Anybody else feeling edgy?
I’m getting a little tired of reading that this France side aren’t “a spot” on the 1998-2000 side. Time for the lads to debunk that nasty sentiment; and a masterclass today would be a good start.
Join Laurie on this site later today (she’s never missed a match before, and I wouldn’t [...]

France won the first leg of the World Cup playoff away to Ireland 1-0, but the tie is still up in the air.
France were the better team, but they weren’t firing on all cylinders, so they’ll now need to get a result in the second leg in Paris.
The formation didn’t always hold [...]

So President Nicolas Sarkozy went on Facebook to wish les Bleus good luck.
Pretty sure that will be all it takes to push them over the top.
GFC over at The Beantown Frog is cautiously optimistic about this leg of the match, predicting a 1-0 win. I’m hoping he’s right. But everybody also [...]

From the Guardian:
Ireland defender Richard Dunne said, “You can see the reaction of the people at the tennis (Paris Masters), when they put his (Domenech) face on the big screen. The whole place just booed him and his own players laughed at him.”
Extraordinary.
There’s Domenech trying to enjoy tennis when a stadium full of people start [...]

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 [...]