CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The first thing that needs to be stressed after a miserable night in Cape Town is that, despite a 0-0 draw to Algeria, England still will be expected to beat Slovenia on Wednesday and progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
And perhaps that is the problem for England’s players. They have the expectation, the knowledge that they are carrying the hopes of a nation on their shoulders — and, deep down, they are haunted by the fear that they will fail to meet those expectations.
Certainly the pressure seemed to get to Wayne Rooney. Hearing a chorus of jeers at the final whistle from disaffected England fans, the striker said, “Nice to be booed off by your own fans” as he trudged grimly off the pitch.
Fabio Capello remarked soon after his appointment as England manager 18 months ago that the players seemed to find the jersey “heavy.” Last night, as they toiled to the most turgid of goalless draws against Algeria, it looked leaden, so much so that, by the final half-hour, even Rooney’s shoulders had dropped.
It was dire stuff as they failed to break down an Algeria defense that was marshalled magnificently by Madjid Bougherra.
Rooney’s struggles warrant serious investigation because, apart from not scoring for England since September, he has not rediscovered the spark that was lost when he injured his foot playing for Manchester United against Bayern Munich at the end of March.
He, like an England team that excelled in qualifying, seems to have lost his mojo — and it is Capello’s job to help him to rediscover it before Wednesday’s summit with Slovenia in Port Elizabeth.
The day began with a bombshell from Capello, who informed his staff that he had settled upon David James as his goalkeeper in place of Robert Green.
It was a remarkable decision given that the 39-year-old James, for reasons of mood as well as fitness, had been regarded as third-choice earlier in the week. But, having decided on the basis of Thursday night’s practice session that change was necessary, Capello went not for Joe Hart, the heir apparent, but James.
Some may have presumed — or at least hoped — that the identity of the goalkeeper would be an irrelevance against Algeria, but international football just is not like that.
Unless you come across a team that performs as poorly as Australia did against Germany, every game at a World Cup is a battle, first for control and then to impose your quality on the opposition.
At the very least, you have to get the basics right: concentration, applying your technique, competing aggressively within reason. England did none of that in a dire opening half-hour last night, frittering away possession with alarming regularity, too often making the wrong decisions, looking a yard off the pace and making life easy for supposedly inferior opponents.
Fan bursts into
England locker room
An angry fan breached security and burst into England’s locker room at Cape Town’s Green Point stadium after Capello’s team struggled to a draw, AFP reported citing the BBC.
The Football Association officially has complained to World Cup organizers FIFA over the incident.
It was reported that the fan confronted former England skipper David Beckham before being led away by security personnel.
— Times of London
— with NewsCore