Total recall 8212; Day 16

Group G: England 2 ColombiaScorers: Anderton 19, Beckham 30Bookings: Colombia: Serna 20, Aristizabel 87, Bermudez 90; England: Scholes 22, S...

Group G: England 2 Colombia

Scorers: Anderton 19, Beckham 30
Bookings: Colombia: Serna 20, Aristizabel 87, Bermudez 90; England: Scholes 22, Shearer 90
90 minutes in 30 words: England were far more like their normal selves. Admittedly Colombia were not in the same class as Romania, but England never allowed them to play. Instead they hustled all over the pitch and when they won it, held onto it. The goals were beautifull; the only criticism: there should have been more.
Boy done good: David Beckham. Sadly, Beckham8217;s performance tonight will probably generate a thousand unnecessary headlines and endorsement deals. But he was truly everywhere, winning the ball, running past men, passing the ball short and long, switching the tempo seemingly at will. A brilliant performance, but the real test is against Argentina.
Two left feet: Antonio Moreno. The left back was recognised to be Colombia8217;s weak link almost as soon as the game started. Anderton,Beckham and Owen too took advantage of his bad positioning on several occasions and the first goal came as a result of one of them.
Magic moment: David Beckham had never scored for England before this evening. To break that duck with a 30-yard free kick as precise as anything in that Adidas advert must have been pretty exhilarating.
Mr Sitter: Michael Owen had a reasonable game, always offering England an outlet. But his finishing left something to be desired. In the 82nd minute he was sent clear by a looping Shearer pass. With only the keeper, it looked like a typical Owen goal. But he could only find Mondragon8217;s legs.
Shiver the timbers: Surprisingly enough, when England created 20 goal chances, not one came off the woodwork.
Turning point: When Darren Anderton took an instant to punish a slack header from Bermudez with a thumping right foot shot, the game swung decisively in England8217;s favour.
Ref-er-ee!: For a man who was expected to dish out red cards asif they were fliers, Mr Brizio Carter was reasonably restrained, handing out only five yellow cards.
Terrace talk: Colombia: quot;They8217;ll be running for cover on the streets of Bogota tonight.quot;
England: quot;Lalalalalalalalalalala.quot; to the rhythm of quot;let8217;s all do a congaquot;

Group H: Argentina 1 Crotia 0

Scorer: Pineda 36
Bookings: Argentina: Ortega, 23, Ayala, 35, Vivas, 69; Croatia: Bilic, 21, Soldo, 43, Boban, 46, Jarni, 59
90 minutes in 30 words: The dullest match of the World Cup so far that didn8217;t have any Belgians or Austrians in it. Argentina knew that they had done enough to win once Hector Pineda had given them the lead and allowed the match to peter painfully out.
Boy done good: Claudio Lopez, the man who undid Brazil in the Maracana, came on in the second half and tried to rouse the match by running at the Croatian defence every now and then. And in a week where diving for penalties became an issue again, his determination to stayon his feet after a heavy challenge in the Croatian box was refreshing. A video should be sent first-class to Saudi Arabia at once.
Two left feet: A smooth Croatian move in the 90th minute ended with Robert Jarni hoofing a stunningly useless cross into touch.
Magic moment: Marcelo Gallardo, receiving the ball facing away from goal and with Slaven Bilic all over his back, turned sharply, beat two men and put the ball a cigarette-paper8217;s width the wrong side of Drazen Ladic8217;s left post.
Mr Sitter: Davor Suker waved his quiff near an Argentinian miscue but didn8217;t put the half-chance anywhere near goal.
Turning point: The deflection which diverted Ariel Ortega8217;s inaccurate cross into Pineda8217;s path and took out the whole Croatian defence at once.
Ref-er-ee!: Seven yellow cards in a match played with little or no needle will, no doubt, put Mr Belqola in with a good shout to spoil the final.
Terrace talk: Argentina: quot;Batistuta didn8217;t get a sniff, so he8217;llno doubt make amends in our next match8230;quot;
Croatia: quot;Boksic8217;s not here, Suker hasn8217;t had any first-team football for ages, Prosinecki can8217;t last ninety minutes8230; on the whole itt8217;s not looking that good, is it?quot;

Group G Tunisia 1 Romania 1

Scorers: Tunisia: Skander Souayah 10 pen; Romania: Viorel Moldovan 72
Bookings: Tunisia: Zoubeir Baya 27, Skander Souayah 57
90 minutes in 30 words: A wierd-looking peroxide-haircut Romanian side suddenly found themselves a goal down 10 minutes into time, by a resurgent Tunisia, who, it appeared had more at stake than just pride. Strange how these countries play the following match like kings after sacking their coach midway. It was Moldovan8217;s goal in generally scrappy play by the Romanians that ensured they topped the group.
Boy done good: Adel Sallimi, who gave the Romanians headaches with forays down the left and then popping up balls for Chihi and Souayah Two left feet: Ilie Dumitrescu, playing his firstWorld Cup game found himself out of sorts and was replaced by Moldovan who saved the yellow-heads the blushes
Magic moment: Within five minutes of his coming on, Moldovan scored the equaliser. Ilie whipped over a high cross which Ferid Chouchane could only nod out as far as Moldovan, who hooked home a right-footed shot.
Ref-er-ee!: Edward Lennie. The Aussie who8217;s greatest worry all evening was whether he would book the right Romanian they all looked so alike. So he didn8217;t.
Terrace talk: Tunisia: quot;We almost did a South Korea. But Romaina were no Belgiumquot;
Romania: quot;Look out for our next hair-do. Is Venus Williams tuned in?quot;

Group H: Jamaica 2 Japan 1

Scorers: Jamaica: Whitmore 39th, 54th; Japan: Nakayama 75th
Bookings: Jamaica: Stephen Malcolm 78, Christopher Dawes 88; Japan: Motohiro Yamaguchi 4
90 minutes in 30 words: Japan made all the sunny moves in the first quarter of an hour while the Reggae Boyz waited andwatched. Fast and attractive, the Japanese, however, were felled by a Whitmore double strike where was he all this while. Still, they got their first World Cup goal.
Boy done good: Theodore Whitmore, a well-earned brace picked up on the way out.
Magic moment: Whitmore8217;s second strike, when he ventured into the area from the right, swerved past Norio Omur and beat Kawaguchi with a crisp low shot by the near post.
Ref-er-ee!: Austrian Gunter Benko who was probably most business-like all afternoon, flashing the yellow thrice.
Terrace talk: Jamaica: quot;Our girlz were more seen than our Boyz.quot;
Japan: quot;Our sun rises in 2002quot;