Negative England Edge Past Paraguay
Winning Start
By Chris O'Brien
June 10 2006
England got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start, but the jury will be out after a less than impressive performance against Paraguay. A third minute own-goal from Carlos Gamarra separated the two sides, but this wasn't a performance that backed-up England's position as second favourites.
England's World Cup campaign kicked-off in rather unspectacular fashion, though a narrow 1-0 win against Paraguay will do fine for the thousands of travelling supporters who have made their way to Germany.
The game got off to a perfect start for Sven-Goran Eriksson's men with the lead coming after only three minutes. Carlos Gamarra headed a David Beckham free-kick into his own net to the delight of the 35,000 England fans packed inside the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt.
However, despite this fantastic opening, England struggled to put the sword into a technically-gifted South American side. Frank Lampard and Joe Cole both squandered opportunities as the English dominated the opening period, but Wayne Rooney's absence was clearly felt in front of goal. Nelson Valdes had Paraguay's best opportunity of the half, firing a short-range effort inches wide deep into injury-time.
Paraguay, who had lost Justo Villar through injury after only three minutes, were clearly buoyed by their defensive endeavours before the interval and performed their way back into the game over the course of a tense second-half. They looked more accomplished on the ball as England started to play deeper and Paul Robinson found himself under pressure between the sticks. The substitution of Michael Owen on 56 minutes underlined England's retreat.
This was not a performance to suggest England are set to relive the achievements of 1966. However, the result is what counts and avoiding a potential banana skin and securing three valuable points suggests this was a pleasing start to the tournament for Sven-Goran Eriksson and his talented squad.
Full Time - England 1-0
Paraguay