Soccer: Relief, cautious optimism in England

British media greeted England's progress to the last 16 of the soccer World Cup with a mixture of relief and cautious optimism today after the team ground out a 0-0 draw with Nigeria to finish second in group F.

As well as looking forward to Saturday's showdown against Denmark, almost all the newspapers -- particularly the tabloids -- took great delight in traditional rival Argentina's shock exit after a 1-1 draw with Sweden left them third in the group.

"England earn reward as favourites falter" ran a headline in Thursday's Independent. "Eriksson's pragmatic approach pays dividends in heat of tough battle while Argentina join early exodus of more fancied rivals," the newspaper added.

It praised England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's tactics against Nigeria to ensure the team advanced to the knock-out stage of the tournament.

"The Iceman has again come through with his folksy mix of gentle talk and hard ambition, and, if his England have lifted few neutral hearts so far, their own ones are beating with something that is the envy of the teams that were supposed to dominate the World Cup," it said.

"It is a vital something called life."

Like most papers, the Telegraph was happy with the result but it was unimpressed by the performance.

"Last week's win over Argentina (1-0 to England), which saw England's footballers lionised, was followed by a workmanlike performance in a goalless encounter which left the nation underwhelmed," it said.

The Guardian was impressed by defender Rio Ferdinand, who put in stirring displays against Argentina and Nigeria.

"There were a couple of moments early in the second half when Ferdinand saved awkward situations with the cool aplomb of a Booby Moore," the paper said, comparing the central defender to England's World Cup winning captain of 1966.

The Times looked to the matches ahead.

"England must beat Denmark and almost certainly Brazil in the quarter-finals, but the longer that yesterday's match wore on the more a sense of disappointment turned to conviction that they may as well face the toughest challenges," it said.

"It has worked before, notably against Germany and Argentina when England thrived against the biggest opponents."

The tabloids remained optimistic of England's chances.

"We're ready for anyone" blared the Sun and quoted captain David Beckham as saying: "We had a job to do and we've done it."

The Star was equally upbeat, saying England had the ability to go all the way now Argentina and France had been eliminated.

The Mirror looked forward to Saturday's match against Denmark with the comment "It's English Beef v Danish Bacon", but it seemed far happier with Argentina's demise than with England's progress.

- REUTERS

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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