Sven did complain to UEFA, says Becks

England captain David Beckham believes UEFA did not act on Sven-Goran Eriksson’s warning to replace areas of turf around the penalty spot before his Euro 2004 shoot-out miss against Portugal last night.

The Real Madrid star sent the first penalty of the shoot-out high over the crossbar as he appeared to lose his footing on a heavily-sanded area. Portugal’s Rui Costa missed in similar fashion but 11 other players were successful, with Darius Vassell’s sudden-death kick saved by Ricardo as England exited the competition at the quarter-final stage.