By Myles Palmer
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France 3 Costa Rica 2
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ANELKA must play against Germany on Saturday.
He had a shot saved after nine minutes, three minutes after missing a Thuram flick-on.
A sharp chance but he should have anticipated better than he did.
France had no balance, no focal point in the first half.
They badly missed a playmaker, a Zidane, a Pires, a Vieira.
SOBORIO scored after 14, running onto a simple ball through the middle, an unfunny joke goal for France to concede, even in a friendly like this.
On 34 Anelka burst down the right and took the ball a bit too wide and then unleashed a thunderous shot which the keeper tipped into the post.
Costa Rica were well on top and scored again when Barthez showed us a kamikaze moment on 41.
He came for a right wing corner and tried to punch and missed it and Fonseca headed in.
ON 45, Henry had a tremendous header tipped out of the top corner.
HALF TIME : 2-0 to Costa Rica.
ON 49, Anelka scored a goal that should have been disallowed.
Diarra’s shot was miscued and going well wide but found Henry three yards offside and he passed across the six-yard box to give Anelka a tap-in.
Govou, Rothen and Cisse came on and Costa Rica began to fade and space spened up and Dhorasoo’s square pass found Cisse, who directed his shot low into the corner for 2-2.
Govou missed a sitter and then the keeper saved a bouncing shot from Henry.
At the death, Henry scored the jammiest winner you will ever see.
His shirt was being tugged and he lifted his left leg as Govou’s cross flashed across him and hit his right calf – and ricocheted into the net !!!!!
If the ball had hit a defender’s calf it might have gone into the goal in a similar way for an own-goal.
Henry knew nothing about it, only that the ball had hit his standing leg as he was facing the other way.
So a fluke goal won a lively game.
“I have to be honest,” said Thierry. “I didn’t mean to do that. I tried to get my foot out of the way.”
Overall, a worthy event and a lucky victory by France against a Costa Rica side they might meet again in the World Cup.
Anelka grafted all through the game, which showed ambition.
He is the laziest great striker I have ever seen, but I would take him to Germany.
A World Cup would bring the best out of him.
Anelka has scored 7 goals in 29 games for France.
When he scored against Russia in Moscow, circa 1998, I thought he would go on to score 30 or 40.
Vieira, speaking in English at the airport, was very charming, a fine ambassador for Les Bleus, I thought.
Thinking about Martinique put me in a good mood.
We had the second week of our honeymoon there, after Barbados, and at half-time Jan told me a few things that I had forgotten about that week.
I’VE NOW PICKED my France 2006 World Cup team.
I would use Dhoraso where Aime Jacquet used Karembeu.
Coupet; Sagnol Gallas Thuram Abidal ; Dhorasoo, Vieira Makelele Zidane (or Pires) ; Anelka Henry.
November 8th 2005