France had three strikers missing and still had little trouble beating England.

Fabio Capello tried all his forwards and they couldn’t muster a single shot on goal.

No wonder the French are going to the European Championships as one of the favourites, and the English will be watching them on TV.

The fact that the French goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory came from the penalty spot disguised an overall supremacy for a line-up without Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema and Louis Saha.

Coach Raymond Domenech still 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.

“We were able to stop them playing their game, it was more of an intelligent match than a spectacular one,” said Domenech. “We have a solid platform to build on. You don’t go far in a major competition unless you are well-organised.

“Anelka is playing the way we know he can. He is quick, he can hold the ball up well, and he can make runs from very deep as we saw with the penalty. Trezeguet played well as a focal point in the attack.”

With Henry, Benzema and Saha also set to return, Domenech should have an embarrassment of riches by the time he comes to select his squad for the Euros.

Capello won’t have such choices to make. England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria in June and that’s why he has the job.

... contd.