GRi Sports 11-02-99

IT WAS going so beautifully until the football started. The mood was better, the tensions that had riven the England

camp appeared to have dissipated, but last night, when the hard work began, Howard Wilkinson's application for

the job of England coach took a wrong turn when his charges were soundly beaten by the world champions.

From here on in, the mere fact that Wilkinson is not Glenn Hoddle will not be enough.

Beforehand, the caretaker coach had made much of the importance of securing a victory to leave the England

players in good heart for the European championship qualifying tie against Poland next month. This

performance, indeed this result, was not quite what he had in mind.

In the second half, in particular, England were utterly outplayed, undone by the guile of Zinedine Zidane, the

strength of Emmanuel Petit, by their own lack of confidence and an increasing tendency to give the ball

away cheaply.

After all the fuss that had met the inclusion of four of the Arsenal back five in the England starting line-up, it

Seemed ironic that their hopes were ended by two clinical second-half goals from their colleague, Nicolas Anelka.

For his first goal, in the 69th minute, he even had the temerity to spring the Arsenal offside trap. For the

second, seven minutes later, he forced his way in front of Graeme Le Saux to poke in Dugarry's cross from close

range.

To put the defeat in perspective, one must remember the quality of the opposition and that the confidence of the

French is at the opposite end of the scale from that of the English after all that they achieved last summer. Yet

England need to improve quickly if they are to have a realistic chance of vanquishing a resurgent Poland and the

Football Association must decide quickly whether to entrust Wilkinson with leading them into that game. His

reversion to a 4-4-2 system was hardly an unqualified success and Anderton looked especially uncomfortable on

the left, unable to supply Shearer and Owen with the crosses on which they thrive.

Question marks still linger over the compatibility of the attacking pair, too, after another game in which they failed

to bring the best out of each other. Even if the coach has changed, then, problems remain. Wilkinson has fixed the

easy things quickly enough - the dreadful public relations, the disunity in the squad and the unhappiness with the

system that Hoddle insisted upon - but his predecessor has left a legacy of shattered belief that the performance

last night proved will take far longer to rectify.  Before the match, there had been an air of expectancy and

optimism that comes with new beginnings. The smell of cordite wafted across the pitch from some pre-match

fireworks, a false promise of a game of explosions and excitement. France, who fielded eight of their World Cup-

winning side, began with the confidence that their achievements have created, but England did not look as though

they would be overwhelmed. With Anelka being caught offside by his Arsenal team-mates, the world champions

were unsettled early on by the vibrancy of Owen and the tireless promptings of David Beckham.

It was from Beckham's curling free kick in the second minute that Adams nearly put England ahead. He muscled

his way in front of Laurent Blanc, but glanced his header just wide from six yards out. Seven minutes later,

Beckham's cleverly weighted pass into the box was nodded down by Shearer into the path of Owen, but his

deflected shot was saved by the outstretched left leg of Barthez. It was the only time the two men combined to

any effect throughout the match.

England were enjoying themselves at this stage, Le Saux tricking Thuram, Shearer unsettling Desailly with his

strength, Adams, Keown and Dixon coping with Anelka with ease. The best that France could muster in the entire

first half was a mis-hit shot from the Arsenal forward, one of six of the Highbury club's players on the pitch, that

Seaman scrambled to his right to gather. As the half progressed, though, the tempo dropped. Ince and

Redknapp began to struggle to keep track of the elusive Zidane and Djorkaeff and, even though Beckham forced a

smart save out of Barthez with a dipping free kick that was heading for the bottom right-hand corner, France

became the dominant team.

Now Petit started to show flashes of the form that made him one of the stars of the World Cup and twice he was

denied by saving tackles and the awkward bobble of the ball as he threatened to surge through the England

defence. Zidane was controlling the game from the centre of midfield and England were beginning to look

vulnerable. Then, against the run of play, they created their best chance of the first half after 31 minutes. Once

more, Beckham was the provider, but when his corner was nodded on by Shearer, Keown could only lift it over the

bar with his weaker left foot from eight yards.

England did not begin the second half any better and the general air of malaise nearly found tangible expression

after an hour, when Zidane whistled a shot just wide with enough venom to make Nigel Martyn, who had replaced

Seaman at half-time, hurl himself to his right.

In the 64th minute, England should have fallen behind. Anelka got behind Adams at last and crashed his shot

against the underside of the crossbar from 12 yards out. He turned away in celebration with his arm raised in much

the same way that Geoff Hurst did in the same stadium at the same end in in the World Cup final of 1966. In

contrast to that occasion, television pictures this time showed beyond doubt that the ball had crossed the line,

but the German referee waved play on. It was another advert for the introduction of instant replay to help the

officials.

If the French were harbouring any sense of injustice, it was soothed away five minutes later. Thuram played a

pass into Zidane midway inside the England half, he flicked it on instantly, Anelka evaded the offside trap at

last, courtesy of Keown, and pushed his shot firmly beyond Martyn.

Things got steadily worse for England. Dixon was carried off in the 73rd minute after a clash of heads and Zidane

swiftly exploited his absence, playing a pass inside Rio Ferdinand, Dixon's replacement, and into the path of

Dugarry on the left. His cross evaded Adams and Anelka beat Le Saux to the ball and poked it past Martyn.

England's fate was sealed. Wilkinson's is in the balance.

ENGLAND (4-4-2): D Seaman (Arsenal; sub: N Martyn, Leeds United, 45min) - L Dixon (Arsenal; sub:

R Ferdinand, West Ham United, 71), M Keown (Arsenal; sub: J Wilcox, Blackburn Rovers, 86), T

Adams (Arsenal), G Le Saux (Chelsea) - D Beckham (Manchester United), P Ince (Liverpool), J Redknapp

(Liverpool; sub: P Scholes, Manchester United, 85), D Anderton (Tottenham Hotspur) - A Shearer (Newcastle

United), M Owen (Liverpool; sub: A Cole, Manchester United, 65).

FRANCE (4-4-1-1): F Barthez (AS Monaco) - L Thuram (Parma), L Blanc (Marseilles; sub: F Leboeuf,

Chelsea, 45), M Desailly (Chelsea), B Lizarazu (Bayern Munich) - R Pires (Marseilles; sub: C Dugarry,

Marseilles, 45), Z Zidane (Juventus), D Deschamps (Juventus; sub: V Candela, AS Roma, 90), E Petit

(Arsenal) - Y Djorkaeff (Internazionale; sub: S Wiltord, Bordeaux, 83) - N Anelka (Arsenal; sub: P Vieira,

Arsenal, 83).

Referee: H Krug (Germany).

Times 11-02-1999

Accra (Greater Accra) 11 Feb

The Sports Supporters of Ghana (SSOG) today assured Ike "Bazooka" Quartey former World Boxing

Association (WBA) champion of their support for him in his Superwelter weight boxing title fight

against the American champion, Oscar De La Hoya on Sunday, February 14 in Las Vegas, United

States.

In a message sent through the Ghana Embassy in the U.S, the supporters said they were confident that once again,

Ghana, through Ike, would have the opportunity to reinforce her position as the best boxing nation in Africa.

"We are confident that by his grace you will surmount this challenge and attain victory over De La Hoya", they said.

Accra (Greater Accra) 11 Feb 1999

Kumasi Asante Kotoko play host to Swedru All Blacks in the topmost encounter of third week ABC Golden

Lager Premier League football matches at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Sunday, February 14.

According to the fixtures released by the Ghana Football Association in Accra today, Accra Hearts of Oak play

Liberty Professionals in a local derby at the El Wak Sports Stadium while Ghapoha Readers welcome King

Faisal to the Tema Sports Stadium.

At the Len Clay Stadium, Goldfields clash with Afienya United, Ebusua Dwarfs host Power FC at Swedru, RTU trek

to Dawu to meet Dawu Youngsters, Sekondi Hasaacas vie with Great Olympics at the Gyandu Park and Okwawu

United sort it out with Bofoakwa Tano at Nkawkaw.

Accra (Greater Accra) 11 Feb.

Black Satellites coach, Dossena Guissepe today released his final list of 22 players for the Africa Under-20

Youth Tournament (Ghana '99) which begins on Sunday, February 21. The team comprises 10 foreign-based and

12 local players.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the coach stated that the selection was based on merit and that there was

no interference or influence from anyone.

The players are :

Goalkeepers : Sammy Adjei, Osei Boateng and Yaw Berko.

Defence : Issah Rahman, Aziz Ansah, George Blay, Akwasi Okyere, Kofi Amoako and Mohammed Hamza.

Midfield : Abdul Razak, Emmanuel Adjogu, Laryea Kingston, Johnson Eklu, Awuley Quaye (Jnr), Theophilus Amuzu

and Abubakari Yakubu

Forwards : Owusu Afriyie, Godwin Attram, Baffour Gyan, Adu-Tutu Skelly, Issah Mohammed and Michael Cofie.

Philip Kutsu and Lawrence Adjei are on standby.

Dossena said he has his squad ready but due to club commitments, four foreign based players - George Blay,

Akwasi Okyere, Michael Cofie and Abubakari Yakubu - will arrive by Monday, February 15.

Mr Joseph Ade Coker, chairman of the Satellites management committee, said Yakubu's team, Ajax of Holland are,

however, refusing to release him on the pretext that he will not obtain a visa back to Holland after the tournament.

He said the excuse the Dutch club is giving "is not true". He said the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has sent a

letter to the world football governing body, FIFA, on the issue and hopes to get the player released as soon as

possible in accordance to FIFA rules.