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906 vs. France
   
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968 vs. France
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
A Breast Cancer Care International Friendly match


Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite

England 2 France 0 [1-0]
 


The National Stadium connected by EE, Wembley, Brent, Greater London
Kick-off (GMT): 8.03pm.

Attendance: 71,223.

Ross Barkley kicked-off 92 minutes 45:00 & 46:52
[1-0] Dele Alli 39 38:42
 
right-footed 25-yard strike into top left corner, from a short pass by Wayne Rooney
 
[2-0] Wayne Rooney volley 47 46:58
 
6-yard right-footed volley into centre of goal from a Raheem Sterling cross
a rather more subdued occasion for Rooney to score his record-breaking fiftieth England goal
no cautions
Commentator: Clive Tyldesley with Glenn Hoddle
 

Match Summary

Officials from Sweden England Squad

Type

France Squad
Referee (yellow) - Jonas Eriksson
 40 (28 March 1974), Luleá, FIFA listed 2002.
 
Assistant Referees - Mathias Klasenius, 40 (25 April 1975) and Daniel Warmark
Fourth official - Jan Michael Lerjeus, 42 (18 June 1973), Skovde, FIFA-listed 2009

Attended by both the Prime Minister, David Cameron and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and the FA President.
Floral tributes were laid. Black armbands wore worn and a minutes silence observed.

9 Goal Attempts 9
4 Attempts on Target 3
0 Hit Bar/Post 0
5 Corner Kicks Won 3
0 Offside Calls Against 0
13 Fouls Conceded 10
48.6% Possession 51.4%

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (5 November 2015) 9th
EFO ranking Group 4
ELO rating 8th
Colours: The Nike 2014 home uniform - White v-necked jerseys with shadowed pinstripes and silvery white trim, white shorts with silvery white trim, white socks.
Capt: Wayne Rooney
 (15th (22) captaincy (13))
Manager: Roy Hodgson, 68 (9 August 1947), appointed 1 May 2012,
47th match, W 28 - D 13 - L 6 - F 96 - A 34.
England Lineup
1 Hart, C. Joseph J., off 46th
min.
28
212 days
19 April 1987 G Manchester City FC 57 39ᵍᵃ
2 Clyne, Nathaniel E. 24
226 days
5 April 1991 RB Liverpool FC 9 0
3 Gibbs, Kieran J.R. 26
52 days
26 September 1989 LB Arsenal FC 10 0
final app 2010-15
4 Dier, Eric J.E. 21
306 days
15 January 1994 CM Tottenham Hotspur FC 2 0
5 Cahill, Gary J. 29
333 days
19 December 1985 RCD Chelsea FC 40 3
the 79th player to reach this milestone
6 Stones, John 21
173 days
28 May 1994 LCD Everton FC 7 0
7 Alli, Bamidele J., off 88th min. 19
220 days
11 April 1996 RM Tottenham Hotspur FC 4 1
8 Barkley, Ross, off 79th min. 21
338 days
5 December 1993 LM Everton FC 19 2
9 Kane, Harry E., off 80th min 22
112 days
28 July 1993 CF Tottenham Hotspur FC 8 3
10 Rooney, Wayne M. 30
24 days
24 October 1985 L/RF Manchester United FC 109 50
has now scored in a record 41st match England's new record goalscorer
     
11
Sterling, Raheem S., off 68th min. 20
344 days
8 December 1994
in Kingston, Jamaica
R/LF Manchester City FC 20 2
the 169th player to reach the 20-app milestone
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 France 0
13 Butland, Jack, on 46th min. for Hart 22
252 days
10 March 1993 G Stoke City FC 3 2 1ᵍᵃ
1
scoreline: England 2 France 0
20 Lallana, Adam D., on 68th min. (67:39) for Sterling 27
191 days
10 May 1988 RF Liverpool FC 19 11 0
8
17 Shelvey, Jonjo, on 79th min. (78:50) for Barkley 23
263 days
27 February 1992 LM Swansea City AFC 6 3 0
3
final app 2010-15
16 Bertrand, Ryan D., on 80th min. (79:19) for Kane 26
104 days
5 August 1989 D Southampton FC 7 3 0
4
14
Jones, Philip A., on 88th min. (87:29) for Alli
23
269 days
21 February 1992
RM
Manchester United FC 20 16 0
4
the 170th player to reach the 20-app milestone
result: England 2 France 0
unused substitutes: 12-Chris Smalling, 15-Kyle Walker, 18-Ryan Mason, 19-Jesse Lingard, 21-Tom Heaton.
records: Wayne Rooney has made an appearance in 33 of the 48 England home matches at the National Stadium. He has also scored nineteen goals. Both are Stadium records.
Manager Roy Hodgson was in charge of Switzerland against France for a friendly victory in May 1992 (2-1).
 
