Spain, England lasting course better

Press, 20 June 1986, Page 27

Spain, England lasting course better

NZPA-AFP Mexico City Spain, now widely considered to hold Europe’s best hopes of winning the World Cup, and England, the team running into form at just the right time, both stormed into the quarter-finals with resounding victories yesterday.

The Spaniards, showing much character and even more resilience, overwhelmed Denmark, 5-1, with four goals from Emilio Butragueno, the man they nickname “The Vulture,” while England’s Gary Lineker beat Butragueno to five goals by just a few hours when he scored twice in England’s impressive 3-0 rout of Paraguay. The dismissal of the Danes, and in such uncompromising fashion, was truly the upset of the competition so far, as they were felt by many to be the most complete team left in the tournament after the almost equallysurprising dismissal of the Soviet Union by Belgium on Monday. Curiously, both Denmark and the Soviets had

scored six times in their group matches before coming unstuck in the second round, while England had struggled to qualify and Spain had looked less than convincing. The results have prompted the theory that in Mexico it may be the teams who have started slowly who last the course better than those who have perhaps reached their peak too early. Although Spain had beaten Denmark in the semi-finals of the European Championships in France two years ago, there was little support for the view that it could repeat the performance, as the previous win had been on penalties and Denmark’s form and confidence were running high.

And when the Danes took the lead through a Jesper Olsen penalty, it looked as though the Spaniards would fall as easily as Scotland, Uruguay and West Germany. But Spain proved it is made of sterner stuff, as Butragueno, ("El Buitre”) swooped when Denmark

dug its own grave, and he equalled the World Cup scoring record of four goals in a game. It was only the ninth time the feat has been achieved and the first time for 20 years, the last being Eusebio’s four against North Korea in 1966. Olsen, having scored the opener, let Butragueno in for his first with a dreadful back-pass which left the striker the easiest of tasks in slotting it past Lars Hogh. The Danes went behind for the first time in the competition when Butragueno headed his second. The hard man, Andoni Goicoechea, added a third

from the penalty spot after Butragueno had been hauled down, Butragueno broke away to complete his hat-trick and rounded it off a minute from the end when he was again brought down and converted the penalty himself. Denmark’s feared striking duo of Preben Elkjaer and Michael Laudrup was blunted by Spain’s quicktackling defence. Spain, however, will have to do without Goicoechea against Belgium as he picked up his second booking. England, meanwhile, suffered a few early nerves against the lively Paraguayans, but two opportunist goals from

Lineker, to add to his hattrick against Poland, and another in between from Peter Beardsley, saw the side through. Glenn Hoddle directed matters from midfield and England failed to rise to the bait laid by persistent Paraguayan aggression and arguing. Lineker’s first goal after 31 minutes calmed things down and England went from strength to strength, and will go into its quarter-final with Argentina, which will obviously attract controversy, with increased confidence after a disappointingly slow start. Europe firmly hold the balance of power in the quarter-final draw, providing five of the last eight, with only three South American sides making up the numbers. On Sunday morning the favourites, Brazil, will take on the European Champion, France, in Guadalajara and Mexico will play the 1982 losing finalist, West Germany, in Monterrey, while on Monday morning England will meet Argentina in the Aztec Stadium and Spain and Belgium will meet in Puebla.