England won't win the Euro, claims Desailly
June 13, 2012, Wednesday
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ENGLAND will not win Euro 2012 based on its performance in the opening 1-1 draw with France, World Cup and Euro winning defender Marcel Desailly said yesterday.
The 43-year-old told Le Parisien newspaper that he had never seen an English side so physically weak and lacking the will to press their opponents.
"I was not expecting at all an English team so feeble physically," said the Ghana-born French great, who also won the Champions League with Marseille and AC Milan and played in England for Chelsea.
"They made no impact and were incapable of pressing their opponents.
"In my opinion they will not win the European Championship, that is for certain even if they succeeded in limiting the damage in this match."
England took the lead thanks to Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott's header, but was hauled back ten minutes later through club teammate Samir Nasri's clever finish.
Desailly, who claimed that he had been approached by English Premier League club Swansea, said the French would face tougher tests in the matches ahead. They play co-hosts Ukraine on Friday while England takes on the Swedes.
"This was not a test for the French. They cannot really make a judgement of their overall performance in this type of match. They can only say there are some things to correct.
"However, it wasn't a test of a very high level neither in the pressing nor the intensity."
But France is ruing a missed opportunity. "The side that played the most football was France," claimed France coach Laurent Blanc.
That was borne out in the statistics. While the French completed 634 passes, their opponents managed just 307 while having less than 40 percent of possession in what was largely a containment exercise by Roy Hodgson's side.
France defender Patrice Evra compared England's defensive tactics to Chelsea's in the Champions League last season.
"We are frustrated," France defender Evra said. "I think we played much better. In the end it was a draw and we are a little bit frustrated. At times it was like there were 15 bodies on the field at times."
There was a buzz early in the match, inspired by teenage winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on just his second England start, although his influence became more limited. "He's still got a lot of learning to do," England captain Gerrard said. "But playing with experienced players he'll pick that up."
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