4-3-3 Hart (Butland) -
Clyne, Cahill, Stones, Gibbs -
Alli
(Jones), Dier, Barkley (Shelvey) -
Sterling
(Lallana), Kane (Bertrand), Rooney
Averages (Starting XI): Age 24 years 115 days Appearances/Goals 25.9 5.5
youngest starting XI in 2015-16
Hodgson's youngest starting XI

 

France Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (5 November 2015) 25th
EFO ranking Group 1 (4th)
ELO rating 7th
Colours: Made by Nike - Dark blue collared jerseys with white collars, white shorts, red socks.
Capt: Hugo Lloris Manager: Didier Claude Deschamps, 47 (15 October 1968), appointed 8 July 2012,
43rd match, W 25 - D 8 - L 11 - F 78 - A 35.
France Lineup
1 Lloris, Hugo H.D. 28
326 days
26 December 1986 G Tottenham Hotspur FC, England 72 51ᵍᵃ
15 Sagna, Bacary 32
276 days
14 February 1983 RB Manchester City FC, England 54 0
4 Varane, Raphaël X. 22
206 days
25 April 1993 CD Real Madrid CF, Spain 27 2
21 Koscielny, Laurent 30
68 days
10 September 1985 CD Arsenal FC, England 26 0
17 Digne, Lucas 22
120 days
20 July 1993 LB AS Roma, Italy, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain FC 10 0
22 Schneiderlin, Morgan F.G., off 82nd min. 25
9 days
8 November 1989 RM Manchester United FC, England 15 0
6 Cabaye, Yohan, off 57th min. 29
307 days
14 January 1986 CM Crystal Palace FC, England 44 4
14 Matuidi, Blaise, off 46th min. 28
222 days
9 April 1987 LM Paris Saint-Germain FC 41 6
8 Ben Arfa, Hatem, off 46th min. 28
255 days
7 March 1987 RF OGC Nice Côte d'Azur 15 2
10 Gignac, André-Pierre C., off 57th min. 29
338 days
5 December 1985 CF CF Tigres de la UANL, Mexico 23 6
11 Martial, Anthony J., off 67th min. 19
338 days
5 December 1995 LF Manchester United FC, England 6 0
France Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 France 0
19 Pogba, Paul L, on 46th min., on for Ben Arfa 22
247 days
15 March 1993 LM Juventus FC, Italy 27 5
20 Coman, Kingsley, on 46th min. for Matuidi 19
157 days
13 June 1996 RF FC Bayern München, Germany, on loan from Juventus FC, Italy 2 0
scoreline: England 2 France 0
12 Diarra, Lassana, on 57th min (56:14) for Cabaye 30
252 days
10 March 1985 CM Olympique de Marseille 31 0
9 Giroud, Olivier J., on 57th min. (56:25) for Gignac 29
48 days
30 September 1986 CF Arsenal FC, England 45 13
7 Griezmann, Antoine, on 67th min. (66:15) for Martial 24
241 days
21 March 1991 LF Club Atlético de Madrid , Spain 24 6
18 Sissoko, Moussa on 82nd min. for (81:51) for Schneiderlin 26
93 days
16 August 1989 RM Newcastle United FC, England 34 1
result: England 2 France 0
unused substitutes: 2-Christophe Jallet, 3-Patricera, 5-Lo�c Perrin, 13-Eliaquim Mangala, 16-Steve Mandanda, 23-Benoit Costil.
Coach Didier Deschamps played for France against England in February and June of 1992 and captained in three more matches in June 1997, February 1999 and September 2000 (his 103rd and final appearance).
 
4-3-3 Lloris -
Sagna, Varane, Kosceilny, Digne -
Schneiderlin
(Sissoko), Cabaye (Diarra), Matuidi (Coman) -
Ben Arfa
(Pogba), Gignac (Giroud), Martial (Griezmann)
Averages (Starting XI): Age 27 years 94 days Appearances/Goals 30.3 1.8

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

The brave decision to play this friendly international, after the dreadful experiences of the French people in Paris the previous Friday, was rewarded with a wonderful tribute and declaration of solidarity from the two squads and both sets of fans.  Wembley was bathed in the French tricolor, with the blue, red and white dominating the stadium.  Never before has an opposition's national anthem been sung so heartily and so sincerely, by everyone, at the English home of football.  It was a very moving and unforgettable moment when both sets of players stood side by side on the centre circle for a perfectly observed minute's silence.

