L’Equipe has reported that key French Football figures met in secret last weekend to discuss supporting Domenech in some capacity during the World Cup (and by support, they mean limit and restrict his influence and decision making). The “key French figures” reportedly include Frederic Thiriez, President of the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionel); Lyon [...]

Curious as to who Domenech and Henry think are the best in the world? See their votes here. Thoughts? Think Henry let his bias affect his ballot? And Domenech– the man is just full of surprises…

So our pre-World Cup friendlies were just annnounced.
China (93rd in FIFA rankings, in Reunion, date tba)
Costa Rica (44th in FIFA rankings, May 25, venue tba)
Tunisia (53rd in FIFA rankings, May 30 in Tunisia)
Um…yeah. Exactly who I would have picked.

The voice of the French public was a lone voice on the FFF council this morning, as Guy Chambily couldn’t even get a vote on whether to remove Domenech. According to FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes, Guy Chambily received no support from other council members when he requested a vote in this morning’s meeting.
A stark [...]

This is controversial stuff, I realize. I support Les Bleus and even blog about my adoration, but I’m firmly opposed to the current management setup (Domenech), and I’m willing to suffer accusations of being counter-productive to spread seeds of hope, when I find them, that France could have a fresh start before going into [...]

One of the most troubling aspects of the French Football Federation (FFF) retaining Domenech as long as they have is that it felt like a betrayal – like a combination of corruption and incompetence had eroded a recently fine institution. So when I read the comments from the FFF’s Guy Chambily this morning, I [...]

No, don’t get too excited. It won’t happen before South Africa, and it may not happen ever but Goal.com is reporting that the FFF are trying to woo Blanc to replace Raymond after World Cup 2010 (when Domenech’s contract is up). But will Blanc agree, particularly after he was passed up for the [...]

Charlize Theron continues to embarrass herself, Ireland and FIFA throughout the World Cup Draw (alright, maybe FIFA doesn’t need help in that department). Wait, I thought she was representing South Africa, not Ireland? Okay, her longtime partner, Stuart Townsend, is Irish..so I guess love trumps country. But is that really an excuse [...]

Today FIFA announced the 8 teams that will be seeded for the World Cup. If you had been browsing the English news lately, you might have seen a few articles preemptively criticizing FIFA for putting France in pot #1 for the World Cup draw (pot #1 contains the only seeded teams + the tournament [...]