2010 World Cup: England v Algeria full time report
England 0 Algeria 0
England endured a frustrating goalless draw against Algeria at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.
After drawing against the United States in their first match, England must now beat Slovenia in their final group game to qualify for the next phase.
In all fairness, England never looked like scoring tonight, as they failed to put Algeria under any sort of pressure.
Algeria were comfortable in possession, knocking the ball around with great confidence. Karim Ziani was their best player. His neat touches all around the pitch were impressive, and his shot in the first half went wide of David James’ goal.
England’s best chance of the first half, and ultimately the match, fell to Frank Lampard. An Aaron Lennon cross was headed out by the defence, and the ball fell to Lampard on his left foot, but his shot was well saved by Algerian keeper Raïs M’Bohli.
England’s players failed to shine. Wayne Rooney was again left to feed off scraps, while Emile Heskey looked like a fish out of water for some parts of the match.
England played with tension, and their captain Steven Gerrard looked a shadow of himself in the first game. Playing on the left, he was unable to have an influence on the game.
Half chances were created, and when Gerrard and Heskey on separate occasions chose to pass rather than shoot, it was a sign of a team with a lack of belief.
Fabio Capello refused to change the shape of the team, choosing to stick to the 4-4-2 formation that was successful during the qualifying campaign, and when he threw on Peter Crouch towards the end of the game, Rooney found himself out on the left of midfield.
Algeria didn’t create much, with skipper Antar Yahia putting a free kick wide from a decent position the best they had to offer.
It was a disjointed performance from England, and the best England player on the pitch, if you had to find one, was the returning Gareth Barry, which says they didn’t play well at all. He made two very important defensive clearances in the match, and his return was crucial for Capello tonight.
Credit should be given to Algeria, who refused to roll over and were more urgent and forceful when they had the ball. With everyone predicting an easy England victory, they didn’t follow the script.
On Capello’s birthday, he will have a headache to deal with as once again England showed they were choking on the big stage. The England players went off to a chorus of jeers from the crowd, who were unimpressed by the dismal display.
England as potential World Cup winners? Not on tonight’s lacklustre performance.
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