Laurent Blanc seems to be taking France in the right direction as he directed his team to Victory over Fabio Capello’s relatively young side. France went comfortably ahead by two goals, before England pulled one back but it did little to satisfy the home
fans.
Fabio Capello fulfilled his promise to change the face of English football by giving a call to a number of young players for the English squad. However, the fans did not like the result displayed by the Three Lions, as the team was booed off the pitch after
the defeat against France.
Andy Carroll, the most promising youngster of the English squad and the hero of Newcastle United against Arsenal, had a great game for his team on his debut. Carroll was a big doubt before the match as he had to go a late fitness test in order to confirm
his place in the starting XI of Capello, despite reservations showed by his club side. Steven Gerrard also looked in good form as he tried his best for his side. Apart from these two players, there was not much promise shown by the English side, which puts
a lot of pressure on Fabio Capello.
Capello still adopted a cautious approach in naming players for his starting XI. Alongside Andy Carroll of Newcastle, Jordan Henderson of Sunderland was given a role in the midfield. Also, Theo Walcott was present in the side to compliment the attack and
provide pace to his side. Another Arsenal youngster who started the game for England was Kieran Gibbs, who played the role of a full-back for the Three Lions. The goalkeeping job was given to Ben Foster, another young starlet from Birmingham City.
The French attack was led by Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena. Florent Malouda was present in the midfield, along with Samir Nasri and Yoann Gourcuff. Frank Ribery missed out because of injury problems. The bench for both sides mainly comprised young stars,
who were trying to make their way into the first team football.
The first goal came in the 16th minute, scored by Karim Benzema. The experimental side of Capello looked really shaky, the Real Madrid forward picked up the ball, made a run and remained unchecked throughout this time. He played a ball to Malouda,
and scored on the return pass from the Chelsea midfielder. Ben Foster also had a little part to play in it as he was beaten at his near-post.
Capello’s experiment seemed to have failed in the opening half of the match. Henderson was very poor in the midfield, as he was completely overwhelmed by the French midfielders. Also, a more experienced Gareth Barry failed to impress as well. Malouda was
enjoying himself as he made frequent runs and cuts across the English defenders. The right back, Phil Jagielka, was another weak point, mainly because he was not used to playing in this unusual position.
All the French main players, including Benzema, Nasri, Malouda and Gourcuff had chances to increase their lead. However, a few saves from Ben Foster and a little bit of defending from the skipper, Rio Ferdinand, saved some of England’s prestige in the match.
Carroll had his moments in the match, as he went close on a number of occasions. However, he was unable to score on his debut for England.
England somehow managed to keep the score-line a little challenging till the 55th minute. However, Bacary Sagna outplayed his Arsenal’s team-mate, Gibbs, as he played a cross from the touchline. The cross was met by Valbuena, who took the ball
home with a great finish in the end.
Peter Crouch pulled one back, with five minutes on the clock, from Ashley Young’s cross. However, it was already too late for England who were completely dominated by French in the match. Despite this loss, Capello can take some positives from this game,
as he seeks to improve his players.
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