France v England - PREVIEW
Seconds out for England and France
If it were boxing England and France would be barred from getting into the same ring.
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| England's David Beckham plays with the ball during a training session with his team, 11 June 2004, at the Estadio Nacional, in Lisbon in preparation for the European Nations championship. England will play 13 June its opening game at the Euro 2004 vs title-holder France. |
For footballing heavyweights of the calibre of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, wiping the floor with England's collection of up-and-coming middleweights does not look an overly testing task.
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| France's midfielder and captain Zinedine Zidane (R) vies with Ukraine's Mykhailo Starostyak during their friendly football match, O6 June 2004 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, North of Paris, six days before the beginning of the European championships in Portugal. AFP PHOTO FRANCK FIFE |
A team that has not been beaten in 18 matches or conceded a goal in its last 11 should not have any problem disposing of one that has won just one of its last six.
France's recent record and status as defending champions is mitigated by the memory of their catastrophic World Cup, as well as by a sense that, defensively, the side has started to fray around the edges.
Likewise, England's tendency to fluff their lines in friendlies is offset by an increasingly reliable capacity for meeting their cues when it matters most.
Since Sven-Goran Eriksson inherited the team, England have suffered just one competitive defeat, to Brazil in a World Cup quarter-final two years ago.
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| French midfielder Patrick Vieira (front) juggles with the ball in front of teammate Jerome Rothen during a training session, 11 June 2004 in Santo Tirso, some 25 kilometers north of Porto, one day before the opening game Portugal vs Greece of the European Nations Championships in Portugal. France will play its first match vs England 13 June. AFP PHOTO FRANCK FIFE.. |
Along the way there have been some memorable results: the 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich in 2001, the World Cup defeat of Argentina and the goalless draw with Turkey in Istanbul which booked their ticket to Portugal.
David Beckham talked a good fight on the eve of the showdown.
"The plan is to get right at France in the first ten minutes and not to be fazed by any of their players because I think we've got a great team".
"Personally I think we've got a better team than France. Only in the game will that be proven and we've got to perform well on the day.
Vieira retorted: "The desire in the squad is very high. We suffered after what happened in 2002 and this time we are ready, physically and mentally. If we want to beat England, we know we'll have to work for it".
Teams
France: Barthez - Gallas, Thuram, Silvestre, Lizarazu - Pires, Vieira, Makelele, Zidane (Cap) - Henry, Trezeguet
Coach: Jacques Santini
England: James - G. Neville, King, Campbell, A. Cole - Beckham (Cap), Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes - Rooney, Owen
Coach: Sven Goran Eriksson