Sweet Revenge!!!!!!!

[The_Philster]

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) - Nothing could have been sweeter for David Beckham and England.

Beckham's 44th-minute penalty kick lifted England to a 1-0 victory Friday night over old rival Argentina, leaving the South American favorites needing to scramble to reach the second round.

And leaving the English ecstatic.

Beckham, just recovering from a broken left foot that sidelined him for almost two months, put the ball straight down the middle on his kick. But Argentine goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero never moved.

"It's just unbelievable," said Beckham, who was ejected when Argentina knocked England out of France '98 in the second round. "It's been four years, a long four years. This tops it all off."


Michael Owen was tripped in the penalty area by Mauricio Pocettino to set up revenge for Beckham.

Beckham said the Argentines tried to rattle him on the kick, but he held his nerve.

"Obviously, their antics, the keeper telling me to put it somewhere and (Diego) Simeone trying to shake me up," he said


Four years ago, Beckham was ejected for petulantly kicking Diego Simeone in retaliation to being pushed in the back by the Argentine midfielder. England played with 10 men for 70 minutes, including extra time, before going out on penalty kicks.



Since that time, Simeone came forward and admitted he took a dive on that play.

[Figurita20]

Congrats to England, specially reeves. Now we must beat Sweeden to stay alive in the tournament. But hey this group wasn't called the group of death for nothing.
Philster are you from England too? Or you're just happy they beat us. :D

[Figurita20]

Well, I don't think it was a good game. But hey is the World cup and you have to win anyway you can. I was suprise to see England so back on the field. I think it was the worst game ever I saw from this Argentina team.

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by Figurita20
Congrats to England, specially reeves. Now we must beat Sweeden to stay alive in the tournament. But hey this group wasn't called the group of death for nothing.
Philster are you from England too? Or you're just happy they beat us. :D

I spent time in England while I was in the Air Force and I've been a ManU/Beckham/England fan since '98. So I'm happy that England won period, but especially against the team that cheated them in 1998.

[Figurita20]

Maybe you're biased for living there, how did we cheated on them?

[Figurita20]

The hand of god was indeed ilegal, but the Beckham incident was his fault, maybe he was too young and was nervous that day. Obviously Simeone was running for the Oscar, but he did what every football player does.
The discussion is, as you say, wheter was for a yellow or red card.

It's sad to see the best goal ever in the history of the World Cup overshadowed by and illegal goal.

[reeves84]

Fig:

Good Luck Wednesday! I am getting up at 1:30 to watch Both games - they seem to be on at the same time.

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by Figurita20
Maybe you're biased for living there, how did we cheated on them?

Only because Diego took the dive which got Beckham a red card. I saw the play and all it warranted was a yellow card....I think even WITH Simeone's dive. However, they gave David the red, which booted him out of the game and left England short-handed for 70 minutes. Maybe the match would have still ended the same but being short one of their best players hurt England's chances. Anything from a nice pass or one of his excellent corner kicks may very well have changed the course of the match. But I'm not going to harp on it. David Beckham let it slide when Simeone admitted he took a dive....even gave him his shirt when the two of them met in a UEFA League match.