WC stratagies

BADEN BADEN, Germany, June 9 (Reuters) England are using a ploy in
training that would make every goalkeeper's World Cup penalty dream
come true.
Beating a top-class keeper can be hard enough but England have
given the ultimate soccer duel an extra twist by telling Paul
Robinson where they will place the spot kick.
The unlikely tactic is rooted in England's traumatic experience
at past tournaments, where shootout misses have bounced them out of
World Cups in 1990 and 1998, along with Euro 96 and Euro 2004 in
Portugal.
As he prepared for tomorrow's Group B opener against Paraguay,
Robinson told reporters: ''The lads get used to taking penalties
against you -- and you generally tend to know which way they like
going.
''So at some stages we say to them 'Tell us which way you're
going to go, we won't dive until you've kicked it'.
''It makes it harder for them to score -- they really have to
put it in the corners.''
Robinson, who saved a penalty for Tottenham Hotspur in last
season's final Premier League game at West Ham United, is fully
expecting to face penalties at the finals.
Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson believes that if England go far at the
World Cup, they will at some point face a shootout -- and they
clearly need to improve their spot kicks.
Frank Lampard has replaced David Beckham as penalty taker after
the captain missed against Turkey in England's final Euro 2004
qualifier, France in their opening group game in Portugal and in the
shootout against the hosts in the quarter-finals.
PRESSURE MOMENT
''You can practice penalties till the cows come home but it is
different when you are out there in front of 60,000 people and the
pressure is on,'' Beckham said at their Buhlertal training ground.
''We will carry on practising but when it comes to a shootout, it
is a different situation.
''As good as you can be at penalties, there is a chance the
keeper can read you as much as you can strike it well.
''I don't mind taking penalties and I'm always quite confident at
taking them. But Frank is the penalty-taker for Chelsea and that's
why he is taking them for England.''
Worryingly for Eriksson, Lampard had a penalty saved in last
week's 3-1 friendly win over Hungary at Old Trafford.
Worse still, striker Peter Crouch fared no better four days later
when he ballooned a late spot kick in their 6-0 rout of Jamaica.
England can, of course, live with missing them in warm-ups. It is
a world away from the sickening feeling that occurs when failure
from the spot sends a team packing at a tournament.
Recalling their exit in Portugal, Lampard told reporters in Baden
Baden: ''It was horrible to go out on penalties.
''It was horrible on the pitch at the end. It was horrible with
the families that evening and it was horrible the next day when you
packed your bags to go home.''
--------
GELSENKIRCHEN, June 9 (Reuters) Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez
had no qualms about imposing a World Cup sex ban on his players.
The only problem is that it applies to him as well.
''Oh that's good,'' said one female journalist, impressed at
his solidarity with his team.
''No. No, it is not good,'' smirked Suarez, during a news
conference. ''It is not good at all.''
Ecuador play their Group A World Cup opener against Poland today
and later face hosts Germany and Costa Rica.
REUTERS DH BST1547

CARLOS ALBERTO PERIERRA, BRAZIL

The magic rectangles system that we play only works if the team play as a unit helping each other. If Emerson and Ze Roberto are left exposed in midfield we are not going to win games. We have to play without the ball as well as with the ball."