England Out Again in World Cup Penalties as Church Pastors Offer Comfort

England has been knocked out of the World Cup 3-1 on penalties after their quarter-final with Portugal ended 0-0 after extra-time.

|PIC1|England had a torrid day after losing skipper David Beckham to injury just after half-time, and Wayne Rooney was sent off after 62 minutes for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho.

The sending off however, seemed to ignite England’s ten men as they pushed forward at every opportunity and fully went for the unlikely win.

But despite battling bravely for the rest of normal time and extra-time the game went to a shoot-out.

Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all had their penalties saved to end their hopes and Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign as England coach.

The result means England have now lost 5 out of 6 penalty shoot-outs they have had in major competitions over the past 15 years.

Following the defeat, David Beckham made an announcement at a press conference stating that he is stepping down as England captain, so that a new era of the game for the country can be opened up fully. He did, however, also state his intention to continue playing in the team.

|TOP|In the other quarter final, France caused another upset by beating current world champions Brazil 1-0.

The South Americans put on an under-par display and went down to a goal by Arsenal striker Thierry Henry.

The semi finals will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, with Germany lining-up against Italy, and France taking on Portugal.

As the final week of the World Cup comes about Pastors in Germany’s World Cup cities are continuing their efforts to be ready to support the thousands of fans who might wish to pray during the tournament.

“Yes, it is sad when a team loses but we will be there to talk with fans and help remind them of the more important things in life," said Father Matthias Boensmann, a Catholic priest from Dortmund

|AD|“I hope people come to us for comfort though I'm sure some supporters will still seek solace in alcohol instead," he added.

Fr Boensmann has so far been on hand to give spiritual assistance to fans in the non-denominational prayer and meditation area of Dortmund’s “Fan Village”, a converted exhibition centre adjacent to the football stadium which has housed 4,000 fans during the event.

"It will be an area where people can find peace," he said.

He added that deeply embedded faith of some of the international football players who make a point of crossing themselves before taking penalties or praying for God’s help on the pitch may serve as a good advert for religion and teach more inhibited Christians how to be express their faith, reports Reuters.

Fr Boensmann recalls the stunned silence of German television commentators when the entire Brazilian team got down on its knees in a circle to pray after winning the Confederations Cup.

“They didn’t know what to say,” he said.

Churches across Germany are gearing up to make the most of the final week of the event, and the enormous opportunity to reach out to large numbers of unchurched fans, with programmes packed full of prayer events, special services and World Cup-themed events.