GROUP F: Sweden ends Nigeria's streak (2-1)
* Nigeria, having hoped to reached the second round in its third straight World Cup appearances, saw its hopes end with a 2-1 loss to the Swedes. * Henrik Larsson scored both Swedish goals in their comeback win. He ran onto a defense-splitting through ball from Fredrik Ljungberg to poke home the first goal. He converted the penalty kick he earned after being downed by Ifeanyi Udeze. June 7 in Kobe Sweden 2 Nigeria 1. Goals: Larsson 35, 63 pen.; Aghahowa 27. Sweden — Hedman, Mellberg, Mjallby, Lucic, Jakobsson, Anders Svensson (Magnus Svensson 83), Linderoth, Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Allback (Andreas Andersson 64), Larsson. Yellow cards: Mjallby 31, Alexandersson 69. Nigeria — Shorunmu, Yobo, Christopher, Okoronkwo, West, Babayaro (Kanu, 65), Okocha, Ogbeche (Ikedia, 70), Udeze, Aghahowa, Utaka. Yellow card: West 80. Referee: Ortube (Bolivia). Att.: 36,194
GROUP F: England edges Argentina on PK (1-0)
* David Beckham, who was ejected in EnglandÆs loss to Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, slammed home the game-winning penalty kick after Mauricio Pochettino downed Michael Owen. * England (4 pts), Argentina (3 pts) and Sweden (4 pts) remain alive in the race for the top two spots in Group F. * ''I am very pleased of course. It was very hard in the last minutes. We were tired and they attacked a lot. We deserved to win the game and we played for 70 to 75 minutes very good football.'' — England coach Sven Goran Eriksson. * There were certainly conditions in the match to tie. We did everything to obtain that result but there were two different halves. The second half was somewhat better than the first, and in the first after that decisive moment [the penalty], I still thought that we had the chance to come back.'' — Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa. June 7 in Sapporo England 1 Argentina 0. Goal: Beckham, pen., 44. England — Seaman, Mills, Cole, Ferdinand, Campbell, Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Hargreaves (Sinclair, 19), Owen (Bridge, 80), Heskey (Sheringham, 54). Yellow cards: Cole 29, Heskey 50. Argentina — Cavallero, Pochettino, Samuel, Placente, Zanetti, Simeone, Veron (Aimar, 46), Sorin, Ortega, Batistuta (Crespo, 60), Gonzalez (Lopez, 64) Yellow card: Batistuta 13. Referee: Collina (Italy) Att.: 35,927
GROUP B: Spain beats Paraguay to advance (3-1)
* For the first time since 1950, Spain has won the first two games of a World Cup campaign. The Spanairds became the tournamentÆs first second-round qualifier. * Keeper Jose Luis Chilavert was back in the Paraguay goal after serving a suspension during its 2-2 tie with South Africa. He looked terrible on Spain's second goal, allowing across to fly through his goal area before reaching scorer Fernando Morientes. * Paraguay's goal, and its 45-minute lead came thanks to the tournament's third own goal. Puyol knocked a rebound off keeper Iker Casillas' fine save into the net. June 7 in Jeonju Spain 3 Paraguay 1. Goals: Morientes 53, 69, Hierro, pen., 83; own goal (Puyol) 10. Spain — Casillas, Puyol, Nadal, Hierro, Juanfran, Baraja, Luis Enrique (Helguera 45), Valeron (Xavi, 85), De Pedro, Tristan (Morientes, 45), Raul. Yellow card: Baraja. Paraguay — Chilavert, Arce, Gamarra, Ayala, Caceres, Caniza (Struway, 78), Paredes, Gavilan, Acuna, Cardozo (Campos, 63), Santa Cruz. Yellow card: Arce, Gavilan, Santa Cruz. Referee: Ghandour (Egypt) Att.: 24,000.
