Going into the weekend, the emerging story from the World Cup, was that of the traditional favorites of the soccer world, looking like anything but favorites. It must have seemed like an all time low for British soccer fans, to watch England seeming lost and unable to find any rhythm whatsoever. The scoreless draw with Algeria, revealed that all of the star players for the Three Lions, were struggling to get untracked. There really wasn’t any individual who stood out, although Portsmouth Pompey goalkeeper David James made saves, the few times he was called upon to do so. Algeria’s Desert Foxes, made the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and the rest of Fabio Capello’s contingent, seem pedestrian as opposed to powerhouse. For all the sky high expectations that arose out of England’s solid qualification record for the World Cup, it is all on the verge of vanishing into the South African sunset, unless the Premiership posse can suddenly surge against Slovenia, when they engage in Port Elizabeth on June 23. Based on their two matches to this point in time, it might be a good idea to not bet the house, or anything else for that matter, on England escaping with the win they so badly need. An early England exit from the World Cup, would be the ultimate lament for these Lions.
Les Blues, similarly seemed to have reached rock bottom, with their 2-0 loss to Mexico. The French daily sports newspaper L’Equipe, has described them as “imposters”. Others in the media have referred to them as “pathetic”. Their have been strong criticisms of coach Raymond Domenech for quite some time, including those of France all time great, and of one of the very best in the history of the game, Zinedine Zidane. Following France’s first game, a scoreless draw against Uruguay, Zidane criticized the head coach: “He’s not a coach.He picked his squad and he has to make them play together. You must put your ego to one side and work together. Teamwork is the most important thing, and that’s not what we saw during the ( Uruguay ) match.” The 2006 finalists seem lost and unable to take advantage of the obvious established talent that they have, in players like Franck Ribery, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka, and Thierry Henry. There doesn’t seem to be any flow to their game, or any confidence in what they are doing in the course of the contest. Zidane’s comments about Domenech, seem to be completely accurate. The 1998 World Cup champions can perhaps avoid total humiliation, by getting a win against South Africa on Tuesday.