England v Algeria

TEAM NEWS

Midfielder Gareth Barry will start for England, having recovered from the ankle ligament damage he sustained six weeks ago. Jamie Carragher is expected to deputise for injured defender Ledley King, while goalkeeper Robert Green appears increasingly likely to keep his place. Manager Fabio Capello has said he is considering starting Jermain Defoe in place of Emile Heskey.
Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi might miss out through injury. Chaouchi, who was to blame for the defeat by Slovenia, had been told by coach Rabah Saadane he would start but he sprained his left knee on Tuesday and is a doubt. Rookie Rais M'Bolhi is on standby, as the long-serving Lounes G**uaoui is seemingly out of favour.

MATCH PREVIEW

England play this game against the backdrop of Table Mountain in the knowledge that failure to win would leave them between a rock and a hard place.
Given the aura of despair that followed the opening draw with the USA, Fabio Capello's side might have preferred the nearby Cape of Good Hope as a venue. Should England lose or draw this match, the likelihood is that they would be left needing to beat a stubborn Slovenia to avoid an early exit.
Algeria would be eliminated on Friday by a second successive defeat. They, like England, were afflicted by a costly goalkeeping blunder in their opening game, with Faouzi Chaouchi allowing a tame shot from Slovenia's Robert Koren to squirt into the net.
Chaouchi is an injury doubt but will start if fit, having been given an immediate vote of confidence from his coach. England's Robert Green might have appreciated a similar gesture from Capello following his mistake against the USA.
Wayne Rooney's bullish assertion that England will beat Algeria is misguided according to the African side, who will target the lack of pace in the English defence.
However, Algeria have been impotent of late, with their only goal in six matches coming from the penalty spot. They mustered a mere two shots on target against Slovenia, offering little to suggest they will ruin Capello's 64th birthday.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
- England and Algeria have never previously met at any level.
- Algeria are the 82nd different country England have played.
England
- England have never lost to an African nation, winning 11 and drawing four of their previous 15 encounters.
- They are unbeaten in their last six World Cup matches, excluding penalty shootouts. England can equal their World Cup record of seven matches without defeat on Friday, set between 1966 and 1970.
- England have not failed to win either of their opening two matches at a World Cup since 1990 - when they went on to reach the semi-finals.
- Manager Capello celebrates his 64th birthday on the day of this match.
- Wayne Rooney has failed to score in his last six internationals, his worst run since 2006.
- James Milner, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard will serve a one-match ban if booked in this game.
Algeria
- Algeria's only win in the last 16 attempts against European opposition was against Romania in December 2000 (W1, D6, L9).
- The Desert Foxes have conceded at least one goal in each of their seven previous matches at a World Cup finals.
- They have lost five of their last six matches without scoring. Their only win - and goal - came courtesy of a Karim Ziani penalty against the United Arab Emirates earlier this month.
- The squad includes 17 players who were born in France.
- Hassan Yebda is one booking from a ban, having received a yellow card against Slovenia.

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
Assistants: Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan) & Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan)
Fourth official: Michael Hester (NZL)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_23/default.stm

With their clash against England looming on Friday, under-dogs Algeria have watched the film "Battle of Algiers", a graphic account of Algeria's bloody struggle for independence from French colonial rule.

"I had never seen it before. It was very moving, and it was very moving to spend the time together. This is the kind of thing we need to do to feel together," 26-year-old midfielder Hassan Yebda told reporters.

England needs Walcott.

at the risk of tempting fate - i'm thinking this should not be too stern a test

a case of win well or face the wrath and venom of the English media

http://atdhe.net/20451/watch-england-vs-algeria

This is a better game to watch than Germany-Serbia.

Ing-gur-land!

Nah this is as equally uninspiring. If today was Friday and I had to start work at 9am, id be thinking twice before getting up to watch future 6:30 games.

it's amazing how slow the all whites are compared to other teams