A woeful England failed to find the killer touch in a disappointing 0-0 draw with Algeria on Friday, putting them under huge pressure to beat Slovenia in their final World Cup group game.
Fabio Capello’s team, under the cosh already after their much-criticised 1-1 opener against USA, struggled to find any rhythm and gave the ball away far too easily, doing little to silence their detractors. They were booed off the field.
With the United States and Slovenia drawing 2-2 earlier, Group C is finely poised. Slovenia have four points, with England and the USA on two and Algeria with one.
It was a poor performance from Capello’s team with players looking tired and devoid of spark.
The big news ahead of the game was the axing of West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green after his blunder against the USA with veteran David James taking over.
Gareth Barry also returned from an ankle injury, but he struggled and was largely ineffective.
England couldn’t get going and Algeria was seeing plenty of the ball.
In a last role of the dice, Capello brought on Shaun Wright-Philipps for Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe for Heskey and Peter Crouch for Barry, but despite picking up the pace the breakthrough remained elusive. — AFP