FRANCE 1-1 ENGLAND

The match was quite lively with offensive attacks from both sides. To be honest, England surprised me as they looked a far more disciplined team on the field, playing quite decent football. They didn't behave like they missed anybody. However, England behaved like Italy of yesterday, putting a lot of players in the penalty box to defend - most of the time 2 rows of 8 players. France had more possessions but found it hard to enter the penalty box. The goal in response to Lescott's first England goal from Nasri was spectacular, entering the goal from such a tight angle near the post, kicking from just outside the penalty box.

The French lack the speed of counter-attacking which they must take advantage of while playing teams with such defence like England and Italy in the subsequent matches. Ribery, Nasri and Benzema should really cooperate and learn to play fast to go offensive and not wait until 8 to 9 players have reached the penalty box to defend. The English on the other hand, have to also be more willing to control the ball more often and not just sit through matches to defend, like what they did in the first half. I believe the Italians defended less than them when meeting the Spanish yesterday.

Well, this is their first match and my take is teams are just playing safe, although I still see some very stupid scenes of getting yellow cards unnecessarily. This is my second EURO2012 match watched and the scoreline is identical. Sigh!