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Match No. 861 vs. Switzerland Match No. 863 vs. USA Match Results


England National Football Team Match No. 862

France 1 England 0 [1-0]

Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Match Summary and Report

Match Summary and Report Team Records France Pre-Match England Pre-Match


Stade de France, Saint-Denis, 26 March 2008 - The team that faced France.
Back row - Owen Hargreaves, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand (captain), David James, Wes Brown, Gareth Barry,
Front row - Joe Cole, Steve Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham (with golden boots), Ashley Cole.
 

Match Summary
Status: International friendly match.
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris, capacity 80,000;
Attendance: 78,500
Goals: France - Franck Ribéry, 32nd minute penalty.
Cautions: France - Franck Ribéry, 32nd minute, dissent;
England - David Beckham, 39th minute, unsporting behaviour:
Expulsions: None.
Officials:
(yellow)		 Referee - Florian Meyer, 39 (21-Nov-1968), Braunschweig, Germany, FIFA-listed 2002;
Assistant Referees - Sönke Glindmann, 42 (17-Jun-1965) and Mark Borsch, 31 (16-Mar-1977), Germany;
Fourth Official - Bruno Faye, France;
Conditions: Kickoff at 9.00 p.m. local time; 8.00 p.m. GMT:
Miscellany: A minute's silence was observed in memory of Thierry Gilardi, 49.  A French television commentator who died of a heart-attack on 25 March.
Statistics:

Type

France

England
Goal Attempts 10 7
Attempts on Target 3 2
Hit Bar/Post 0 0
Corner Kicks Won 1 5
Offside Calls Against 4 2
Fouls Conceded 6 11
Possession 46% 54%

France Team
Ranking:

7th in FIFA ranking of 12th March 2008; 4th in Elo world ranking before this match and xth after this match.
Colours: Blue shirts with a thin red sash on torso, blue shorts, blue stockings; made by Adidas.
Coach: Raymond Domenech, 56, appointed 12 July 2004;
48th match, W 28 - D 15 - L 5 - F 73 - A 23. (including 0-0 match against Italy on 08-09-2007 with Pierre Mankowski as coach). Domenech was suspended for this match. 
This match number for France was 698.
Captain: Lillian Thuram

France Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
23-Coupet, Grégory 31-Dec-1972 35 G Olympique Lyonnais 29 0 -active
3-Abidal, Éric B. 11-Jul-1979 28 D FC Barcelona, Spain 33 0 -active
15-Thuram, Lilian 01-Jan-1972 36 D FC Barcelona, Spain 138 2 -active
13-Clerc, François 18-Apr-1983 24 D Olympique Lyonnais 10 0 -active
5-Gallas, William 17-Aug-1977 30 D Arsenal FC, England 61 2 -active
6-Makélélé, Claude 18-Feb-1973 35 M Chelsea FC, England 66 0 -active
7-Malouda, Florent 13-Jun-1980 27 F Chelsea FC, England 36 3 -active
8-Toulalan, Jérémy 10-Sep-1983 24 M Olympique Lyonnais 11 0 -active
22-Ribéry, Franck B. 01-Apr-1983 24 F FC Bayern München AG, Germany 25 3 -active
20-Trezeguet, David S., sub off 64th min 15-Oct-1977 30 F Juventus FC SpA, Italy 71 34 -active
39-Anelka, Nicolas, sub off 80th min 14-Mar-1979 29 F Chelsea FC, England 45 11 -active

France Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
10-Givou, Sidney, sub on 64th min. for Trezeguet 27-Jul-1979 28 F Olympique Lyonnais 31 7 -active
9-Cissé, Djibril M., sub on 80th min. for Anelka 12-Aug-1981 26 F Olympique de Marseille 36 9 -active
formation:

4-4-2

Coupet -
Clerc, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal -
Ribéry, Makélélé, Toulalan, Malouda -
Anelka (Cissé), Trezeguet (Givou).
Substitutes
Not Used:		 1-Mickael Landreau, 4-Philippe Mexes, 17-Sebastien Squillaci, 18-Alou Diarra, 21-Mathieu Flamini, 27-Patrice Evra

England Team
Ranking:

11th in FIFA ranking of 12th March 2008; 8th in Elo world ranking before this match and xth after this match.
Colours: Red shirts with navy trim, white shorts, red stockings - The 2008 away uniform.
Coach: Fabio Capello, 62, appointed 14 December 2007, took post 7 January 2008, 
2nd match, W 1 - D 0 - L 1 - F 2 - A 2.
Captain: Rio Ferdinand, 1st captaincy.

England Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-James, David B. 01-Aug-1970 37 G Portsmouth FC 37 0 1997-active
2-Brown, Wesley M., sub off 63rd min 13-Oct-1979 28 D Manchester United FC 16 0 1999-active
3-Cole, Ashley 20-Dec-1980 27 D Chelsea FC 63 0 2001-active
4-Hargreaves, Owen L. 20-Jan-1981 27 M

Manchester United FC

 41 0 2001-active
5-Ferdinand, Rio G. 07-Nov-1978 29 D Manchester United FC 66 2 1997-active
6-Terry, John G., sub off 46th min 07-Dec-1980 27 D Chelsea FC 43 3 2003-active
7-Beckham, David R.J., sub off 63rd min 02-May-1975 32 M LA Galaxy, USA 100 17 1996-active
8-Barry, Gareth 23-Feb-1981 26 D Aston Villa FC 18 0 2000-active
9-Rooney, Wayne M., sub off 46th min 24-Oct-1985 22 F

Manchester United FC

 42 14 2003-active
10-Gerrard, Steven G., sub off 46th min 30-May-1980 27 M Liverpool FC 65 12 2000-active
11-Cole, Joseph J., sub off 46th min 08-Nov-1981 26 M Chelsea FC 49 7 2000-active

England Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
14-Lescott, Joleon P., sub on 46th min. for Terry 16-Aug-1982 25 D Everton FC 5 0 2007-active
17-Downing, Stewart, sub on 46th min. for J.Cole 22-Jul-1984 23 M Middlesbrough FC 17 0 2005-active
18-Owen, Michael J., sub on 46th min. for Rooney 14-Dec-1979 27 F Newcastle United FC 89 40 1998-active
19-Crouch, Peter J., sub on 46th min. for Gerrard 30-Jan-1981 27 F

Liverpool FC

 26 14 2005-active
16-Bentley, David M., sub on 63rd min. for Beckham 27-Aug-1984 23 M Blackburn Rovers FC 4 0 2007-active
13-Johnson, Glen M., sub on 63rd min. for Brown 23-Aug-1984 23 D Portsmouth FC 6 0 2003-active
Formation:

4-2-3-1

James -
Brown (Johnson), Terry (Lescott), Ferdinand, A Cole -
Barry, Hargreaves -
Beckham (Bentley), Gerrard (Crouch), J Cole (Downing) -
Rooney (Owen).
Substitutes
Not Used:		 12-Paul Robinson, 15-Wayne Bridge, 20-Theo Walcott, 21-Robert Green.

Match Report

 

England suffered their first defeat under coach Fabio Capello with a disappointing performance in France.  Franck Ribery scored the only goal from the penalty spot with 32 minutes gone after David James had spectacularly brought down Nicolas Anelka.

Florent Malouda, Anelka and Ribery all went close to a second, while Steven Gerrard twice headed wide on a night when England created very little.  David Beckham lasted 63 minutes on the night he won his 100th cap.

It was not the result the LA Galaxy midfielder would have wanted to mark such a significant occasion, while there was little to suggest Rio Ferdinand had staked a strong case to be made captain on a permanent basis.  In fact, on the evidence on display France can look forward to their opening Euro 2008 fixture in 75 days with growing confidence after a mature, composed display.

In contrast, Capello must realise that he has a lot of work to do if he is to translate his success at club level to the international stage.  The Italian's reign as coach started with a victory over Switzerland at Wembley in February but this was always going to be a much sterner examination.

He opted to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation and may have to revise his thinking after a performance in which his team lacked width and penetration.  Once again several of his key players failed to reproduce their club form for their country - with Gerrard, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney and the injured John Terry all withdrawn at the break while Frank Lampard missed the match entirely through illness.

Capello's team started at a high tempo but it was France who created the early openings - Anelka heading wide from a Ribery free-kick and shooting weakly at goal after he was gifted far too much time to turn on the edge of the area.  England - with Gareth Barry and Owen Hargreaves shielding the back four - gradually asserted themselves on the contest and enjoyed a decent period of play.  A low teasing cross from the left was diverted clear of Beckham's path by keeper Gregory Coupet while Gerrard twice missed the target with headers.

However, the first time France managed to thread a pass through the England defence they won the penalty from which they scored.  Anelka collected Francois Clerc's defence-splitting ball and closed in on goal before he was dramatically sent flying by James, who had rushed off his line but was undone by a clever touch from the Chelsea striker.  Ribery then completely outwitted James from 12 yards, sending the 37-year-old the wrong way.

England's riposte was to increase the tempo but they all too often surrendered possession and France eased to the interval with their lead intact.  Capello opted to make four substitutions at the break - with Peter Crouch, Michael Owen, Stewart Downing and Joleon Lescott introduced.  Only Terry's substitution for Lescott was injury related, with the Chelsea skipper complaining of a tight hamstring.

The changes hinted at Capello's recognition that his decision to play Rooney as the lone striker did not work, with the Manchester United player often forced to come deep in search of the ball.  But it was France who continued to play the incisive football, breaking viciously with James saving from Anelka while Malouda shot narrowly wide.

In contrast, England were frequently betrayed by a poor first touch while a speculative - and wide - effort from Crouch was emblematic of their growing frustration.  Anelka had illuminated the contest with several audacious back-flicks and he also laid the ball off to Ribery but the goalscorer somewhat scuffed his shot.  France substitute Djibril Cisse went close towards the end, while England rarely looked like equalising.

Source Notes

Sources

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
Fox Sports
SkySports.com
ESPN Soccernet
Robert Owens for his unrelentless work in tracking down the fourth official.
Marcel Hoefsmit (Dutch Historian and good friend)

____________________

CG