FIFA World Cup 2010, England vs Algeria, Group C: England Team Continue Disgraceful Form; Rooney, Capello Under Fire Following Goalless Match Against Algeria
With the 2010 World Cup already featuring several top teams on the brink of elimination, Group C seems to remain wide open after yet another disappointing finish from the English and the American sides in their respective matches yesterday.
The English captain Steven Gerrard admits that England need to lift their game as their performances so far have been below-average at best: they drew 1-1 against the Americans in a match where they went in as the favourites. In their match against Algeria, ranked 30th in the world, the result was an embarrassing goalless draw, which shocked England fans.
The England side was all over the field as they did not come to terms with what hit them, and the Algerians took full advantage of this as they displayed powerful defence and short bursts of attack that did not allow the star-studded English side to score even once.
However, the English players are not making excuses and are giving due credit to the Algerians who played well, and admit that the performances from their end so far have been less than spectacular and personally below their own standards.
Thus, the equation becomes simple yet pressurizing with England going into their last group game against Slovenia, requiring a win at all costs to keep their World Cup dream alive and crawl their way into the final 16.
Captain Gerrard promises that the performance against the Algerians will be scrutinized, and the team will do their level best to turn the boos of countless cheated fans into cheers.
Taking an analytical approach to how the came went on yesterday, Fabio Capello’s men did not exert the pressure that was required, and were not even able to keep possession of the ball to their liking.
England still seem to be struggling with their goalkeeper experiment, as after all the hype created by Capello of announcing the chosen goalkeeper only two hours before kick-off, mistakes made by Rob Green in the US match were enough to convince Capello that a change needed to be made, and thus David James was in for his first competitive start in 15 months.
Since the game started and throughout the first half, Algeria looked like the more inventive side, as they displayed both speed and technique, and possessed greater imagination.
England did, however, at times in the game find themselves in a goal-scoring position, but Steven Gerrard and Lampard both wasted their possession.
The English fans after witnessing their team perform pathetically for the second time in a row did not hold back their emotions as the field was echoing with the sound of boos, to which Wayne Rooney after the match in an irritated state claimed that the frustration of not performing as per potential was painstaking enough, but to hear their own fans booing them was rather a tad bit more painful.
David Beckham, who was comfortably sitting in the stands dressed in his grey suit, not being able to play in the fields due to an injury, also faced the brunt of the poor performance of his side, as an angry England fan forced his way into the Three Lions’ dressing room, and channeled his frustration on Beckham, before security personnel whisked him away.
Now what has happened cannot be undone; however, looking ahead, England now head to Port Elizabeth where on Wednesday they have a do-or-die encounter with Slovenia, winning which they go through and losing would mean that the men from England will find themselves going back home and potentially forcing their team manager Fabio Capello to resign after signing a revised two-year contract just a couple of weeks ago.
Capello admits that his team seems to have fallen under the pressure of the World Cup, and also seems to be at a loss of words to explain the poor performance of the team so far. The squad have looked toothless in their encounters, and England’s all important player Wayne Rooney has not been able to score for his country.
The manager, however, believes that one big performance is all his boys need to get back into momentum, reunite and perform like the true champions that they are.
But with how the events have so far unfolded in South Africa, no one can be guaranteed a win if they are not on their toes at the given day. Slovenia, although the underdogs, have so far proven that they are no pushovers, and thus England is warned that if they are to continue playing in Africa, they better put their game shoes on. Fast.
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