Outclassed:

Lacking creativity and supply to débutante striker Andy Carroll, England took more than an hour to mount a credible attack. Substitute Adam Johnson's free-kick allowed Steven Gerrard to steal in at the back post, but he could only guide his header onto the crossbar and over.

But by then the damage had been done. Laurent Blanc has transformed the rebellious and unpopular French side of the World Cup into a table-topping unit that played quality football. Les Bleus were unlucky to only have a goal advantage at half time. Florent Malouda's early effort required a fumble from Ben Foster, deputising for Joe Hart between the sticks, With less than quarter of an hour gone, the impressive Yoann Gourcuff tested Foster with a long range effort. The young keeper was up to the task.

France could not be denied for long though. An incisive one-two on the edge of the area between Malouda and Real Madrid's misfit Karim Benzema sent the striker bearing down on Foster. The clinical finish gave the keeper no chance. Blanc was delighted. He ought to have been. He out-thought his opposite number Fabio Capello on every level. "I'm proud of fact we reduced England to not even shot in first half," Blanc said. "I don't think they even had a corner in the first half."

Benzema ought to have added to his tally, but wasted Malouda's fine pass by slicing his shot well wide. France went in deservedly ahead at half time, satisfied, but perhaps wondering how they were only up by one goal.

Jordan Henderson was given a début by Capello. His first noteworthy contribution was an entry into referee Claus Bo Larsen's book for scything down the impressive Gourcuff five minutes into the second half. Shortly afterwards Samir Nasri enhanced his growing reputation with a mazy run into England's area, but rather than shoot, he looked pleadingly at the referee for a penalty that never came.

It didn't matter. Shortly afterwards les Bleus had their second goal. Bacary Sagna's cross from the right-wing was met by a fresh air shot by Benzema before Mathieu Valbuena struck crisply home 2-0 reflected France's dominance up to that point. It stung England into life. A series of goalmouth scrambles brought England within sight of the French net, but no reward.

The goal came after an injury that infuriated Liverpool forced Steven Gerrard off injured. He got a good reception. Thousands had walked out early. Gerrard was replaced by Peter Crouch. Within a minute Ashley Young found Crouch unmarked at the far post. He made no mistake, volleying in from a couple of yards out. It proved to be just consolation and that was all Capello's team deserved tonight.

Assessments:

About thirty thousand England fans voted with their feet ten minutes before the end. Capello was upset about it, but stressed that the match was about developing for the future. "I'm really happy with the performance [of Andy Carroll]," Capello said. "He will be important for the future. During friendly games you have to play young players, because you have to look for future. We found really good players like Carroll. This is important for future. The others players will play next friendly game, because they need experience."

But England had injury worries too. Liverpool was furious that an agreement that Gerrard would only play an hour was ignored. He came off injured with just over five minutes remaining. "Gerrard needs scan on hamstring," Capello said. "Agreement was play an hour if it's possible." There were bigger problems though. England were outclassed. "I think France play very well in the first half," Capello said. "We missed a lot of passes and played only long ball for Carroll. It's important for me to see young players."

Meanwhile, Blanc was extremely satisfied. "The result is very, very positive," he said. "Very pleased with way my team played. Bossed the first half. Very, very positive from tonight. The way that we played was the most positive. In spite of the little time we had to prepare we managed to impose our philosophy. We wanted to keep the ball on the deck and I was pleased that we were able to penetrate in the forward areas."

But what about England's performance? "I think it was difficult to envisage how England would set up," he said. "I'm used to see them with two up front, but I think they wanted to pack the midfield and win the midfield battle, but I think we very much won the midfield battle. We were surprised that they only played one up front. It's difficult to attack if you don't have the ball."

Blanc may have been disappointed that his demand that all players sing the national anthem was not followed, but he also keeps his team firmly rooted in reality. "We're still building for sure," said Blanc. "Something like this gives confidence. Still got big test against Brasil in February, but you guys are impatient; we all are, but we are still rebuilding."

On this display England have more rebuilding to do than France, who also gave youth a chance.