3-5-2 FOOTBALL

  France captain Patrice Evra has vowed to lift the lid on Les Bleus' World Cup woe.   France endured a wretched campaign that culminated in crashing out at the group stage after a 2-1 defeat by hosts South Africa on Tuesday. That came after striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home following a dressing room bust-up with coach Raymond Domenech, before the rest of the squad refused to train in protest at Anelka's expulsion. Evra led the players' strike on Sunday and claims Domenech prevented him apologising to the French public for the infighting that wrecked their World Cup hopes. But the Manchester United left-back insists he will reveal the full story when he returns home.   WORLD CUP    3-5-2 FOOTBALL     MANCHESTER UNITED   Anywhere… Everywhere… We'll Deliver! - NOBLE STAR  

  Fabio Capello says he never considered dropping John Terry after the defender's outburst, and insists confidence is high in the England camp as they prepare to face Slovenia in Wednesday's crunch match in Port Elizabeth. England have had to deflect stories of rifts in the camp following newspaper speculation at the weekend and John Terry's press conference, when the former skipper claimed there would be frank words spoken at a team meeting. Capello has since stated that Terry made a "big mistake" in that press conference, but insisted on Tuesday that he never considered dropping the former captain in order to punish him. Captain Steven Gerrard, who described the game against Slovenia as "do or die'', claimed Terry's outburst is not affecting the players. Gerrard sympathises with the supporters and revealed the team are desperate to put on a better performance. He also denied that he and his team-mates had put pressure on Capello to pick J

Martin Demichelis and substitute Martin Palermo succeeded where Argentina's multi-talented strikeforce had failed as they scored the goals to break Greece's resilience and end their World Cup hopes at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. Demichelis fired home from close range in the 77th minute after his header from Lionel Messi's corner bounced back off team-mate Diego Milito. Palermo tapped in the rebound from Messi's shot to complete the victory a minute from time. It sent Argentina into the knockout phase to face Mexico full of confidence on the back of three successive wins as Greece's best defensive efforts ultimately proved to be in vain. South Korea's 2-2 draw with Nigeria put them through as Group B runners-up. Argentina did not really need to exert themselves as they were virtually guaranteed to progress as group winners before the match kicked off. Messi captained the side after Maradona made seven changes from victory over South Korea but found

South Korea claimed a place in the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time on foreign soil despite being held to a draw by Nigeria in their final Group B match in Durban. Kalu Uche opened the scoring for the African team in the 12th minute and almost doubled his side's lead shortly after the half-hour mark but his powerful strike smashed off the near post. Lee Jung-Soo equalised in the 38th minute and then Park Chu-Young's free-kick early in the second half turned the match on its head. Korea shot themselves in the foot when substitute Kim Nam-Il brought down Chinedu Obasi inside the area midway through the second half. Ayegbeni Yakubu, having missed the easiest of tap-ins seconds earlier, made amends by restoring parity from the penalty spot. The outcome sealed second spot in the group for Korea and a second-round match against Uruguay on Saturday in Port Elizabeth. Argentina, who beat Greece 2-0, topped the pool. Not enough FOOTBALL ??? Click HERE!

France exited the World Cup at the first round stage with barely a whimper after this humbling defeat by the host nation at the Free State Stadium. On a day of drama Raymond Domenech stripped Patrice Evra of the captaincy and handed the armband to Alou Diarra instead. Then the coach, set to be replaced by Laurent Blanc, saw his side reduced to 10 men after 26 minutes of this Group A game when Yoann Gourcuff was sent off. South Africa took advantage with Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela both finding the target. Although Florent Malouda stepped off the bench to pull a goal back France are heading home early. Evra was dropped after the squad boycotted a training session after striker Nicolas Anelka was expelled following a row with Domenech. The Manchester United full-back cut a lonely figure on the bench on another dreadful day for France. It was a bitter sweet win for South Africa as they have become the first host nation to be eliminated at the first round stage of the finals.  

Luis Suarez first-half goal was enough to help Uruguay secure top spot in Group A and progress into second round of the World Cup after a close victory over Mexico, who also qualified. The only goal came two minutes before half-time when Edinson Cavani's superbly floated cross allowed the Ajax striker to head in at the back post. With hosts South Africa unable to alter the goal difference too much in their 2-1 win over France, the result in Rustenburg also put the nervous Mexicans through. Their coach Javier Aguirre made two changes to his line-up, bringing in veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco for his first start in place of the injured Carlos Vela up front, while Andres Guardado was in for the suspended Efrain Juarez. Uruguay also made one surprise change, with Diego Godin dropping to bench in place of Mauricio Victorino. There was a buzz in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium at the start, with most of the noise coming from the fans in green, who outnumbered those in blue. But the Mexicans and

David Villa almost had a perfect night as a goal in each half from the new Barcelona recruit helped Spain get their World Cup campaign back on track. A wonderful individual effort in the first half was followed by a goal forged by brilliant movement off the ball in the second. The only thing missing was the hat-trick to crown the performance as he sidefooted wide a second-half penalty and struck the crossbar early on. Back to their sublime best, Spain's nerves were settled after the early goal and they never looked like letting Honduras back into the game. Fluid and commanding in possession, their passing moves were a joy to watch and Iker Casillas in goal hardly had a touch. The win was vital after the opening Group H defeat to Switzerland and Vicente Del Bosque's side finally looked to have settled into the tournament. BOLA BOYZ    WORLD CUP     3-5-2 FOOTBALL    Anywhere… Everywhere… We'll Deliver! - NOBLE STAR