Capello sees positives in England loss

BEIJING, March 28 -- Fabio Capello was left in no doubt just how big a task he faces in turning England into contenders again after watching his side lose 0-1 to France in a friendly in Paris on Wednesday.

After beating Switzerland 2-1 last month in his first match as England coach, the 61-year-old Italian's honeymoon period came to a swift end at the Stade de France when England was ultimately brushed aside by France in the second half.

France had three strikers missing and still had little trouble beating England. Capello tried all his forwards and they couldn't muster a single shot on goal.

The fact that the French goal came from the penalty spot disguised an overall supremacy for a lineup without Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema and Louis Saha.

There wasn't much to be gained from this defeat and the only thing England had to cheer was David Beckham's 100th appearance for his country.

Capello's decision to experiment with Wayne Rooney as a lone striker for the first half failed to produce any real threat to the French goal despite Beckham's attempts to find him with his crosses.

Steven Gerrard, who had a poor game in midfield and was one of four players substituted at half-time, had three scoring chances and failed to test French keeper Gregory Coupet with any of them.

Capello switched from a 4-5-1 system, replacing Rooney up front with a 4-4-2 formation in the second half pairing Michael Owen with Peter Crouch, but they too failed to make an impression.

Capello saw plenty of positives, however.

"As I told the players I am very happy with what they did because we made progress compared with the Switzerland game," he said, referring to England's 2-1 victory over the Swiss at Wembley last month.

French coach Raymond Domenech had Nicolas Anelka and David Trezeguet in attack with penalty scorer Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda probing from behind, and the result was a well-balanced performance that deserved more goals.

Capello won't have such choices to make. England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 - that's why he got the job.

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)