|
Home>News Center>Sports | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Japan draws England 1-1 in Euro warmup
Japan held England's first-choice lineup for the European Championship to a 1-1 draw Tuesday in a friendly international at the City of Manchester Stadium.
On Wednesday, European Championship rivals Switzerland plays Germany and the Czech Republic takes on Bulgaria. The Euro 2004 finals open on June 12 in Portugal. In Manchester, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson chose Frank Lampard ahead of the more defensively-minded Nicky Butt at the base of his midfield diamond. Eriksson praised England's play during the first half hour, but said tiredness took its toll in the second half. He said England was concentrating solely on its Euro 2004 opener against France on June 13 in Lisbon. "I think we played excellent football in the first 35 minutes, it was a long time ago that I've seen them play such attacking football," Eriksson said. "They got a little bit tired after the second half." Captain David Beckham said the new system "worked well." "It's about hard work and playing together," Beckham said. "I don't know (that it is the best system), it is a new system. "But we were all feeling the pace after 35 minutes. It was a good fitness test and we can take a lot from the first 35 minutes but we all suffered from not having a good rest (after the season finished)." Beckham said his ankle was a "bit sensitive" and he hadn't trained for 10 days. "But it is not a problem," Beckham said. Eriksson said his captain's ankle "shouldn't be serious if you think about 13 June." Calgary-raised midfielder Owen Hargreaves came on for Steven Gerrard in the 82nd minute. Japan's defence proved difficult to get past and England's first goal had an element of luck. Gerrard's drive was parried by Japan goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki and Owen ran forward to tap in the rebound in the 22nd minute. It was his 25th goal in 55 internationals. Japan equalized eight minutes into the second half, with Nakamura's cross finding Ono, who scored through the legs of goalkeeper David James. Owen had a chance to restore the lead but despite weaving past Miyamoto, kicked the ball into the arms of Narazaki, who also punched away a Beckham free kick. "We started a bit insecure until we suffered the goal, but after that we started playing very, very well," Japan's Brazilian coach Zico said. "At halftime, I told them the lion is not that big and it's 11 versus 11. I told them to apply themselves properly and they came out very, very well." Eriksson waited until the 77th minute to make changes, taking off Owen and Wayne Rooney and replacing them with Darius Vassell and Emile Heskey. Butt, who played at the 2002 World Cup and in the qualification campaign for Euro 2004, lost his starting place after struggling to play for Manchester United. He came on for Lampard in the 82nd minute, as Eriksson substituted virtually the whole team. Only James, Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell played the full match. England, which names its final 23-man squad for Euro 2004 on Wednesday, plays Iceland on Saturday, the final match before traveling to Portugal. In Lausanne, Switzerland, Marc Overmars scored one goal and set up another as the Netherlands downed the Faeroe Islands 3-0. Rafael van der Vaart and Roy Makaay also scored for the Dutch, who face Germany, the Czech Republic and Latvia in Group D later this month in Portugal. In Beijing, Zheng Zhi converted a late penalty as China upset Hungary 2-1. Hungary, which is coached by former Germany star Lothar Matthaeus, took a 1-0 lead through Krisztian Kenesei, but China equalized before the first half ended. |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
