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Saturday, 6 October, 2001, 17:18 GMT 18:18 UK

A fantastic finale


BBC Sport's Alan Hansen looks back at England's nail-biting World Cup qualifying clash with Greece at Old Trafford.

You will never ever get a better finish than that.

Looking at England's performance overall, you have to say they were lucky to get a 2-2 draw.

But Beckham was sensational and his free kick at the end was unstoppable.

He was getting closer and closer the whole game and he displayed a remarkable ability to keep going and going in a team that is playing badly.


" A performance like that will keep England's feet on the ground "
Alan Hansen

England were up against it but Beckham leads by example.

When England were debating the free kick in injury time, Teddy Sheringham and Steven Gerrard were both over the ball, but there was only one player who was ever going to take that.

The first equaliser also came from a Beckham free kick and was all about the quality of the ball and the movement of Sheringham.

What a substitution Sheringham was.

He is a great player. Some people may think 35 is old but I saw him play for Spurs at Anfield recently and he was outstanding.

Overall England were disappointing, but a performance like that will keep their feet on the ground.

People were talking about them being world beaters and winning the World Cup, perhaps not this time but certainly in 2006

That performance shows they still have a long way to go.

Paul Scholes looks for room

Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard have real quality in midfield but they disappointed this time.

Gerrard wasn't too clever but that is the worst game I have ever seen Scholes play.

He is multi-talented and has two great feet but his passing, even when he wasn't under pressure, was abysmal.

England should not overlook the contribution of Nigel Martyn either.

He made two great saves in the second half. The first down to his left was top class but the second, when he stood up for a long time, rescued England.

It would have been all over if Greece had scored then.

But the change in faces at the end was amazing.

With two minutes to go it was all doom and gloom but then we were watching euphoria.


Related to this story:
Not one of England's best (05 Sep 01 | World Cup 2002)
Five-star England (01 Sep 01 | BBC Pundits)

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