England opened their Euro 2012 campaign with a hard-fought 1-1 Group D draw against France at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk. More
90+4' Well, that's that. England will certainly be the happier team. Unambitious, but it's mission accomplished. Next up in Group D - Ukraine v Sweden, kicking off at 19:45 UK time.
90+3' Benzema!! Fires a skidding shot that bounces just in front of Hart, who makes a less-than-convincing save. But it's good enough.
90+1' Walcott comes on for Welbeck, who has worked hard without reward tonight.
84' Two French changes - Marvin Martin and Hatem Ben Arfa on for Yohan Cabaye and Florent Malouda.
80' Cabaye! A corner is half-cleared to the Newcastle midfielder, who shows great technique to get over the ball and strike a beautiful shot from the edge of the box that Welbeck deflects wide! Superb effort.
78' Oh my giddy aunt. Jordan Henderson is coming on for Scott Parker. Yikes.
77' England change: Jermain Defoe on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
70' Yellow card Ashley Young, who has not had a great game. Slides in late on Benzema.
46' And we're under way again, with France kicking off, now playing from right to left. No personnel changes from either Roy Hodgson or Laurent Blanc.
45+1' That's half-time and it's one apiece. England led for nine minutes, but can have no complaints about the French equaliser.
39' GOAL!! Nasri! France level! Told you he was playing well... He picks up a lay-off left of centre, just outside the box, and drills a powerful low shot inside the near post!
35' DIARRA!! Nasri drills in the free-kick, Diarra leaps highest and his powerful header is parried by Hart! The ball is forced towards goal again, but bounces just wide!
33' Ox flies into a challenge on Debuchy. Bit reckless, that. Free-kick and a yellow card for the young winger.
30' GOAL!! JOLEON LESCOTT FOR ENGLAND!! Gerrard whips in a free-kick from the right and it finds Lescott who escapes Diarra and powers a header past Lloris!
16' Cabaye bends a shot from 25 yards, and Hart has to dive low to his left to repel it. This game starting to open up.
15' Terrible miss Milner!! Young plays him through with a perfect ball, Milner takes it past Lloris but cannot find the empty net from the left-hand side! England should be one up.
1' Terrible, terrible countdown to kick-off over the PA system, and we are under way! England kick off, playing from right to left in all-white. France are all in blue.
16:55 As well as this matchcast, you can join Patrick Kluivert and Olivier Dacourt for a live chat along with the game. They are working for Eurosport TV, and you can send them your questions throughout the game. LIVE CHAT: Kluivert and Dacourt
16:15 Oddly, the internet in the Donbass Arena is hopeless, but if he gets some signal Tom Adams will be tweeting throughout proceedings. Tom Adams - @tomEurosport
16:15 So, what do you make of Roy Hodgson's team selection, in particular Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain over Stewart Downing? Contact me on Twitter - @alexchick81
16:05 ENGLAND: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Parker, Gerrard, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Young, Welbeck... Subs: Green, Butland, Jagielka, Baines, Jones, Henderson, Downing, Walcott, Carroll, Defoe.
16:05 TEAMS: FRANCE: Lloris, Debuchy, Evra, Rami, Mexès, Cabaye, Ribéry, Nasri, Malouda, Diarra, Benzema.... Subs: Mandanda, Carrasso, Reveillere, Koscielny, Clichy, Valbuena, Matuidi, M'Vila, Martin, Ben Arfa, Giroud, Menez.
90+3' Benzema!! Fires a skidding shot that bounces just in front of Hart, who makes a less-than-convincing save. But it's good enough.
80' Cabaye! A corner is half-cleared to the Newcastle midfielder, who shows great technique to get over the ball and strike a beautiful shot from the edge of the box that Welbeck deflects wide! Superb effort.
39' GOAL!! Nasri! France level! Told you he was playing well... He picks up a lay-off left of centre, just outside the box, and drills a powerful low shot inside the near post!
35' DIARRA!! Nasri drills in the free-kick, Diarra leaps highest and his powerful header is parried by Hart! The ball is forced towards goal again, but bounces just wide!
30' GOAL!! JOLEON LESCOTT FOR ENGLAND!! Gerrard whips in a free-kick from the right and it finds Lescott who escapes Diarra and powers a header past Lloris!
16' Cabaye bends a shot from 25 yards, and Hart has to dive low to his left to repel it. This game starting to open up.
15' Terrible miss Milner!! Young plays him through with a perfect ball, Milner takes it past Lloris but cannot find the empty net from the left-hand side! England should be one up.
