The Hindu : Sport / Football : A winning tip!

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 28, 2004

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Sport - Football

A winning tip!

LISBON, JUNE 27. Portuguese soccer great Eusebio says the late Lev Yashin may have helped Portugal defeat England 6-5 in the penalty shootout victory in the quarterfinals.

Writing in the O Jogo newspaper, Eusebio said he picked up a few tips from Yashin about saving penalties and passed them on to Portugal 'keeper Ricardo.

``I learned this secret from the great Yashin and fortunately it paid off. I quickly told him (Ricardo) to guess which side the ball was going to go. If you guess right there is then a 70 per cent chance you will save it.

``He managed to do it and what's more did it without gloves. And then he had the courage to score the winning penalty, something he has already done when he used to play for Boavista.''

Yashin was the 'keeper with the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1967 and is widely regarded as one of the greats at his position. He died on March 20, 1990.

Dmitry's goal is quickest in Euro history: UEFA has confirmed that Dmitry Kirichenko's goal after only 67 seconds was not only the fastest in the tournament — it was also the quickest in tournament history. The Russian scored in his side's 2-1 victory over Greece.

The previous five quickest goals were all scored in the third minute: Sergei Aleinikov, Russia vs. England, June 18, 1988; David Platt, England vs. Sweden, June 17, 1992; Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgaria vs. Sweden, June 13, 1996; Alan Shearer, England vs. Germany, June 26, 1996; Paul Scholes, England vs. Portugal, June 12, 2000.

Vassell need not worry, says Gascoigne: England's Darius Vassell was stopped by Ricardo in the penalty shootout between England and Portugal. Ricardo took the next spot kick to give Portugal the win.

Former England star Paul Gascoigne said Vassell should relax about it.

``Vassell shouldn't feel bad about what happened because great players have missed penalties for England before,'' Gascoigne said. ``He is just another one.''

``I don't think he needs to worry about getting flak from the fans next season either. The fact that David Beckham stepped up to take the first one and missed will take any heat off Vassell.''

In the penalty shootout, Beckham missed on the game's first attempt — sending the ball high and right over the crossbar.'' — AP

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