There a lot of old faces on the squad, but there are also some players missing, including Franck Ribery and Francois Clerc, who are out injured, and Samir Nasri and Eric Abidal, who were dropped entirely. There is also no one named David Trezeguet on the list.

There are some new faces in the squad, such as Rod Fanni of Rennes (whom I don’t really know much about) and Yoann Gourcuff, the original “new Zidane.” Gourcuff’s presence is especially exciting because for many, he might be the playmaker that France have been looking for.

This game is also a good opportunity for the fringe players to prove themselves. Bakary Sagna, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gael Clichy, Mathieu Flamini, and Hugo Lloris have been handed lifelines, so it’ll be interesting to see how they take their chances.

Full list after the jump.

Gardiens de but:
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Défenseurs:
Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon)
Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Rod Fanni (Rennes)
William Gallas (Arsenal)
Philippe Mexès (Roma)
Bakary Sagna (Arsenal)

Milieux de terrain:
Alou Diarra (Bordeaux)
Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth)
Mathieu Flamini (Milan)
Jérémy Toulalan (Lyon)

Attaquants:
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Hatem Ben-Arfa (Marseille)
Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux)
Sidney Govou (Lyon)
Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
Karim Benzema (Lyon)
Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

Once the download starts, it will take a few hours to complete (depending on you internet speed.)

But once it’s downloaded? Magic.

Zizou is still amazing. His every touch on the ball is startlingly good. Still.

And Barthez is a pleasant surprise. I mean… You know your eccentric cousin? The one who’s disappeared for the last year, and you figured he was a homeless drug addict somewhere? And then he shows up at the family reunion in a three-piece suit and gives you a business card that says he’s the marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company? That’s our Fabien. He’s still the same, and doing okay. And surprisingly still very good at what he does.

And young people everywhere are watching Bixente Lizarazu and saying, “You mean the TV guy played FOOTBALL?!?!”

And everybody else is just… Oh my. Trezeguet… Thuram… Desailly… Blanc… Still our guys. Just…older. (And aren’t we all.) Didier Deschamps goes in for a tackle, and I’m thinking, “Honey, you’re turning forty in a couple of months. That’s going to hurt tomorrow!!”

Yes, they’re older. They’re slower. They’re less precise. (Aren’t we all.)

And yet they’re still the same. If you’re a France fan, you need to watch the video.

And here are a few photos to whet your appetite.

The team

The memories

Still magic.

Aimé, the trophy still belongs to you

So many good years

Gomis, 59′, 86′

Welcome to Laurie’s half-hearted liveblog of the game. Don’t expect all the action, but expect the important bits.

Post-game. Interesting. The teammates certainly didn’t seem overwhelmed with gratitude for Gomis after the game, did they? I think he’s upset the expected order of things a bit with this game.

90 + 3 That’s the game! 2-0, Gomis is amazing, and we had no injuries. Life is good going into Euros.

90 + 2 France have given up on the defense-only thing, which is good. Some beautful attacks coming up the left and then getting switched to Anelka on the right. Going for the magic of the last goal again.

89′ Malouda goes down in the box, no foul but a corner for France. I got IMed by my boss, so I have no idea what happened, but it must not have been anything because the score is the same. Right?

86′ GOAL!!!!!!! Gomis!!! Beautiful team goal, delivered perfectly by Anelka to Gomis, who sends in a gorgeous volley into the net. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!!!

85′ France is playing triangles in their fina [and Laurie comes in after the liveblog to say: They made a liar out of me by going on the attack, didn't they? I couldn't even finish the thought.]

84′ Ayovi sends off a shot whih is cleared easily by Thuram

83′ France seem content to defend, which is stupid against this team. They have some explosive speed and our defense isn’t that good.

82′ Mandanda doesn’t make the same mistake twice. The next time the ball comes close, he smothers it.

81′ Excellent chance by Cortez, who was undefended. France is very lucky that went wide, after passing through three defenders and catching Mandanda totally off guard. Our biggest problems seem to come from defending the players who are close to the goal and ignoring the ones a little further out who come forward to receive the ball and then blast it. It was pure luck that Ecuador didn’t score on this.

80′ Anelka has a one-on-one with the keeper, but he has to shoot under pressure and the ball goes into the side netting.

80′ France concedes a corner. Beautiful delivery to Castro, but he heads it over.

78′ Ben Arfa sends off a pretty missile of a shot. The keeper is lucky in his positioning and sends the ball over the bar. France gets the corner but it goes nowhere, as have all the other set pieces today. Malouda on for Ben Arfa.

77′ France is playing the triangle game in their own final third, which is dangerous with a player like Tenorio. Mandanda eventually blasts the ball downfield under pressure.

76′ Oh, forgot to say that Abidal is in the center for Escude since the half. Malouda coming on soon.

