A 32nd minute Franck Ribery penalty condemned Capello to defeat in his second game in charge of England in Paris. It was a forgettable night for the first time captain and the centurion David Beckham as they lost to a more organised French side. As expected Beckham started the match and thereby becoming only the 5th English player achieve 100 caps for his country. Capello opted for 4-5-1 formation with Rooney as the lone man upfront and the midfield containing Beckham, Gerrard, Barry, Hargreaves and Joe Cole. But England lacked penetration and never created any clear cut chances. And even after going a goal behind they did not do a lot. Rooney is not the ideal man upfront as his natural position is dropping off a little and coming behind a target man. France on the other hand were organised and not given a hard time by their English counterparts.
In the second half Capello made 6 changes with Rooney, Gerrard, Terry and Joe Cole making way for Owen, Crouch, Downing and Lescott at half time switching to 4-4-2 while Beckham and Brown made way for Bentley and Johnson. France also made a few changes with Anelka and Trezeguet making way for Cisse and Govou but the pattern of the match never changed and both the goalkeepers were not really tested. France in spite of the absence of Henry, Benzema , Viera looked solid and the match ended with the Ribery penalty being the deciding factor and Capello said in the post match interview he was satisfied with his team saying that he saw a lot of improvement. Its time to move on for the Lions..............
Click here for the Goals:
1-0 Ribery
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