Stade de France was all praise for Capello’s decision to have David Beckham in the starting line-up, a proof of which was the loud roar that followed the announcement of his name in the first eleven. The once majestic Beckham was on field until the 62nd minute with his exit also making people stand in respect for his remarkable feat, irrespective the fact that Thuram was 38 matches older and on the same field, such is the popularity of the man.

Apart from those moments of glory there was nothing special about Beckham or his team on the newly laid pitch. Beckham also earned a yellow card for pulling on Ribery’s shirt which was a pure sign of frustration for not able to keep up with his adversaries speed. This earned him yet another laurel, well kinda negative, making him the most worst disciplinary England player with sixteen yellow and two red cards.

The lacklustre performance of the team against a subdued French opponent means that Capello has his work cut out for making the English team a formidable foe on the international level. The names definitely are there in the team but what matters is them playing together as a unit which wasn’t evident for more than a flash of play in France yesterday.

The English would only like to remember this 1-0 defeat as Beckhams hundredth match and forget the rest. It is high time that Capello regroups his team and makes them sweat it out to deliver something better against the Czechs on August 20 in another friendly affair following which they have there World Cup Qualifiers.

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