Beckham inspires England to win over Croatia
England captain David Beckham marked his first game on home soil since his multi-million pound transfer to Real Madrid by inspiring England to a 3-1 victory over Croatia here at Portman Road.
England captain David Beckham marked his first game on home soil since his multi-million pound transfer to Real Madrid by inspiring England to a 3-1 victory over Croatia here at Portman Road.
Beckham scored with a first-half penalty and then turned provider when he helped Michael Owen double England's lead just after the interval.
Croatia's Ivica Mornar narrowed the lead in the 77th minute but Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard made sure of victory when he scored England's third with ten minutes remaining.
Beckham, who was making his return to the England side following his 25 million pounds move to Real Madrid from Manchester United, finally managed to unlock the Croatian defence in the tenth minute when he hoisted a high ball for Owen to chase in the Croat penalty area.
Josip Simunic fractionally lost sight of the ball and under pressure from Owen the rugged defender handled to give England a penalty.
Beckham stepped up and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa to give England the lead after a cagey opening when neither side threatened to score.
Otto Baric's team nearly fell further behind in the 11th minute when Emile Heskey collected a pass from Steven Gerrard and wriggled clear of two Croatian defenders only to scuff his shot wide.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's side were starting to control the game and Croatia's Niko Kovac could only prevent another England attack with a wild lunge on Nicky Butt in the 12th minute.
Referee Bo Larsen gave Kovac a yellow card and the booking seemed to energise Croatia who launched a series of first-half raids on the England goal.
In the 23rd minute Ivica Olic sped past Ashley Cole and flashed a crossfield pass to Milan Rapaic who headed the ball over the bar.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard replaced Butt in the 27th minute as the Manchester United midfielder was struggling to shake off the effects of Kovac's earlier challenge.
Olic's speed and trickery were starting to trouble the England defence and in the 37th minute Olic scorched away from Cole and crossed to Marijo Maric. And the burly striker sent his header goalbound but James managed to block it away with his shins.
Croatia became more involved in the game but England nearly doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when Michael Owen flicked the ball to Heskey who raced past his marker only to blast a stinging shot straight at the Croat keeper from just outside the penalty area.
England did score a second in the 51st minute when Beckham whipped in a trademark cross to Owen, who ghosted away from the Croat rearguard to direct a bullet header past Pletikosa.
With a 2-0 lead, Eriksson replaced Paul Scholes and David Beckham with Joe Cole and Kieron Dyer after an hour.
And with England protecting their lead, Croatia managed to narrow the deficit in the 77th minute when substitute Ivica Mornar stabbed the ball past Paul Robinson -- who had replaced James after the interval.
Lampard added England's third goal when he blasted a 20-yard shot past the Croat keeper to restore England's two goal lead.