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Call Ups for France vs. Ireland

By: Inara | November 6th, 2009 | 11 Comments »

France’s do-or-die match against Ireland is just around the corner, with the first match taking place on November 14th in Ireland and the second taking place on the 18th at the Stade de France (boo…). I don’t know about you guys, but I’ll be praying extra hard that France don’t screw up against a tough Irish team. Or else Raymond & Friends will be watching the World Cup just like the rest of us – from their living room couches.

Unsurprisingly, there aren’t any big surprises in the squad. Aly “The Teeth” Cissokho gets his first call-up, but it was somewhat expected in light of Gaël Clichy’s injury. Loïc Remy gets the nod in favor of Bafetimbi Gomis, but again, that’s not really surprising because Les Bleus are currently short on wide players. Yoann Gourcuff and Sidney Govou return after missing out on the last qualifiers due to injury.

More notable are the absences. The biggest one is Patrick Vieira, who hasn’t been playing regularly at his club and has also been struggling on and off with injuries. Though his recent performances were positive, Domenech didn’t think it was enough to justify his inclusion in the squad (Vieira is not happy about that, btw). Franck Ribery is still out due to a knee injury, and despite Samir Nasri recently making his comeback for Arsenal after a long injury layoff, he was left out as well.

Totally unrelated, but here is an interesting fact I discovered the other day: Sidney Govou has scored 10 goals for France in 42 appearances. Compare that to Nicolas Anelka, who’s scored 13 goals in 61 appearances. Three less goals with 20 less appearances – and I’m sure Anelka has had more starts as well. It’s weird to think about Govou in a productive light, isn’t it?

Full list after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »


Tags: Patrick Vieira, Player News, World Cup 2010

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The Irish Opponents: Who Will be Playing for Ireland?

By: Laurie | November 1st, 2009 | 21 Comments »

On paper, this shouldn’t even be much of a matchup. France has the players with the big names and the big money.
You know. The ones who get all the press.
Too bad you can’t play a match on paper.
Gardiens de but
Shay Given (Manchester City, Ang)
Keiren Westwood (Conventry City, Ang)
Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe United, Ang)
Défenseurs
John O’Shea ... [read]


Official: The Playoff Opponent is Ireland

By: Laurie | October 19th, 2009 | 39 Comments »

It’s official. France’s playoff opponent is Ireland.
And Raymond Domenech is kissing the boots of UEFA for deciding to seed the draw.
France, the 1998 world champions, 2000 European champions and beaten World Cup finalists in 2006, will have the advantage of playing the second leg on home soil against an Ireland side coached by Giovanni Trapattoni.
While ... [read]


France 3, Austria 1

By: jeff | October 15th, 2009 | 31 Comments »

France are finding a bit of form.
And none too soon.
Domenech has pulled a rabbit out of the hat in Gignac.
Gignac put the match to rest with a sumptuous third.
Benzema got the start up front along with ever-presents Thierry Henry and Sidney Govou.
Stalwarts like Toulalan and L. Diarra made way for Sissoko and A. Diarra.
I think Sissoko missed an opportunity.
The right ... [read]


France-Austria: For Absolutely Nothing but Pride. Leave Comments and Streams Here

By: Laurie | October 14th, 2009 | 22 Comments »

This is it! The final World Cup qualifier! Are you excited?
Yeah, neither is anybody else. Let’s still hope for a good showing.
As Jeff discussed, Serbia’s win over Romania means France has no chance to go top of the group. France’s win over Faroe Islands means that France is guaranteed the second-place playoffs. Our guys have ... [read]


5-0

By: jeff | October 12th, 2009 | 13 Comments »

From FIFA:
“Serbia secured qualification in style, with Nikola Zigic, Marko Pantelic, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Milan Javanovic (2) on target in a 5-0 win over Romania in Group 7.”
Ouch.
We were bettered in the group, but we also won 5-0.
Goals from:
Gignac
Gignac
Gallas
Anelka
Benzema
5-0, and it was almost convincing.
Gignac was the star man. If you have anyone trying to tell you that Gignac is ... [read]


Lineups for Faroes, Plus: Leave Comments and Streams Here

By: Laurie | October 10th, 2009 | 55 Comments »

LES ÉQUIPES PROBABLES
FRANCE: Mandanda – Sagna, Gallas, Abidal, Evra – Govou, L. Diarra, Toulalan, Henry (cap.) – Anelka, Gignac
ILES FÉROÉ: Mikkelsen – Danielsen, Gregersen, Eliasen, Davidsen – A. Olsen, S. Olsen, Benjaminsen, Loekin – Jakobsen – Hansen
I was willing to bet my house yesterday that we’d be playing two DMs, and guess what? I would have won.
Sigh. ... [read]


Serbian Hooligans Could Be the Answer to Our Problems

By: Laurie | October 8th, 2009 | 13 Comments »

Could Serbian hooligans solve all our problems?
From Prost Amerika Soccer:
FIFA have already fined the Serb FA $40,000 for incidents in all their previous world cup matches against France, Austria and Romania, and now they have finally lost patience.
Once more, the authorities have stepped in ahead of a match with Romania. FIFA has warned the Serbs that any further ... [read]


Media stepping up to the plate

By: jeff | October 7th, 2009 | 7 Comments »

Recommended reading from Met:
Here’s a must-read from Amy Lawrence, especially for the comments that follow:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/07/raymond-domenech-france-world-cup
And also:
Has anyone else noticed that Fox Soccer Channel is advertising that they’re carrying both of France’s upcoming matches?
Sweet.
... [read]


No Gourcuff, No Ribery, No Problem?

By: jeff | October 5th, 2009 | 17 Comments »

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, I always say.
And thank goodness for Group 9, because the worst, if France can win at home against the Faroe Islands, will be advancing to the playoffs. As a couple commenters have clarified, the 2nd-place finisher in France’s group will not be the worst 2nd-place finisher, so we don’t have ... [read]



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