England stunned by French comeback

England shot themselves in the foot in their opening game of Euro 2004 as France scored twice in injury time to pinch a 2-1 victory at Estadio da Luz.

Frank Lampard's 38th minute header had set England on course for a priceless victory in Group B and they were desperately clinging on, even after captain David Beckham missed a 73rd minute penalty.

But France turned the match on its head within the space of two minutes in injury time as firstly, Zinedine Zidane rattled home a brilliant free kick and then hammered home a penalty after David James felled Thierry Henry.

The holders were the first to show their attacking intent when Zidane and William Gallas combined to provide Patrick Vieira with a sight of goal but he wildly blazed his shot over with barely a minute on the clock.

England offered a quick riposte as Paul Scholes, after linking intelligently with Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, slipped a pass through to Michael Owen but the Liverpool forward was easily brushed aside by the alert Gallas.

Zidane was then afforded acres of space 25 yards from goal but he sliced his shot wide of the target before Les Bleus came closest to opening the scoring on 15 minutes.

Vieira, displaying a penchant for creativity, whipped in a cross from the right flank and David Trezeguet powered in to glance a header just over James' bar.

Claude Makelele curled a shot over the frame of the goal after tussling with Chelsea team-mate Lampard while only a well-timed tackle from Gallas curtailed Gerrard's probing progress into the penalty area.

Scholes' assiduous attempts to end his England drought only resulted in a hopelessly off-target shot as The Three Lions struggled to keep possession in the opposition half.

Ledley King then proved the wisdom of his inclusion in the starting line-up when producing a timely intervention from Vieira's flick after France had, not for the first time, manoeuvred space on the right flank.

On 38 minutes, England breached a resolute French defence which had not conceded a goal in its previous 11 matches, as Beckham made his first notable contribution of the contest.

After winning a free kick on the right, Beckham curled in a superb set-piece which Lampard headed in at the near post, with Fabien Barthez rooted to the spot.

While Zidane's trickery bamboozled both Lampard and Gerrard, his attacking cohorts Henry and Trezeguet were expertly shackled in the first half by Sol Campbell and the impressive King as goalkeeper James did not have a shot to save.

France were immediately on the offensive after the restart as Henry was presented with his first sight of goal as he chested down Vieira's flick, but volleyed straight at James before a teasing run from the Arsenal ace resulted in the England keeper grasping the cross at the second attempt.

Pires became the first player booked after a hack at Scholes but, from Gerrard's free kick, France broke with menace and purpose with Vieira again teeing up Henry, who curled a shot tamely into the arms of James.

Having minutes earlier been the victim, Scholes then turned aggressor as his well-known inability to tackle brought him a caution for a mistimed lunge on Vieira.

After being subjected to a barrage of pressure for the bulk of the second half, England were handed the chance to kill the game off on 73 minutes due to the vivacity of Rooney, who first robbed Lilian Thuram of possession.

The Everton starlet then surged towards the penalty area and drew a reckless challenge from Mikael Silvestre, with Markus Merk having no hesitation in duly awarding a penalty. Up stepped England skipper Beckham whose fiercely struck spot kick was magnificently saved by his former Manchester United team-mate Barthez.

The French keeper was then smacked in the face by a shot which bounced wickedly from Darius Vassell, who had replaced the ineffectual Owen.

England required some desperate defending in the closing minutes as substitute Willy Sagnol skilfully touched the ball to Makelele whose shot was brilliantly charged down by King.

But in injury time England succumbed after Emile Heskey needlessly fouled Makelele 25 yards out. The mercurial Zidane produced a moment of magic to unleash an unstoppable free kick past a stranded James.

England's misery was further compounded deeper into injury time after a wretched piece of play by Gerrard, whose awful back-pass was pounced on by Henry.

The France livewire beat James to the punch, with the keeper sending Henry crashing to the ground. The ice-cool Zidane confidently approached the ball and smashed it into the corner of the net to give the reigning champions an unlikely win.

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