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England fail to find the net as Heskey shows how good he is
England may not have won at Wembley, but against Argentina they certainly showed that the dark clouds which have been over the national game may finally be lifting. Argentina rarely threatened David Seaman in the England goal as Kevin Keegan's men controlled the game for large spells. The main success of the evening was Leicester City striker Emile Heskey. The Argentinian defence simply didn't know how to handle him. He was strong, athletic, lightening fast and - despite being replaced by Andy Cole ten minutes from time - man-of-the-match. Heskey, in the side despite calls from Leicester boss Martin O'Neill not to pick him ahead of Sunday's Worthington Cup Final, created the first opportunity of the game through his persistence with only six minutes gone. Goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero hesitated when dealing with a back pass and Heskey's pressure forced the error. The ball fell to Alan Shearer 25 yards out but he sliced his effort well wide of the upright. Before long the skipper was handed another opportunity to break the deadlock but he again failed to hit the target. A corner from David Beckham was swung in to the far post and Shearer broke away from Roberto Ayala only for his header to go wide of the post. The ghosts of France 98 returned for Beckham minutes later when he was booked for a poor challenge on Diego Simeone - the man the Manchester United midfielder kicked when dismissed against Argentina in the tournament. Then came a major penalty incident. A brilliant turn of pace by Heskey saw him burst past Roberto Sensini and cut the ball back for Shearer, who seemed destined to score until he stumbled to the floor inside the six-yard box. Shearer immediately got up and argued with the referee that he had been tripped by Chamot. The referee waved away the protests - but the TV replays clearly showed that Chamot stuck out a leg to deny Shearer the goalscoring opportunity. It was twenty minutes before Argentina created what was their only chance of the half. Kily Gonzalez fired a powerful drive at David Seaman which the Arsenal stopper struggled to deal with at first but managed to take control of at the second attempt. Rodolfo Arruabarrena then joined Beckham in the book - for a late challenge on the England midfielder. It was then Beckham who came within a wisker of netting the first goal. England won a free kick 25 yards out after Shearer was fouled but Beckham's effort just drifted wide of the goal with Cavallero beaten. Ariel Ortega then entered the referee's notebook for a disgraceful dive in front of Kieron Dyer in the box. Referee Markus Merk was having none of the Argentinian's play acting and produced the yellow card. The last chance of the game again came after a surging run from Heskey. His pace and strength was causing endles problems for the visitors and he broke into the box on the right and should have shot, but instead he tried to pull the ball back for Paul Scholes and the chance was wasted as the defenders intercepted the pass. Martin Keown, who was carrying a slight knock, was replaced by West Ham's Rio Ferdinand at the interval. The second half never hit the heights of the first for England - although Argentina remained as ineffective when they got to the box even if they did create two possible openings. Dennis Wise - who was quiet throughout much of the match - finally came to the crowd's attention moments after the referee restarted the match. He entered the book for a late challenge. Argentina did look more purposeful in the second period without having a creat deal to show for it. It was ten minutes before they gained sight of the England goal. Gonzalez easily got past Dyer on the left hand side of the box and he opted to shoot - straight at Seaman - with teammates screaming for the ball in the centre. Chamot became the next in a growing number of players to be booked - for a bad tackle from behind on Heskey. Jason Wilcox, another player to press strong claims for a regular spot, produced a fine cross from the left which looked destined to create the opening goal England were looking for, but Heskey's goalbound header took a deflection which took it wide. With ten minutes remaining Cole replaced Heskey. Heskey received warm applause from the home crowd as he left the pitch and now seems a good bet to make the final 22 for Euro 2000. And within moments of coming on, Cole almost scored. Ray Parlour, who earlier replaced Beckham, produced a fine ball to find the striker but he shot straight at Cavallero. It was Argentina who created the last real chance of the game when substitute Nelson Vivas nodded the ball back for Hernan Crespo ten yards out put he failed to connect with the ball. There was still time for Ayala to enter the book - and Chamot should have received a second yellow for deliberate handball and surely would have done if the game was of a competitive nature. England will have a lot of plus points to take from the game and Keegan must now look at whether he still wants to revert to a 4-4-2 for Euro 2000, but the defence merits of Wilcox and Dyer are less than certain.
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