After a captivating opening to the UEFA Euro 2012 its finally the turn of those in group D to show what they are made of. National pride kicks into gear once again as England face near-neighbours France in the opening match of the group in what's set to be an intriguing and tense contest. Looking through the group itself from the perspectives of both teams tonights game in Donetsk appears by no means a 'must-win' more of a 'don't lose' meaning that for those who took in the cagey affair between Germany and Portugal on match day two, will expect more or less the same in this one.
France go into the tournament stronger than Samson on steroids, a 21 game undefeated streak under Laurent Blanc, with the nightmares of the Domenech era all but a distant memory. Blanc himself of course a winner of this competition in 2000 and a world cup victor in '98 with Les Blues so no doubt in anyones mind's that this is a man capable of delivering notable experience to his troops. In stark contrast to the pumped up French side, England look a little more deflated. The famous media circus that surrounds the national side on the eve of an international tournament putting the surprise exclusion of Rio Ferdinand ahead of anything else.
Racism I suppose is a fashionable subject at present following the panorama 'Stadiums of hate' exposé and predictably the English press have decided to exhaust the story putting further unnecessary pressure on new boss Roy Hodgson. The long and the short of it is the concern that Ferdinand and John Terry together in the same dressing room would create friction within the camp following well publicised incident's in the QPR vs Chelsea fixture when Ferdinand's brother Anton was racially abused by Terry.
Up to this point though Hodgson has remained unwilling to take the media bait, instead choosing to do what very few England bosses have done up to now and focus on the job in hand. Although big names have fallen to injury in the lead up to the tournament, the players expected to start against France and those waiting in the wings give the impression that the element of surprise could work in Englands favour. For the last three tournament's at least its been simple for teams to guess that Gerrard and Lampard cannot function side-by-side, that the goalkeeper is a constant problem since David Seaman decided to hang up his gloves, looking at the side now and in particular the balance gives a different picture.
Joe Hart has proved solid and reliable for Manchester City this past season and in the main more confident than his predecessors. Scott Parker is in autumn of his career but very much in the spring of his form along with wild cards such as Arsenal's Oxlade-Chamberlain and Liverpool's Andy Carroll who incidentally matches France forward Karim Benzema's price tag.
So as the flags go up and pride sweeps the nation let's hope for a good showing from our boys to put the horrific memories of South Africa behind us. It won't be easy but with England bearing the element of surprise it could well work in our favour. Enjoy the game.
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