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The Sun

England 3 Switzerland 0

ENGLAND'S win was a lot less comfortable than it will appear in the history books.

Leading by a first-half Wayne Rooney header, Sven Goran Eriksson's side struggled for much of the game before a second yellow card led to the dismissal of Swiss full-back Bernt Haas on the hour .

Even then, it was only a 76th minute piece of Rooney brilliance that allowed England to relax, as his shot deflected in via post and keeper Jorg Stiel.

And Steven Gerrard's 82nd minute strike flattered the Three Lions as ten-men Switzerland wilted in the Coimbra sun.

Afterwards Eriksson expressed content with the result.

He said: “It’s a good job done.

“When you lose as we did on Sunday you never know what the reaction will be.

“I thought the reaction would be very good - and it was.

“We were nervous at the beginning, it was difficult to keep the ball.

“But we’ve done the job and the three points are the most important thing today.”

Eriksson was also happy to praise the contribution of Rooney.

He added: “He worked very hard and congratulations to him - at 18 that performance at this level is wonderful.

“The heat affected both teams but I’m happy because our fitness level is much better than it was in the World Cup in 2002 - so that’s good for the future.”

Switzerland won the first corner of the game but Hakan Yakin’s centre eluded everyone and then a free-kick from the same player was headed behind.

At the other end a delicate chip from David Beckham almost freed Michael Owen - but Joerg Stiel just arrived in front of the Liverpool striker.

England were giving possession away too easily and when Cole overlapped to collect a pass from Scholes his control let him down, despite claiming he had been pushed by Bernt Haas.

Switzerland won a succession of corners and free-kicks in the opening 15 minutes and the England defence did not look comfortable in dealing with Yakin’s teasing balls into the box.

One whipped into the near post was met by Steven Gerrard who narrowly avoided scoring an own goal, heading his clearance onto the roof of the net.

Wayne Rooney was the first player to be yellow carded after 18 minutes as he lunged in on Stiel with his studs showing chasing a through ball from Frank Lampard.

Both Steve McClaren and David Beckham had words with Rooney and were clearly telling the youngster to calm down.

But then the Everton striker became the youngest ever player to score in the European Championships at 18 years and 237 days when he put England ahead after 23 minutes.

Referee Valentin Ivanov played advantage after a crude challenge by Fabio Celestini on Steven Gerrard and the ball found its way to Owen on the left of the area.

He had time to look up and measure his cross and an unmarked Rooney headed wide of the exposed Stiel.

Paul Scholes, without a goal for England in three years, then tried a shot on the turn but it was deflected through to Stiel.

The goal served to settle England down after a poor opening quarter to the game and Cole fizzed a low centre across the face of goal which needed only the thinnest of touches from Owen.

But it needed a strong challenge by Sol Campbell to shepherd the ball back to David James after Yakin had attempted to thread a pass into the path of Stephane Chapuisat.

James dealt comfortably enough with a low dipping effort from Alexander Frei from the edge of the area but Switzerland slowly started to regain their composure.

In the last minute of the half Yakin was only inches wide with a free-kick after Lampard had fouled the Swiss play-maker.

Switzerland opted to make a half-time substitution with Daniel Gygax replacing Stephane Chapuisat.

And he was quickly in the thick of the action, heading wide at the near post after the England defence had hesitated in dealing with a long throw in.

Switzerland defender Bernt Haas picked up his side’s first yellow card after a late challenge on Gerrard.

Spycher had to react quickly to cut out a reverse pass from Lampard intended for Owen’s well-timed run while for the Swiss Raphael Wicky was not only just wide of the mark from 20 yards out.

Ricardo Cabanas became the second Switzerland substitute to be introduced after 55 minutes in place of Celestini.

England were still struggling to fire on all cylinders although Murat Yakin would have been relieved to see his clearance from a Beckham cross rebound off Rooney and go wide.

But after 60 minutes Switzerland were reduced to 10 men when West Brom’s former Sunderland defender Haas was sent off for a crude touchline challenge on Cole which earned him his second yellow card of the game.

Still Switzerland refused to buckle and a first time chip from Gygax was only just in front of Frei after good play by Cabanas.

Rooney was still England’s most potent weapon and he met a deep centre from Beckham but just could not find the necessary control as Stiel was able to collect.

Owen then showed a lack of conviction when he sent a weak shot straight at Stiel after another good crossfield pass from Beckham.

Eriksson opted to freshen up his side in the heat by bringing on Owen
Hargreaves and Darius Vassell in quick succession for Scholes and Owen.

And it was the persistence of Vassell which set up England’s second goal with 15 minutes remaining.

He won the ball despite the presence of two defenders and squared the ball out to Rooney on the left flank.

The striker cut inside and his low shot cannoned back off a post and struck Stiel on the head before rebounding back into the net.

With eight minutes remaining Gerrard put the icing on the cake, arriving at the far post to convert Beckham’s low centre.

Eriksson immediately removed Rooney from the action - to be replaced by Kieron Dyer - to tumultuous applause from the England fans.