75′ France were looking very good after the goal, but they’re starting to look a little scattered again.

74′ Clerc in for Sagnol to many whistles.

72′ Another dangerous backpass to Mandanda, but he’s up to it.

71′ France is dominating play, but Ecuador looks lethal every time they get the chance to counterattack.

68′ Gomis is impressing the hell outta me. Just fyi. Castro gets booked for taking him down.

67′ Another good drive for France ends with a mis-hit pass from Sagnol. This is starting to worry me.

67′ Dangerous ball headed back to Mandanda by Sagnol(?)

66′ Evra defends Tenorio well by the endline and is able to force him to knock the ball out for a France goal kick.

65′ I’m taking back all of my questioning statements about Lilian Thuram. He is ON tonight.

64′ Borja on, Quiroz off for Ecuador.

64′ Gomis sends a pretty ball to Nasri in the box, but Nasri can’t shoot in time and is immediately surrounded by seven yellow shirts.

62′ The new strategy seems to have become: Send it over the top to Gomis.

62′ Another great opportunity for France, also involving Gomis. But alas, I was typing and didn’t get all the details. But Gomis was involved, and I think Ben Arfa. The keeper came of his line and missed, but nobody could deliver into the open net before Ecuador cleared it.

59′ GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gomis!!!!!!! After trapping and dodging defense, he turns and blast it into the high far corner of the net. Beautiful. Does this mean Cisse or Anelka is out?

56′ I’m starting to worry about Sagnol. His crosses today lack the accuracy they used to have.

56′ Nasri shows he can defend, sliding in to steal the ball from deJesus.

53′ Oooo! Flamini delivers a beautiful ball to Gomis in front of goal, and Gomis just barely sends it wide past the far post.

52′ Gomis gets shoved out to keep him from saving a throw-in, but the linesman is right there and for some reason doesn’t call it. Replay shows a definite shove. Boo, linesman.

51′ Sagnol sends a ball toward the box, but too hard. Out for a goal kick.

49′ Thuram sends a scary backpass to Mandanda, who has to come out of the box but manages to head it out for a throw-in.

48′ Malouda and Clerc are warming up. I think I see Anelka on the field, so it must be Cisse off. Tenorio is back in.

47′ Thuram goes over the top of Tenorio and there’s a head crunch as he goes for the ball. Tenorio is down.

46′ Free kick won by Tenorio close to goal. Mandanda has to fall forward to get the ball, and he does it well.

We’re back. Looks like Patrice Evra is on the field. And Steve Mandanda too. Ooh, and Gomis! Don’t know for who yet. And Flamini for A. Diarra.

45+ 2 That’s the half. Nil-nil. I’d expect to see Flamini and Malouda come on in the second half.

45+1′ Sloppy defending from France leads to a near goal that Frey just barely saves, but he he doesn’t collect the ball and it goes back into danger. Thuram eventually sends the ball down the field after my heart nearly stops several times.

45′ Ecuador are defending very tightly whenever the ball crosses the center line, not giving France much room to move. Nasri delivers a ball over the top to Anelka, but Anelka hits it too early and heads it over the goal.

43′ Anelka is taken down on the right side a few yards from the corner. Ben Arfa takes the free kick, but it goes over everybody and out of play. Poor Ben Arfa.

42′ All of Ecuador’s danger is coming from the left. Mina is good.

41′ Ecuador is relying heavily on defense, putting three and four players on French attackers every time they reach the final third, then relying on Tenorio for the counter. So far it’s working, at least to keep France from scoring.

39′ Cisse dives into a header for a beautiful opportunity, but the keeper is able to bat it away. Barely.

38′ Tenorio gets a breakaway, goes straight at Frey, who comes off his line and misses completely. Tenorio gets by and shoots, but somehow Lilian Thuram is there in time and saves, putting the ball out for a corner. I love Lilian Thuram. The corner goes nowhere.

37′ Tenorio is taken down off the ball. Couldn’t see who did it, but it’s a free kick from the center, mabe ten yards outside the box. It goes way over the bar.

35′ Alou Diarra gets a yellow for whacking down Ayovi.

33′ Okay, we’re back. Since last update, Nasri had a gorgeous high, hard shot straight down the middle that barely went wide left. Anelka delivered a cross from the left directly to Cisse’s head that just barely went over, but he was called offside. (Questionable, in my opinion.) And Ecuador had a free kick from a dangerous area that went straight to Frey.

26′ France is handling the ball well on the ground but losing it whenever they send it through the air. and my screen has frozen up again.

23′ Nasri tries to send the ball through the air to Anelka in the box, but it goes straight to Ecuador.

22′ Players are slipping on the field all over the place. Ecuador delivers the ball over the top and into the box, but Frey is there.

