International Friendly – Full time review: England versus France
Match began brightly as in the 11th minute, Malouda whizzed past Rio Ferdinand with the Manchester United defender being unable to cope with the Frenchman’s pace. However, Florent’s right footed shot was well wide
of the mark as the English breathed a sigh of relief at the Wembley stadium where an 85,000 strong crowd turned up to cheer for the Three Lions.
In the 12th minute, Johann Gourcuff pressed forward the French national side, the Lyon midfielder let loose a powerful shot from around twenty five yards out. The shot was well detected by the English goalkeeper,
Ben Foster who fisted the ball away for the French corner yet again. Despite the fact that they started the match strongly, England found themselves on the back foot in the middle stages of the match as the French slowly took control of the midfield area.
The decisive moment of the first half came in the 16th minute of the match as Malouda and Benzema combined for the French national side to deadly effect. The Chelsea man played in the ex-Lyon striker who capitalized
on the chance that fell before him brilliantly. Karim Benzema gave his team the lead with a fine right footed finish which blitzed past Ben Foster into the England goal. Benzema’s goal brought the score line to 0-1, in favour of France.
Regardless of the quick start that England had to the match, their movement, passing and rhythm in the first half left much to be desired. They were ineffective in possession and therefore also lacked the creativity that was needed to
pry open the tough French defence. Laurent Blanc’s French side did remarkably well to keep control of the ball after the 10th minute mark and they looked threatening every time the likes of Malouda and Gourcuff attacked in numbers.
In the 29th minute of the match, England had their best chance of the first half as Andy Carroll won the ball in the air and nodded it down to the on rushing Steven Gerrard. Gerrard struck the ball from 12 yards
out however unfortunately the ball went out of play and for a French goal kick. The Liverpool skipper was off touch in the first half and didn’t live up to the expectations of the massive Wembley crowd. The first half thus came to a conclusion with the score
line at 0-1 to the French who bossed the first half of play in London.
At the half time break, Fabio Capello rang the changes for England as Ashley Young and Adam Johnson were introduced into the game for the Three Lions. However, the second half got off on a bad note for Jordan Henderson who was booked for
a rash challenge in the midfield area by the referee. Regardless that was not all that went wrong for England in the second half as at the 55th minute mark France doubled their lead much to the delight of their supporters.
French full back, Sagna crossed the ball down the right hand side and Valbuena, the French striker connected with the ball powerfully to send it flying past the despairing Ben Foster into the English goal. France’s second goal took the
score line to 2-0, which in itself was an absolute shame for England as they were playing at home, at the Wembley stadium, in front of their home fans. England almost drew level within 10 minutes of the French side taking the lead as Steven Gerrard was on
hand for England from a free kick. The Liverpool man made contact with the set piece that was taken by Adam Johnson, however his header just nicked the goalpost and went wide of the mark.
In the 80th minute, Gerrard had another golden opportunity to pull one back for England after a weak clearance by Rami. However, the midfielder again skewed his shot wide from inside the French penalty area. In
the 85th minute, Peter Crouch gave England a ray of hope as he pulled one goal back for the Three Lions due to his goal from an Ashley Young corner.
It was a well taken goal by the Tottenham man who did well to keep his shot down and on target. Nonetheless, Crouch couldn’t inspire to a full comeback as the match ended at 1-2 with the French as eventual winners.
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