June | 2012 | Cbcburke9's Blog

Words from the Desert

Lord, if you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations
why is it that we have tried to house you
in jerusalem, samaria, benares and macchu picchu
babyon, mecca, ephesus and axum?
the heavens cannot hold you
and yet
You
have chosen
us
through Jesus
to be your house
your building joined together to become
a holy temple
Jesus said the time would come
when we would not worship in jerusalem or samaria
but in spirit and in truth
that time has come
yesterday i prayed with 3 japanese ladies
1 from peru
1 from south africa
1 from japan
and the word was fulfilled
Your house
(that is, us)
shall be called a house of prayer for all nations

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Joleon Lescott and England had plenty to smile about after battling to a draw against France in their first match at Euro 2012.

The defender opened the scoring after half an hour in the Donetsk heat with a brilliantly executed header — his first international goal — and manager Roy Hodgson promised the team would improve on this ‘satisfactory’ start.

Lescott was delighted to score ‘the sort of goal you dream about’ and, although Samir Nasri levelled for France before the break, Hodgson added: ‘I hope this gives us a good platform. I’m pleased the game’s out of the way. I’m pleased the players have shown they can cope well at this level.’

Fine header: Joleon Lescott powers past Hugo Lloris to give England the lead in Kiev, sparking celebrations (below)

Among the bright spots in a compact England display was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who started on the left.

Hodgson, who chose the Arsenal teenager ahead of Stewart Downing, said: ‘He deserved it with the way he’s played since coming into the squad, the performance he gave against Belgium, the ability he has to skip past defenders. He’s got the ability to beat people, which is an important ability to have.

‘I said to him before the game that this was a big occasion and that there will be so many more big occasions in the rest of his career. So don’t hang yourself or get hung up on this occasion.

‘Play to the best of your ability and just remember you’ve got plenty of games for England ahead of you.’

Giving them the runaround: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain glides away from Yohan Cabaye and Alou Diarra

Oxlade-Chamberlain, 18, said: ‘Everything is coming as a surprise to me at the moment. I have to remind myself I was one of the original players picked for the squad so I’m here to do this job and have to make sure I’m ready when called upon.

‘I was delighted to get the call and then you have to get your mind around the game. Against a good French side we showed we can stick with them and fight, sometimes in tournament football you will be outplayed and it is about getting the right result.

‘We came looking for a win but we’ll take the draw and get strong going into the next game.’

We’ll take that: Roy Hodgson and Laurent Blanc embrace after the game

After his first competitive match in charge Hodgson added: ‘The conditions were very difficult and both teams showed incredible spirit to keep going as they did.

‘We suffered a good French spell before half-time and that led to the equaliser but we started the second half as we did the first. We looked quite dangerous again.

‘I hope we’ve established ourselves. I’ve had three games. Am I satisfied with those three games and have the players done what’s asked of them? Yes.

‘But we’ve got Sweden now. Who knows? Let’s wait and see. You don’t become a really good team in three matches and 10 training sessions.

Level-pegging: Samir Nasri beats Manchester City team-mate Joe Hart

‘The French have gone 22 games unbeaten and they’ve not done that overnight. It’s been people playing together, getting to know each other’s games.’

Scott Parker, who along with captain Steven Gerrard worked tirelessly in midfield, said: ‘I don’t know if you can win tournaments playing like that but it’s a good foundation.’

Although the England camp were content with a point the French grumbled about Hodgson’s defensive tactics. Patrice Evra claimed his opponents had played like Chelsea in the Champions League

‘We are frustrated,’ said the Manchester United defender. ‘We played much better. They played in the way that Chelsea played against Barcelona.

Stifled: Patrice Evra (centre) was frustrated at England’s playing style, while England were frequently puzzled by the decisions of Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli (below)

‘People laugh. Maybe they want England to play more football but if they win the tournament like that, they will be happy.’

France manager Laurent Blanc placed his mood between ‘satisfied’ and ‘frustrated’.

‘The English were excellent for the first 20 minutes,’ he said. ‘We took a while to get into the game and, as ever, we were punished. But we reacted very well. The fact it was very hot didn’t help for the side that were attacking more and France attacked a lot more than England. We’re not entirely thrilled and not entirely disappointed either.

‘We played our game, albeit not exactly as we wanted to, and were happy not to lose the game. But we wouldn’t have deserved to lose the game.’