_________________
For Ever

England – Schweiz 3:0 - Tor-Rambo rettet England

Rotverdächtig: England-Rambo Rooney mit getrecktem Bein gegen Stiel, trifft ihn am Kopf

„Wir sind wütend. Das wird die Schweiz spüren“, hatte Englands Kapitän David Beckham vorm Spiel gegen die Schweiz getönt. Davon war beim 3:0-Sieg lange nichts zu sehen.
Mit ganz wenig Aufwand und Mauer-Taktik quälte sich England zu einem glanzlosen Sieg. Egal, jetzt jetzt das Viertelfinale wieder drin.

Die Insel-Kicker wollten nach dem 1:2 gegen Frankreich etwas gut machen. Aber selbst Beckham (verschoss gegen Frankreich einen Elfmeter) trabte in der ersten Halbzeit nur im Schatten des Tribünendachs auf und ab. Vielleicht weil es dort mit „nur“ 33 Grad kühler war als in der Sonne.

Vorentscheidung: Rooney (1,77 m) köpft völlig frei das 1:0. Stiel, Haas, Lampard, Müller (v. l.) sind Statisten

Beckham konnte froh sein, das ihn „Tor-Rambo“ Wayne Rooney mit einem Doppelschlag erlöste.

In der 18. Minute fällt er aber erstmal mit einem bösen Tritt auf. Der Sohn eines Boxers verfehlt mit gestrecktem Bein nur Zentimeter den Kopf von Torwart Stiel. Sein Glück, sonst hätte der Everton-Stümer Dunkel-Rot sehen müssen.

Dann das 1:0.

Nach Flanke von „Becks“ lupft Owen zu Rooney und der 18-Jährige köpft aus 5 Metern ein (23.). „Roonaldo“ feiert mit Handstand-Überschlag.

Wunderkind Rooney – mit 17 Jahren und 111 Tagen war er Englands jüngster Torschütze im Nationalteam, ist jetzt auch jüngster EM-Spieler.

In der 75. Minute legt Rooney nach. Sein Flachschuss aus 11 Metern gegen den Pfosten prallt von Stiels Hinterkopf ins Tor – 2:0.

Die Schweiz war zu keiner Zeit EM-tauglich. Einzig Freistöße und Ecken sorgten für Gefahr.

Beste Szene: Hakan Yakin zirkelt einen 20-Meter-Freistoß knapp am Tor vorbei (45.) Aus der gleichen Distanz hatte Zidane gegen England getroffen...


Spätestens nach der Gelb-Roten Karte für Haas in der 60. Minute war die Partie für die Schweizer gelaufen. In Überzahl erzielt Gerrard nach Neville-Querpass noch das 3:0 (82.).

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Die Schweiz war zu keiner Zeit EM-tauglich. Einzig Freistöße und Ecken sorgten für Gefahr.

Spinnen die Deutschen????

Pressestimmen
«Baby-Elefant lässt das Haus zittern»

COIMBRA – Wayne Rooney traf gegen die Schweiz im Doppelpack – und die Presse krönt das 18-jährige Wunderkind zum «König von England».

The Sun: «Roo ist unser Mann. Zwei-Tore-Wayne schiesst die Schweiz ab. Schweizer Knockout. Der vorherrschende Ton in Coimbra war Roo, nicht Muh.»
Daily Star: «Wunder-Roon beansprucht den Thron. Superkid überrollt die Schweizer. Schmeiss Owen raus, Sven, oder wir fliegen raus.»

Daily Mail: «Losgelassener Rooney ist ein Diamant für Sven.»

The Times: «Baby-Elefant lässt das Haus zittern. Englands knubbeliger, Kaugummi kauender Teenager rettete seine Mannschaft vor dem Desaster. Erleichtertes England lässt sich vom Wunderknaben anführen.»

The Mirror: «Roo Britannia! Rooney neuer König von England. Er hält Englands Hoffnungen am Leben.»

Daily Express: «Here we go. England siegt 3:0. Wir hatten nie Zweifel, oder? Rooney eilt zur Rettung. Zwei-Tore-Juwel rettet Sven nach Rauten-Farce.»

Daily Telegraph: «Preisloser Rooney ist Englands Juwel. Junger Feuerbrand zündet England an.»

The Independent: «Rooney Hals über Kopf, als die Schweizer rollen. Rooneys Überschlag in die Geschichte, als England wieder auf den richtigen Weg kommt.»

Schweiz

Blick: «Vorne impotent und hinten nicht ganz dicht – aber wir haben euch trotzdem lieb!»

Neue Zürcher Zeitung: «Aussergewöhnlicher Normalfall: Die Schweiz nach guter Leistung (zu) hoch geschlagen.»

Tages-Anzeiger: «Warum lässt sich die Regel nicht ändern? Warum zählen im Fussball Tore und nicht Ecken? Wäre es anders, hätten die Schweizer 4:0 gewonnen, nicht 0:3 verloren.»


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