English Dreams Shattered

As England and France took their positions on the field at Lisbon, no one could have predicted that the end would be, and what the result finally was.

As the match kicked off, England was the one taking charge of the game. The English players sent in some hard tackles to send the message that they were giving their all to win this game. On the other hand, France was the reigning European Champion, and was undefeated in any International game in the past 2 years. So it was an uphill task for England to get past them.

After getting the edge in the major part of the first half, England finally got the breakthrough they deserved in the 38th minute. A perfect ball into box, floated in by David Beckham from the right, was met strong and hard by Frank Lampard, giving England the lead in the game. Before the game, Lampard was hailed as the next superstar for England, and he just proved that point. As the team went into halftime, England looked happier and enthusiastic, while the French were worried about saving their unbeaten run. They could take heart from the fact that England had never won their opening match in any European Championship.

In the second half, the French came in firing on all cylinders, determined to get a hold on the game. England was forced to defend very deep and had almost all 11 players behind the ball. Though France launched attack after attack, the England defence did superbly in countering them. The last minute pairing of Ledley King and Sol Campbell was one to watch out for, and they did their job of keeping Henry and Co. quiet. Then, at 73 minutes, Wayne Rooney was brought down in the penalty box by Mikael Silvestre, giving England a chance of shutting the match out. But it wasn't supposed to be their day, as captain David Beckham's penalty was saved by French keeper Fabien Barthez.

This gave the French some hope of getting back something from the game. Until the 89th minute it seemed though England would run away with all 3 points, even though France was the better team in the second half, with the most shots on goal. Then, substitute Emile Heskey conceded a free kick just outside the penalty box and Zinedine Zidane stepped up. As English fans held their breath, the master himself took the ball and sent it flying into the top left corner, leaving David James watching in disbelief. At this point a 1 - 1 result would have looked fair, for England's great defence and for France's attacking work and coming closer to scoring a goal. But what followed in the last few minutes of the game was simply unbelievable. Steven Gerrard made a mistimed backpass to James, allowing Henry to pounce on it. In an attempt to retrieve the ball, James fouled Henry leading to the second penalty of the game, which once again Zidane scored from, giving France all the points.

One could say England was done in by bad luck, but they didn't help their cause with mistakes and loss of concentration in the last 4 to 5 minutes of the game. On the other hand, France deserved to get something out of the game, but all 3 points sounds a bit lucky. Still England can take heart from the performances of their young guns viz. Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard [except for the back pass].

Also credit needs to be given to the "Hooligans", who even after the loss, didn't cause any trouble and behaved themselves. The game lived upto its hype and the manner in which France won it, even left the French fans in shock!!