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Pearce makes his mark... but the caretaker's ramshackle build-up has a whiff of farce
Posted Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Dailymail

Pearce makes his mark... but the caretaker's ramshackle build-up  has a whiff of farceThe changes to Capello’s pre-tournament plans remained something the Football Association were not prepared to confirm, beyond suggesting that Marbella might not now be the destination for a bit of warm-weather training.

But Pearce clearly wanted to give the impression that he is now every inch the man in charge, even  choosing to select the Under 21 side that will meet Belgium in  Middlesbrough this evening.

When it came to the rather more serious business of an encounter with Bert van Marwijk’s World Cup finalists, Pearce was not giving much away.

Last week he suggested too much had been made of the England  captaincy issue but the question of who would captain the national team this evening was not one he was willing to answer, even though he says he has made his decision.

If there is a concern about Steven Gerrard after battling through 120 minutes of Carling Cup action on Sunday, it is not apparently shared by the Liverpool midfielder, who wants to start.

Pearce has actually succeeded only in increasing the focus on the captaincy by choosing to wait until 10 o’clock this morning to tell a squad as much in the dark about the team he intends to pick.

With Gerrard and Stewart Downing sitting out the main part of Tuesday’s training session and Glen Johnson sidelined by injury, Pearce was working with limited numbers — just as he had been the previous day when those who played on  Sunday also missed the main  session.

It is fair to say this will not be the best prepared England team we have seen — Pearce was not even able to hold an 11-a-side practice match. He was forced to conduct an eight-on-eight game instead.

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    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia