International Friendly – Half time review: England versus France
England started the match off at Wembley as the more attacking of the two teams as in the 3rd minute of the match, Andy Carroll, the Newcastle United striker won England’s first free kick of the match. The free
kick which was around thirty five yards out was expertly saved by Hugo Lloris. Steven Gerrard took the set piece for England but it was a disappointing effort on goal by the Liverpool captain.
It wasn’t long before England won another free kick and this time it was due to Gerrard’s quick feet against the French midfielder M’Vila. However, England were again wasteful with the set piece. The French national team got its first
attempt on the English goal at the 8th minute mark.
It was Florent Malouda, the Chelsea winger who tested Ben Foster’s finger tips in the English goal as he unleashed a wickedly powerful diagonal drive towards the English goal. Foster tipped the ball away out of play for a French corner.
It was a statement of intent by the winger who scored France’s only goal of the tournament in South Africa at the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
In the 11th minute of the match, Malouda whizzed past Rio Ferdinand as the Manchester United defender couldn’t 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 blasted the ball from 12 yards
out but unfortunately the ball went out of play 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.
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