England slump, France feeling the blues while Ronaldo delivers

The World Cup Qualifiers’ all important first leg was played along with many other friendlies. As always, our interest span is in Europe and England. The two main qualifiers were France against Ukraine and Portugal against Sweden. England meanwhile played their friendly against Alexis Sanchez’s Chile.

Here is a review of the three matches

ENGLAND 0—- 2 CHILE

Oh dear. Roy Hodgson’s England slumped to a demoralising defeat as Alexis Sanchez ran riot at Wembley. Often in the past, England’s Wembley record has been quite poor because visiting teams always had the incentive of playing under one of the most glamarous stadiums in the world and always made it an occasion by going all out against the 3 lions. So it proved the case again as Chile came with a clear plan and went all guns blazing against an experimental England line up.

Several players including Southampton duo Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez started for England. Fraser Forster made his England debut in goal. Cahill and Jones were the central defensive partnership while Leighton Baines and Glen Johnson formed the wing backs. In midfield, a duo of Lampard and Wilshere operated behind Rooney. Alexis Sanchez made his mark as early as the seventh minute when he headed in a cross. Leighton Baines was largely at fault for allowing the cross to come in. And then the Chileans largely kept the ball confidently often audaciously playing it out of defence.

England chased and chased but old familiar patterns of not being efficient enough in possession crept up. It was clear that Lampard, Captain on the night, was looking a bit of a spent force. However, England did go close with Jones’ header being saved by Claudio Bravo. And then Alexis’ second half stoppage time goal ensured victory for the visitors. A chorus of boos rang at Wembley. Hodgson has only two games to go (against Germany and Denmark) before Rio 2014. Nervous times indeed.

Man Of The Match - Alexis Sanchez. With the World Cup in South America, the Chilean will surely be a player to watch in the tournament.

UKRAINE 2—- 0 FRANCE

More than the Ukrainian fans, large cheers were from the Irish as France head towards the embarrassment of not even making it to Rio. Roy Hodgson had been mocked when he claimed a 0-0 was a "terrific result" in Kiev. Had England failed to qualify, this would have been an England vs France tie. However, as things stood, ‘Les Bleus’ were left feeling the blues as they lost to a Ukrainian side and a hostile atmosphere in Kiev.

Didier Deschamps went with a midfield trio of Matuidi, Pogba and Nasri with the Manchester City man playing behind Olivier Giroud. Karim Benzema was relegated to the bench while Loic Remy and Frank Ribery started down the wings. Eric Abidal did start at Centre half despite concerns about his form. After 45 minutes, the score remained a drab 0-0. Samir Nasri was completely being shut out of the game and fans were screaming for Mathieu Valbuena , the diminutive Marseille winger. And then disaster struck.Roman Zozulya put Ukraine ahead just after the hour mark. France looked like they’d take a 1-0 deficit back to Paris however things got worse as Koscielny conceded a penalty and was sent off. Yarmolenko made it two from the spot leaving Deschamps’ men needing something truly inspirational in Paris.

Man Of The Match -  Roman Zozulya. He scored one and won the penalty that may just put his side in the World Cup

PORTUGAL 1—- 0 SWEDEN

Guess who? Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid winger made the difference in a very nervy stadium in Lisbon as Portugal edged to a 1-0 lead in the play off against Sweden. It isn’t going to be easy in Stockholm (where Sweden beat England 4-2 last year). Ibrahimovic’s men however were thwarted in Lisbon by an energetic Portuguese display. The midfield pivot of Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso largely dominated the game . Pepe and Coentrao had excellent games. Sweden and Ibrahimovic were largely lukewarm as they struggled to create chances. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal were largely frustrated in the first half.

Moutinho was put through by Merelies before he took it around the keeper and fired at the side netting. Manager Bento was getting increasingly agitated. And then his Captain answered the call with a superb diving header giving his side the advantage ahead of the Stockholm tie. It could have been even better as Ronaldo headed against the cross bar. The marksman was proving unplayable. Ibrahimovic, on the other hand, really needs to up his game if his country want to get to the flight to Brazil.

Man Of The Match - Cristiano Ronaldo. Just as people dreaded the thought of a World Cup without him, Ronaldo conjured up a goal to edge his side closer to Brazil. Job half done.