Sunday, June 20, 2010
Woeful England draw with Algeria
4:08 PM |
Posted by
Unknown |
Edit Post
Saturday, June 19, 2010 |
CAPE TOWN: A woeful England failed to find the killer touch in a disappointing 0-0 draw with Algeria on Friday, putting them under huge pressure to beat Slovenia in their final group game and stay alive in the World Cup. Fabio Capello's team, already under the cosh after their much-criticised 1-1 opener against the United States, struggled to find any rhythm and gave the ball away far too easily, doing little to silence their detractors. With the United States and Slovenia drawing 2-2 earlier, Group C is finely poised. Slovenia have four points, with England and the USA on two and Algeria with one. "This is not the team I recognise from training or from qualifying," said Capello. "We missed too many passes, lost too many balls. It was not a good game. We have to do better. We have another game to play. It's our last chance to continue in the tournament. The players know what they have to do." It was a poor performance from Capello's team with players looking tired and devoid of spark and captain Steven Gerrard made no excuses. "We're not happy with the performance, we need more if we want to stay in this tournament to the later stages, we need to improve," Gerrard said. "We weren't good enough in the final third to get the breakthrough. "We know the job we've got to do, we've got to go and win the last game and that adds more pressure, but to play at this level you've got to handle it, you've got to play under pressure." Striker Wayne Rooney showed his frustration as he trudged off the field to the jeers of disgruntled England supporters, saying to a TV camera: "It's nice to see your own fans booing you." The big news ahead of the game was the axing of West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green after his blunder against the USA with veteran David James taking over. Gareth Barry also returned from an ankle injury, but he struggled and was largely ineffective. Algeria coach Rabah Saadane said he was expecting better from England. "I don't know what happened to them," he said. "We could have won and so could England. Both had opportunities. "I think it was a match where everyone tried as much as they could and it's a pity it was a draw and a goalless draw at that." Gerrard was the first to trouble the Algerians with a cross-cum-shot that 'keeper M'bohi Rais Ouheb, prefered to Faouzi Chaouchi after their 1-0 loss to Slovenia, had to jump high to collect. James got into the game on 11 minutes when he punched clear a looping cross on his goal line, not entirely convincingly but good enough to avert the danger. Some of the players were nervy and Jamie Carragher's heart would have been pumping even harder after his fluffed clearance had to be stopped by James. England couldn't get going and Algeria saw plenty of the ball. It was clear that Capello, celebrating his 64th birthday, was none too pleased, angrily pacing the dugout. James was tested again when his Portsmouth teammate Nadir Belhadj whipped in a corner under the England bar, claiming it impressively this time under pressure from two Algerians. England finally started to wake up and Gerrard got a shot on target near the half-hour mark before Frank Lampard had a great chance, collecting the ball in the box after some nice build-up play. He unleashed a left-footed drive but the keeper saved. Capello would have given them a piece of his mind in the dressing room but they didn't look much better when they came out, with a scrappy start to the second-half. Gerrard and Lampard sparked some interest when they combined nicely but the Liverpool star's cross was awful, straight to the feet of an opponent when he had three players in the box. To make matters worse Carragher picked up a yellow card -- his second of the tournament -- meaning he is out of the Slovenia match. The cumbersome Heskey, meanwhile, should have done better inside the penalty area with 18 minutes left but his shot was deflected over for a corner. In a last role of the dice, Capello brought on Shaun Wright-Philipps for Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe for Heskey and Peter Crouch for Barry, but despite picking up the pace the breakthrough remained elusive. |
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(59)
-
▼
June
(59)
- Four matches in FIFA world cup today
- Late Argentine goals crush Greek resistance
- Uruguay, Mexico in last 16, France crash out
- Villa double seals Spain's win over Honduras
- Chile beat 10-man Switzerland to close in on last 16
- Portugal rout North Korea 7-0 in 2nd round
- Three matches in FIFA world cup today
- Dhoni plays down talk of ‘payback’ win
- Karachi edge past Quetta
- Brazil beat Ivory Coast 3-1, reach last 16
- Brazil lead Ivory Coast 1-0 at halftime
- Drogba to start against Brazil
- Kiwis pull off stunning draw with Italy
- Denmark crush Cameroon's World Cup hopes
- Netherlands beat Japan, win Group E pole position
- Netherlands and Japan goalless at half-time
- Three fixtures in football WC today
- Woeful England draw with Algeria
- Woeful England draw with Algeria
- England struggle against Algeria
- Bradley's late strike seals US draw with Slovenia
- Slovenia lead USA 2-0 at half-time
- Serbia shock10-man Germany 1-0
- Serbia lead 10-man Germany 1-0 at half-time
- Germany unchanged against Serbia
- Three matches in soccer World Cup today
- Mexico send sorry France to brink of exit
- Greece record historic World Cup victory
- Argentina set for Last 16 after hammering SKorea 4-1
- Argentina lead S. Korea 2-1 at half-time
- Maradona rests Veron for S. Korea clash
- Three fixtures in World Cup soccer today
- Uruguay beat host nation South Africa by 3-0
- History-making Swiss shock favourites Spain
- Spain dominate but held 0-0 by Swiss at half-time
- Chile end 48-year wait for World Cup victory
- Brazil struggle to beat North Korea
- Police take charge after World Cup strikes
- Brazil opt for Italy-based talent against North Korea
- Drogba back as Ivory Coast draw with Portugal
- Last gasp goal grabs New Zealand first World Cup p...
- Italy's title defence off to stuttering start
- Italy trail 1-0 to Paraguay at the break
- Honda gives Japanese historic win
- Late Kuyt strike helps Netherlands beat Denmark
- Robben on bench as Dutch take on Danish
- Three matches to be played in football WC today
- Superb Germany dismantle Australia
- Clinical Germany put squeeze on Australia
- Ghana penalty edges out Serbia
- Koren goal gives Slovenia first World Cup win
- Cautious Algeria, Slovenia level at half-time
- Green blunder pegs England back
- Green blunder sends England back to square one
- Magical Messi inspires Argentina to victory over N...
- Heinze goal gives Argentina half-time lead over Ni...
- South Korea record first win at WC 2010, beat Gree...
- South Korea lead Greece at half-time
- No title
-
▼
June
(59)
0 comments:
Post a Comment