WickedDeflection.com had a Euro 2008 fantasy football mini-league, in cooperation with Soccernet.com, and as I was thinking about who I would put in a tournament 11, I cut and pasted the players with point totals of 12 or more. I’m still looking for France players in the list.

Strikers
Lukas Podolski, Germany – 28
Miroslav Klose, Germany [...]

Sad news for a class player.
Lilian Thuram was all set for a move from Barcelona to PSG, until he took the physical. The news was not good.
“I’m holding this press conference not to announce my signing for PSG but to tell you that doctors have detected a heart defect,” said Thuram.
Thuram’s brother died [...]

France, with a preference for being at the heart of all things Europe, is consigned to the role of spectator for Sunday’s Euro 2008 final. Neighbors Spain and Germany will do battle.
Is there a France Supporter among us who isn’t rooting for Spain? You can see brief highlights of the two semifinals here.
How [...]

What to make of this video? Neil posted the link in the comments and thought it was worthy of an embed, on a slow news day. These two get on a fair bit better than some of the commenters on this site; rare exceptions, mind you, we’ve plenty amicable relations, France and Italy, yes? [...]

The verdict on Franck Ribery: Not good, but it could be worse.
The injury was a sprained ankle. He underwent surgery on Thursday, and will have to undergo more surgery to “remove a screw that helps consolidate his ankle.”
Ouch.
He’ll be back sometime in September. I’m guessing probably not in time for [...]

I found this great, funny video on YouTube of our France guys answering questions a month or so before the tournament. Jo from Lyon helped us out by putting in subtitles so it can be enjoyed by English speakers. Enjoy!
(This is a good way to remember that we do have [...]

Les Cahiers du Football had an interesting article last week looking several possibilities for a starting XI for France. I thought it would be fun if I posted those formations here. Do you think that one of these other lineups might have had a better chance of succeeding?

FRANCE A: The Starters (at Euro 2008)
Coupet
Sagnol [...]

…and no, I’m not talking about Domenech (though he crashed too). The most hilarious part has to be the speculation as to whether he was the one driving.

I hate to say it, but this video of France’s team bus is a fairly accurate reflection of the squad’s performance in Swissaustria.

Please tell me this didn’t happen right after the sending off. (I think it did.) I’m not an Italy fan, but I’ve always thought of Cannavaro as a class act. I’d hate to think I’m wrong here. But the text with the photo said:
France’s Eric Abidal, center, walks off the field [...]

As Jeff said yesterday, the gig is probably up for Raymond Domenech. And four names are being bandied about as possible replacements.
Tell us which of the four you’d prefer to see. Or would you rather have Raymond stay? (I’m being serious here. It’s an option.)
Interesting fact about the [...]