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 [...]

C’mon, Romania!!! Oh, and France, too.
If we can get a win today at Serbia, our fate is still in our own hands. Our guys can do that. Right?
According to Raymond when asked about the starting XI, « Tout est possible », but l’Equipe is expecting Domenech to go [...]

When it makes the Guardian, it has some legs to it, and the story is that Henry and Doms had a bust-up.
Following the match that ended in a 1-1 draw at the Stade de France versus Romania, Henry reportedly charged Domenech with a lack of style. Henry reportedly stated that the players were uninspired [...]

France’s lineup was something like this:
Gignac
Henry Gourcuff Anelka
Toulalan Diarra
Evra Escude Gallas Sagna
Lloris
With Henry and Anelka, it was a bit like a 4-2-1-3, but it was essentially the France formation (4-2-3-1).
And although it looks to me like Domenech is picking just about the right players, the team play is lacking [...]

So apparently Abou Diaby collided with Hugo Lloris in training, causing injury. Now Lloris is “something of a doubt” for the Romania game. This would leave l’OM’s Steve Mandanda as the keeper for the day. What do you think?
And not only that, but Franck Ribéry is also doubtful, having not [...]

New! Shocking! Amazing! Unusual!
Except not really.
Clichy and Diaby are back from injury. Vieira is not called up. Remy merited a recall. Other than that…
No new players on the list for the WC qualifiers against Romania and Serbia. Domenech is obviously assuming that the old guard can get the [...]

What can you say about a match like that?
France kept a clean sheet.
Gignac scored a nice goal.
France controlled the match and created a lot of chances, but by conceding free kicks, they also gave Faroe Islands chances to score, and it could have been a disaster.
But it wasn’t.
I remember the last match in the [...]