International Football England 1 France 2
The difference in score was 1, but the difference in class was immense as France showed England how to play football on a cold and rain swept evening at Wembley.
England seemed to run out of ideas within 15 minutes of the first half starting as France denied them time and space on the ball.
France for their part had no such problems as they stroked the ball around midfield with Nasri being at the centre of most of the good things that happened.
England coach Capello gave débuts to Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson in a side that looked like it was missing many key players. Taking advantage of the friendly he was trying to see if any new stars could emerge from the youth ranks.
France took the lead when Karim Benzema scored at the near post after creating enough space for himself to get a shot away.
They then made a second when Steven Gerard failed to follow the run of Mathieu Valbuena into the England penalty area and he swept in a cross from the right.
To be fair England gave a better performance in the second half and managed to grab a consolation goal late into the game when Peter Crouch volleyed a corner into the roof of the net.
Crouch had only been on the pitch for a few minutes after coming on late into the game, replacing Steven Gerard who hobbled off injured. Crouch has an amazing goalscoring record for England and this goal was his 22nd in 41 games, many as a substitute.
France will be disappointed with how the game ended but can be satisfied with their performance as they look to rebuild their team and their reputation after what was another shambolic World Cup performance that has seen them tumble down the FIFA world rankings.
Photo: Martin Pattitt
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