Played at Venue: Green Point Stadium, Cape Town; Date: 18 June 2010
England's World Cup hopes hang in the balance as they were held to a disappointing draw by Algeria after a wretched display in Cape Town.England v Algeria Match Report
England gave another insipid display as they drew 0-0 with Algeria in Cape Town to leave their hopes of progressing out of the group stages of the World Cup in the balance.
England head coach Fabio Capello made two changes to his side, with David James replacing Robert Green in goal and Gareth Barry taking the place of James Milner in midfield.
The early stages saw both sides trying to show attacking intent, without being able to string too many passes together.
Goal attempts were few and far between, with England skipper Steven Gerrard trying his luck from distance on a couple of occasions, being unable to extend keeper Rais M'Bolhi.
Just past the half-hour mark England's best chance fell to Frank Lampard, after an Aaron Lennon cross had deflected off Emile Heskey, but the Chelsea man's low drive from 15 yards was saved by M'Bolhi, who then dived on the loose ball.
Barry and Wayne Rooney both found M'Bolhi with long-range efforts as a poor first 45 minutes drew to a close, with Algeria having enjoyed plenty of possession without creating any openings.
The second half began with England showing a little more intent, but woeful efforts at crosses from Heskey and Gerrard saw two openings go to waste in the opening ten minutes.
Just before the hour mark Jamie Carragher was booked, meaning that he will miss the final Group C clash with Slovenia, before Capello brought on Shaun Wright-Phillips for the ineffectual Aaron Lennon.
Twenty minutes from time Heskey passed up a half-chance when he opted to try to find Rooney rather than shooing on goal and England's only on-target attempt in the second half saw Gerrard's weak header collected by M'Bolhi.
Capello threw on Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch in a bid to find a late breakthrough, but the former's long-range drive over the top was the closest England came to an undeserved winner.
England v Algeria line-ups:
England: James, Johnson, Carragher, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lennon, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Heskey.
Subs: Green, Dawson, Crouch, Joe Cole, Warnock, Upson, Milner, Wright-Phillips, Defoe, King, Carrick, Hart.
Algeria: M'Bohli, Bougherra, Belhadj, Yahia, Kadir, Yebda, Lacen, Halliche, Boudebouz, Ziani, Matmour.
Subs: Gaouaoui, Mansouri, Ghezzal, Saifi, Djebbour, Bellaid, Laifaoui, Guedioura, Medjani, Mesbah, Abdoun, Chaouchi.
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
England v Algeria Full Highlights Video (21.09 mins)
or
England v Algeria short Highlights Video (05.51 mins)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment