After scrambling into round of 16 at World Cup, England hopes to make a run to

England hoping to repeat 1990 run to semifinals

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — Twenty years ago, England struggled through the first round of the World Cup, just as it has done in South Africa.

Back then, the team still made the semifinals. So maybe the 1966 world champions should be hopeful again.

In 1990, England labored through 1-1 and 0-0 draws in its first two group games and went on to win the third 1-0. The team did exactly the same thing this year.

“We thoroughly deserve to go through. I thought all the players that started the game and all the subs were terrific today,” midfielder Steven Gerrard said. “We need to find consistency now in the knockout stages.”

The parallels between the two teams extend beyond the results as well. The coach then, Bobby Robson, faced the same criticism from the media that Fabio Capello is now. But he survived to take the team deep into the tournament, eventually losing a penalty kicks shootout to West Germany in the semifinals.

“I think if we play like we did today and keep listening to the manager and keep delivering what he’s asking, we’ve got the quality you need to win football matches. Anything can happen,” Gerrard said.

Just like in Italy, this World Cup campaign is having emotional and sticky moments, with England booed off the field by its own fans after a dismal 0-0 draw with Algeria and reports of unrest in the squad.

The team would have been eliminated if it had not beaten Slovenia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Wednesday.

“No one wanted to go home with their tails between their legs after the group stage,” Lampard said. “We wanted to go further than that, we want to go all the way.”

Capello, an emotional coach who was waving his arms and repeatedly shouting at his players, said the team had rediscovered its spirit.

“I saw the team really well on the pitch, with the spirit that we lost in the games we played before this one,” the Italian said. “I’m sure we will play more with confidence. We have found the spirit, the quality of the play was really good and we improved a lot physically. We found the physicality that we know usually.”