England

3-0

Portugal

Shearer 2

 

 

Sheringham


Alan Shearer, with two goals on the night, looked to be back to his best form as England got back into the groove at Wembley.

Glenn Hoddle observed afterwards that scoring chances at the top level were getting slimmer and slimmer and that, with a player like Shearer, England had someone capable of winning amatch.

David Seaman had a rock-steady game in goal with plenty to do as Portuguese stars Luis Figo, Joao Pinto and Paulo Sousa flowed forward - and Michael Owen had an eventful last thirteen minutes as substitute for Teddy Sheringham in which he could have had two goals and a penalty.

From the start England prospered when they managed to get the ball forward quickly. The first goal arrived early on when Shearer, having created some space for himself, headed in Graeme Le Saux's accurate cross.

Portugal then confirmed their status as arguably the best team not to have qualified for France 98 as they confidently built up moves and threatened Seaman's goal. If they had had a striker of Shearer's calibre, providing a cutting edge to all their creativity around the box, the visitors would surely have registered a goal or two.

As the first period came to a close, Seaman rescued England by spreading himself to block Joao Pinto's shot after defensive confusion allowed him a clear sight of goal.

Portugal continued to exert more pressure after the break but it was the home side who increased their lead. It was an odd goal, Paul Ince's pass deflecting off the Spanish referee and into the path of Sheringham who quickly lifted the ball over the advancing Vitor Baia.

A scintillating move on 65 minutes brought a third England goal. The ball was tranferred swiftly from Paul Scholes to Le Saux and then to David Batty who hooked it across for Shearer near the 'D'.

Most players would have taken the ball on a couple of strides, but the Newcastle man simply let it bounce once before crashing a shot high into the net.

The crowd loved that.

Match Details

England: Seaman; Neville G. (Neville P.), Le Saux, Ince, Adams, Campbell, Beckham (Merson), Batty, Shearer, Sheringham (Owen), Scholes

Portugal: Vitor Baia, Abel Xavier, Dimas (Pedro Barbosa), Beto, Fernando Couto, Paulo Sousa (Oceano), Figo, Joao Pinto (Capucho), Calado, Paulinho Santos, Cadete

Referee: M Vega (Spain)

Attendance: 63,463

ENGLAND

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