It hurts to get so close 17/06/04 | by TrickyMatt

My pre-match prediction for our battle royale with the French was a somewhat optimistic 2-1 victory for the three lions. "Somewhat optimistic?", I hear you say. Well, I was encouraged by the fact that Sven was preparing to go with Lampard and Gerrard in the middle of the park, a move I have been campaigning for a while. I was still unhappy with the fact the Defoe was not topping up the tan in place of the infuriating Owen, but nevertheless, I could smell victory. How close we were.

The first half performance was excellent. Especially considering the ability of the opposition, the holders. The crisp passing, especially from Paul Scholes, filling in well on the left, shackled the forward advances of Vieira and Zidane, whilst allowing Rooney to patrol in dangerous French areas.

Rooney deserves a special mention. His tireless work-rate combined with superb technical ability in confined spaces made Europe stand up and take notice. For all of Rooney's good work, we can say very little in the same ilk for Michael Owen. Now lacking the devastating pace that was showcased at the World Cup in 1998, Owen seems to be lacking the general qualities of an all round player to progress. This is a player who is reported as wanting £100,000 per week, a sizeable increase on his current £60,000 per week deal at Anfield.

No player on earth is worth that kind of money, but if we are to compare, it is obvious to say, Real Madrid are more likely to come knocking on David Moyes' door rather than the door of Rafael Benitez when looking for a new striker. Of course, I am more that willing to accept my journalistic failings if Owen proceeds to light up the tournament with a volley of impressive strikes. Unfortunately, when the opposition were top notch, Owen looked frightfully out of place. What concerned me more was the distinct lack of effort.

The most disappointing factor for me about the second half was how deep England played. England had gone ahead in a half where we were continuously in the French half through general retention of possession. Hence when Beckham was fouled, he was well into the French half. The resultant delivery from the free kick was classic Beckham. Lampard's header oozed confidence from a player who has matured admirably in the last 12 months or so.

I recognise that England were cautious of giving Henry space behind the defence to attack. I also recognise that England were cautious of letting Zidane and Pires influence the game behind our midfield and in front of our defence. One should also note that the game plan almost worked.

My contention is that if we had shown a bit more courage going forward, I believe we could have punished France, as we so nearly did with Beckham's penalty. The way Rooney skinned Lillian Thuram and Mikael Silvestre was a joy to behold - if we pushed up a bit more to give Rooney the ball further up the crown green bowls of a pitch, then maybe Mr Beckham would have had a chance to redeem himself with another penalty.

To conclude, an impressive first performance, and I wouldn't rule out a repeat in the final, as Pires himself has predicted. Of the other teams, Spain have been particularly impressive, and are a potential quarter-final opponent. I am off to the pub now in anticipation for the Swiss game. My prediction, and England win by at least two goals. Optimism reigns!

« Euro 2004