FIFA to decide if Beckham gets credit for goal

BERLIN, June 10: The first own goal of the World Cup, scored by Paraguay captain Carlos Gamarra, could be credited to England skipper David Beckham after a video review, FIFA said today.

A FIFA spokesman said the only goal of the Group B match between England and Paraguay would be studied at a routine meeting of FIFA's Technical Study Group this evening.

The TSG decides who should be credited with so-called dubious goals and said before the tournament they were keen to limit own goals to a minimum.

England scored when a flighted free kick from Beckham took a slight deflection off Gamarra's head.

Gamarra said after the game: ''The ball did touch my head but I don't believe it changed the direction. I guess the fact is that it made the ball go faster.'' FIFA also officially corrected the time of the goal from the fourth to the third minute after a timing review.

Reuters

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