It could easily have been forgiven if the actual game of football had fallen flat after all the pre-match emotion, but to the enormous credit of both sets of players, the crowd were treated to the best friendly international seen at Wembley for years.

Both sides had good spells of possession at the start with the first decent attack coming from the visitors in the 7th minute.  Yohan Cabaye was given too much time and space and moved forward to hit a fierce shot that flew just over Joe Hart's crossbar.  A minute later though, and Hugo Lloris made a real hash of a clearance, sending it straight to his Tottenham teammate Harry Kane.  Kane attempted to find Wayne Rooney at the far post but Raphael Varane easily intercepted the ball, much to the goalkeeper's relief.  Then good play by John Stones, not for the last time on this night, showed cool authority as he strode forward with the ball confidently from defence.  It augured well for England and on 13 minutes Raheem Sterling and Nathaniel Clyne combined well before Lloris just beat Rooney to the ball.

England were keeping possession much better than against Spain, in their previous match, although France were not pressing in the way that the Spaniards had done.  In fact, for the first fifteen minutes the French were slightly subdued, understandably of course in the circumstances, but a burst from young Anthony Martial enlivened the visitors.  He broke swiftly down the left before cutting inside to fire a good low shot at goal, Hart doing well, diving to his left to save.  A minute later and it was England on the counter attack, with five men up.  Kane found Deli Alli with a fine pass and it looked as though the youngster was in.  Unfortunately poor control let Alli down and the golden chance was lost.  Rooney then saw a free-kick saved by Lloris and, as against Spain, England were finding it difficult in the attacking third, with their final pass never quite right.  A typical example came when the impressive Clyne went down the right, clear of the defence, only for a poor cross to be easily cleared.

On 31 minutes the England skipper so nearly broke the deadlock.  Kane's great pass sent the record breaker clear and Rooney's fierce shot went agonisingly close, but the wrong side of a post with Lloris beaten, the nearest to a goal so far.

England were playing well though, with plenty of good control and movement and with six minutes of the half remaining they finally broke through, and what a cracking goal it was too.  Alli made a crunching tackle to win possession for England and then moved forward to take a return pass from Rooney.  Alli continued his forward run, looked up, and fired in a tremendous shot that flew into the far top corner with Lloris left groping thin air.  What a way to open your goalscoring account for your country!

Two minutes after the goal another bad French clearance gave Kane another chance but this time the goalkeeper saved the shot, and then just before the break Sterling jinked his way into the box, but his final shot was deflected wide.  The corner was cleared but England thoroughly deserved their half-time lead.

At the start of the second half France brought on Paul Pogba and Kingsley Coman to try and pep up their attack, whilst England brought on Jack Butland for Hart in goal.  It was soon obvious that France meant business as the pace of the game quickened, but within two minutes of the restart England doubled their lead.  Again Alli won possession in midfield and sent Sterling scampering down the left.  For once the pass inside was perfect as Sterling's cross found Rooney at the far post and the skipper's volley was too hot for Lloris to handle.

That goal was a real setback to the second half plans of the French and four minutes later Kane almost made it three with a fine shot that again went just the wrong side of the post.  At the other end Martial produced a mazy dribble that took him right into the danger area, but Alli was there again to make a crucial saving tackle.  Pogba was already showing his class and he was now at the heart of the best French play.  With Olivier Giroud also now on as a substitute, France were looking to their key players to find a way back.  England were standing firm though, and very disciplined in their play.  Gary Cahill was working well with Stones and both Clyne and Kieron Gibbs were outstanding in their full-back roles.

On 59 minutes a piece of magic from Pogba almost pulled a goal back as his delightful chipped shot only just cleared the England crossbar, and then, as France increased the pressure, Pogba set up Martial with a clever back heel, but Butland was quickly out to block the shot.  It is very comforting to note that the England goalkeeping position is in very safe hands with both Hart and Butland on top of their game at the moment.

England's impressive workrate continued throughout the 90 minutes and for the remainder of the match they cleverly kept France at arm's length, and yet broke forward positively when given the opportunity.  More substitutions came and went for both sides but the game continued in an exciting vein and there were some very good performances from the England players.  Kane never stopped working, Clyne was superb up and down the right and Rooney showed all his class and experience with his touch and vision.  And in young Alli, England seemed to have found a real gem.

The last action saw Pogba fire a shot over the crossbar as the French, to their utmost credit, kept going right to the end.  It all made for a very enjoyable game on a night when two great football nations joined forces to show how this wonderful sport can bring countries and people together.  It was a night that over 71,000 spectators in the stadium and the millions watching on television will never forget.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
BBC Sport
RateTheRef.com
FFF.fr
Allezlesbleus.free.fr

Mike Payne - football historian and contributor
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