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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

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 [...]

I believe the Brits refer to the upcoming matches as “squeaky bum time.”
(Oh, please. Don’t blame me. I didn’t create the expression.)
To get our minds off of how much these upcoming qualifiers really, truly matter, here are a couple of videos you might enjoy.
First, best video game [...]