The seasoned scoring partnership of Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham saved England from themselves at Wembley last night. Portugal's passing and movement riddled Glenn Hoddle's defence and midfield, but the superiority of England's finishing proved decisive.
A header from Shearer gave England an early lead which Sheringham increased at the start of the second half. Then as the Portuguese defence lost its shape and discipline, Shearer scored a third in the 65th minute, collecting a square flick from David Batty and calmly driving the ball into the net from 20 yards.
Despite the enforced change of Scholes for Gascoigne, still suffering from an unresponsive ankle injury, last night's team bore a strong resemblance to the England side that will start the World Cup against Tunisia in Marseille on June 15th. Hoddle had eight of those who held Italy in Rome six months earlier to ensure qualification, and Shearer was starting his first match at Wembley for a year.
From the start Graeme Le Saux was turning Portugal's defence on the left and within five minutes he had demonstrated how important his crosses could be in France. Sheringham laid the ball back, Le Saux swung a centre towards the far post and Shearer moved easily in front of Beto to head inside the near post.
Encouraging though such a start was, England's lead soon looked vulnerable as Portugal's passing and movement began to unravel Hoddle's midfield much as Chile had done before winning 2-0 at Wembley in February. An intended clearance by Sol Campbell cannoned back off Jorge Cadete and just missed the left-hand post before a delightful piece of football all but saw the Portuguese draw level in the 10th minute.
With the England defenders caught square, Luis Figo gathered a return pass from Joao Pinto, spotted David Seaman off his line and beat the Arsenal goalkeeper with an exquisite chip which floated wide. Midway through the first half, Batty, unaware of any danger as he moved towards a ball Seaman had played short to Le Saux, was caught in possession by Cadete in his own penalty area. England were fortunate that Figo and Joao Pinto could not exploit the situation after Cadete had crossed from the right.
Yet whatever their shortcomings elsewhere, England still looked like scoring when they combined their speed on the break with accuracy in their passes.
After 25 minutes Scholes produced another of those early, intuitive balls which are his stock-in-trade, finding Shearer in space on the left. Shearer sent Le Saux clear and Vitor Baia had to move quickly to push the Chelsea player's shot round a post.
Twice more before half-time England's more direct approach might have brought them goals. David Beckham, making a well-timed late run through the middle to take a chance set up by Shearer and Sheringham, saw Baia tip his rising shot over the bar. Paul Ince, found in space near goal by Beckham and Sheringham, scuffed his shot.
Hoddle's defence and midfield, however, continued to look ragged and hesitant, giving the ball away, looking unsure of their positions and being stretched by the fluency and imagination of Portugal's football. Had this been the World Cup, moreover, Batty might not have stayed on the pitch after a crude foul from behind just before the half-hour had brought down Joao Pinto. Last night it was just yellow.
No matter. In the opening minute of the second half England, with Paul Merson on for Beckham, scored again with the simplest of goals. Whether or not Ince intended to find Sheringham through the middle, his pass took a deflection off the referee and the Manchester United striker strode clear of Fernando Couto to draw Baia off his line and slip the ball past him.
Portugal's Capucho, on as a substitute after 69 minutes, was sent off 11 minutes later for using foul and abusive language.
England: Seaman, G. Neville, Le Saux, Ince, Adams, Campbell, Beckham, Batty, Shearer, Sheringham, Scholes. Subs: Merson for Beckham (h-t), Owen for Sheringham (77), P. Neville for G. Neville (81). Goals: Shearer (5, 65), Sheringham (46). Booked: Batty. Portugal: Baia, Xavier, Dimas, Beto, Couto, Sousa, Figo, Joao V Pinto, Calado, Santos, Cadete. Subs: Barosa for Dimas (54), Capucho for Joao Pinto (69), Oceano for Sousa (75). Booked: Beto. Sent Off: Capucho (80).
Referee: M D Vega (Spain)