16:55 As well as this matchcast, you can join Patrick Kluivert and Olivier Dacourt for a live chat along with the game. They are working for Eurosport TV, and you can send them your questions throughout the game. LIVE CHAT: Kluivert and Dacourt
16:05 ENGLAND: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Parker, Gerrard, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Young, Welbeck... Subs: Green, Butland, Jagielka, Baines, Jones, Henderson, Downing, Walcott, Carroll, Defoe.
16:05 TEAMS: FRANCE: Lloris, Debuchy, Evra, Rami, Mexès, Cabaye, Ribéry, Nasri, Malouda, Diarra, Benzema.... Subs: Mandanda, Carrasso, Reveillere, Koscielny, Clichy, Valbuena, Matuidi, M'Vila, Martin, Ben Arfa, Giroud, Menez.
get england out
ggg
HEY FRANCE
to Vasudev Nicola Rizzoli, was man of the match the ref lol
its a pity the ref didnt play a fair game instead of trying to impress mr platini who so happens to be french,not one yellow card for the french yet they were fouling every time england got the ball
England are not killing the game. Its called TACTICS. if the other team cant score from the way England play then id say France should have changed their TACTICS. Spain played 6 midfielders to counter the 'Park the bus' tactic. But why play attacking when we can play better defending not conceeding and then attacking on the break. If you dont like the way they play and are not interested in winning the Euro then dont watch them then come on the internet to write about it. We will fustrate all the teams with the way we play, but its them that have to adapt not us. If they dont make England pay for playing to many in defence and England keep their undefeated status with Roy then they arnt going to change because a fan who knows nothing about Football thinks its boring. I want England to win or at least prove everyone wrong and make it to the semi's so carry on the way we are make gerrard more attacking and play Walcott not Milner and we will have more of a threat on the break with quicker players.
The one question most fans want to know is why Rooney will not sing the National Anthem he wants the money and celebrity status being an England player brings him but disgraces himself and especiallythe England team its time this overpaid diva acts his age or give his place to someone who is proud to be part of England and all it brings him.
I still have headache.
@493 Ha ha ha. what a joke. the way england killed the game there will be a new award - Villain of the Match- that is Roy Hodgson!!!!!
Walcott is a right wing midfielder / striker, class player that must start in the first 11. Whats wrong with a 4-3-2-1 formation?
England is killing football. Roy should invent new system. He should play 9-1-1 instead of the 4-4-2. EPL is alive and interesting due to foreign players.
why no man of the match?
jeez do you expect hodgeson to magically turn our players into wonder players? they are not anywhere near the top of the tree in skill terms however the manger can forge a team which performs above the sum of it`s parts by good selection and tactics. hodgeson is 3 games in and already they look superior to cappelos bunch. give him time and we will see progress.
#441 John 441.´One thing is certain. Abramovich will never employ Hodgson as his manager - Abramovich wants to play attacking entertaining football!´ - John, is that the same Abramovich who´s Chelsea side parked the bus, lorry, Titanic in front of Barca and Bayern??? - think before you post mate.
Three geat mysteries to solve; The Bermuda Triangle, What happened to Lord Lucan and how has James Milner played in all 3 of Hodgson's games so far? Expect someone to come on here and say 'James always puts a shift in.' Can't make the City team, but can still be picked for England. What an ordinary, plodding player he is.
One could say that France was the better team because they had the possession, but England let them have it. France had better chances on goal, that's true, but England defended well. The english players did not run like crazy and that is good because the tournament is long and preserving one's phisical strenght is very important. I'm a bit confused, though, by some of Roy Hodgson's decisions. I think he ought to have brought Wallcott and Defoe in much earlier, maybe at half time to keep the french alert at the back with some fast breaks. I'm much disappointed, though, by the refereeing. The referee took so many decissions against England in the middfield and thus put pressure on the English players. I think Cabaye should have been booked in the first half for 3 or 4 fouls, 2 from behind. The decission on booking Oxlade-Chamberlain was way off. I counted 9 errors for the referee out of which 8 in favour of France and just 1 in favour of England. And this is not good. I hope England gets a better refereeing in the games to come and I mean by this a fair one. In order to go to the next round they should get at least 5 points so they shoul up the pace a bit against Ukraine and/or Sweden. It's a tough group but they've got their chances. Go England!
This is as much an experiment as an attempt to win a trophy.Hodgson has the next world cup in his sights,by using younger players he is seeding the team for the future.I think he's right to do it and yet he is still going to have a fair crack at this tournament ,and who knows?.He is only five minutes into the job but has a long term plan and that must be to his credit, because when the world cup arrives,the present doubters will be out in their droves again,asking why a younger,tried and tested team is not ready.Hodgson has done nothing wrong since taking the job, so back him and our team.
England defensive style should be solid for 3 points from 3 games, pity that'll make them 3rd in the group.
DEFOE !