impressive finish.  The Colombian defence struggled to clear a right wing cross and the ball dropped to the unmarked Anderton, just inside the right side of the penalty box.  The Tottenham winger, who has barely played during the last two seasons because of a series of injuries, hammered the ball first time into the roof of the net from an acute angle with Mondragon powerless.

It should have been 2-0 four minutes later when another well-constructed move involving Beckham and Anderton saw Scholes go close and the ball fell to the unmarked Michael Owen who settled and fired over the top from 12 yards.  But the second goal came in the 29th minute in spectacular style.  Paul Ince was brought down 30 yards from goal and Beckham produced one of his specialty free kicks, curling the ball round the wall past the dive of Mondragon and inside his left-hand post.

Jorge Bermudez rescued Colombia with an deft tackle on Owen as the 18-year-old striker headed for goal after being released by Shearer's pass. Then Colombia came up with its first on-target shot four minutes before half time, Leider Preciado forcing David Seaman to make a difficult save at the foot of the near post. 

The Colombians made three substitutions at half time, including bringing on a replacement strikeforce of Hamilton Ricard and Adolfo Valencia with Victor Aristizabal going to operate behind them. But it was still England making the running and Mondragon did well to make four good saves in the first eight minutes of the second half.  The Colombian keeper arched his back to palm over a shot from Scholes, keep out a header and shot from Shearer and then block another close-range effort from Owen after defender Sol Campbell had run through the defense on a 30-yard run.

The Colombians had plenty of possession in deep positions but did little to worry the English defence. They clearly missed star striker Faustino Asprilla, who was dropped from the squad after criticizing coach Hernan Gomez in a radio interview.  Freddy Rincon moved into a good shooting position 30 yards from goal but the alert Campbell moved in quickly with a block that took the sting out of the shot long before it reached Seaman. Then Owen burrowed through the Colombian defence again only for Everth Palacios to get back with a well-timed tackle just as the youngster was primed to shoot.

Ricard, who plays in England for Middlesbrough, curled a speculative 20-yard volley just wide of the post as Colombia made a rare threat with 11 minutes to go. But Owen should have made it 3-0 with seven minutes to go when he shot straight at Mondragon after Shearer had put him clear. In the final few minutes, the keeper threw himself to his left and right to keep out more shots from Le Saux and Shearer.  - CNN/SI - Soccer 1998 FIFA World Cup.

CNN/SI - Soccer 1998 FIFA World Cup
Official FIFA Match report

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
F.A. Yearbook
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CG