England blasts Argentina, books spot in quarterfinals

Soccer Betting Lines

09/17/2007 - Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England booked a spot in the quarterfinals on Monday as Kelly Smith scored twice in a 6-1 triumph over Argentina.

England advances to the final eight for the second time in as many appearances, and will likely play either the United States or North Korea on Saturday. Germany moves on as the top team in Group A after beating Japan 2-0 on Monday.

An own goal by Eva Gonzalez was followed by a goal from Jill Scott as England started well in the first half. Argentina's Catalina Perez picked up her second yellow card early in the second half, and Fara Williams converted a penalty kick to make it a three-goal game.

Gonzalez atoned for her earlier mistake by scoring Argentina's lone goal of the competition from a free kick, but England answered back with two goals from Smith before Vicky Exley converted from the spot with minutes to play.

Argentina got off to another terrible start in the opening 10 minutes, with defensive miscues and goalkeeping errors once again hurting the South American team.

Casey Stoney lobbed a cross into the box from midfield in the ninth minute that was intended for Smith. The ball was hit a little strong and went past Smith, and Gonzalez tried to head the ball back to the keeper. However, she ended up putting the ball into the upper left corner past the keeper for a 1-0 England lead.

It didn't take long for England to increase its advantage with a goal scored by one of its own players. One minute later, a loose ball bounced out to Scott 35 yards from goal. She knocked it back into the box and it skipped through traffic and inside the right post. The shot did not have a lot on it but keeper Romina Ferro reacted way too late and another goalkeeping blunder cost Argentina.

England kept the pressure on and nearly took a three-goal lead five minutes later.

Eniola Aluko took a pass inside the box and turned quickly before firing a shot off the crossbar, and Rachel Yankey drove a dangerous cross through the face of goal that Faye White just missed with a sliding effort at the back post.

Smith then had two chances to further the England advantage as she hit a strong left-footed shot from the right just wide of the near post, and then blasted a rebound off of a defender that was headed for the lower right corner, only to be denied by a fine diving stop by the keeper.

The second half started off in the same way, with England looking for more goals.

Yankey ripped a hard shot from the left that was tipped over the net, but things got worse for Argentina in the 49th minute.

Smith beat her defender and carried the ball into the box on the left. Perez picked up a yellow card at the end of the first half, and then was hit with her second as she pulled down Smith inside the box to give England a penalty kick and end her day early.

Williams then stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way, putting her shot low into the left corner.

Argentina then tallied its first goal of the tournament with 30 minutes to play. England once again had trouble dealing with a free kick as Gonzalez smacked a curling right-footed shot inside the right post, but England responded quickly with another goal.

Yankey blew past her defender on the left and carried the ball to the end line. She then slipped a pass to Smith, who redirected it past the keeper from a few yards out.

Another keeper error lead to England's fifth goal as Yankey's long range shot was blocked by Ferro, but she spilled an easy rebound that Smith knocked home for her fourth goal of the tournament.

Exley then capped the scoring minutes before time with her first goal of the tournament, knocking a penalty kick of her own past Ferro.

Argentina exits the World Cup having lost all three of its matches by a combined 18-1 score, while England will move forward hoping to make its first ever trip to the semifinals with a win on Saturday.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

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Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

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The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

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