17′ Okay, we’ll see how this goes. The computer I was watching on crashed. Now I’m typing on that one and watcing on the other. A very fast-paced game so far, and the players are drenched in sweat. Anelka and Nasri and Ben Arfa have had some threatening moments.

8′ I am not a fan of Setanta right now. I’ve got the game running on two side-by-side laptops right now in hopes that one will work.

6′ France is on the attack and looking threatening. Anelka came close to a shot and L. Diarra had a shot that went way high.

3′ Sorry, lost the connection and am having major computer problems. Good timing. Back soon.

-1′ My screen is frozen. This does not bode well.

-1 again. What the heck is Frey doing with those sideburns? They look like tuning forks.

-1′ The guys have their arms around each others’ shoulders. Close up on Ben Arfa’s face. He looks deep in concentration. He has to know that this is it. Anelka’s not singing. It’s so GOOD to see Sagnol back!!

-2 Okay, here we are. Coverage. We’re wearing red and white, Ecuador is yellow and blue. The Ecuador National Anthem is playing

-5′ Okay, Setanta is now saying “Next.” We’re next. I have spent the last five minute pacing the floor to work off some of my over-caffeinated energy.

-10′ Okay, these friendlies are when we learn what to do before the pressure of the important games in June. What have I learned? I really shouldn’t have this much caffeine right before a match. Just fyi.

-20′ Lineups for both teams are finally up on this site. France is going 4-4-2, Ecuador 4-5-1.

I think I’ll do a somewhat half-hearted liveblog here, so keep hitting refresh to see major action points — at the very least scores, cards and substitutions. And my Setanta coverage keeps freezing up. If this continues, I’m going to be ticked. What do I pay these people for, anyway?

Starting lineup, from l’Equipe:

Le onze de départ : Frey ou Mandanda – Sagnol, Thuram, Escudé, Abidal – L. Diarra, A. Diarra ou Flamini – Nasri, Ben Arfa – Cissé, Anelka.

Julien Escudé instead of William Gallas in central defense. That’s interesting. And Alou Diarra or Mathieu Flamini instead of Makelele. And no Ribéry, Malouda or Henry, but Cisse, Nasri and Ben Arfa getting a chance to prove themselves. And Anelka too, for that matter.

I’m seeing something between A and A’ here. And I’m not expecting a high-scoring game, or even a huge amount of chemistry. But I would expect to see a whole bunch of second-half substitutions as Domenech works on that complicated chemistry thing.

I’ll be updating this post as the game gets closer, so keep hitting “refresh.”

Streams:
Download flashplayer for this stream.
And apparently Bet365 is streaming it as well. I’m not familiar with the site for streaming, but here’s the link.
Myp2p.eu is listing several links as well. Be sure to download the software beforehand.
Or you can always try the Sopcast site. Click the link, download the software, the check the Live Channels tab to see if you can find the game.

It’s funny. There are multiple videos of Ribery scoring the penalty after Anelka got flipped, but this was the only one I found of the spectacular act itself. But this, with its multiple replays in slow motion, was more than enough.

(For the record, I don’t agree with the sentiments expressed in the video text. But I think you knew that already.)

I was at the Stade de France with my two oldest offspring. It was fantastic fun — much better than being at Parc des Princes by myself last September. We took the Metro out to the Stade and only got lost once. I had to ask directions from some adorable French boys who were wearing face paint and red-white-blue wigs. Fortunately they were at the pre-voice-change age, when it’s still considered fun to help Americans. They even came and found us to point us in the right direction at a later subway stop when we were starting to head the wrong way.

Our seats were just to the side of the goalkeeper, so we had half a great view of the action. But the only thing that really counted happened right in front of us — that spectacular Anelka cartwheel that led to the penalty. It was even more amazing in person. (First thing I do when I get back will be to search out a DailyMotion video.) The ref pointed to the spot, and I’m screaming, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Then I realized that the guy next to me was staring at me like I was an alien.

Damn. I forget sometimes that I’m an American female.

Ribery was the best thing in the game, from my perspective. Not that this is saying much. It’s hard to get the best perspective when you’re watching the game live, especially from a corner. I didn’t think Toulalan had a great game, particularly first half when he gave the ball away cheaply at least four times. Apparently I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I see everybody else has posted player ratings from various sites. I have the l’Equipe ratings up in my room and will post them later. From my perspective, right to the side of the goal, Gallas had a fantastic game — his head seemed to always be connecting to the ball to drive it away from goal. l’Equipe didn’t agree — they didn’t rate him highly if I’m remembering correctly.

And poor Trez. I had such high hopes. But we tried Anelka-Trezeguet in September at the last game I was at, France-Scotland. It was equally sterile. The sad thing is, he did try. I even saw him back defending at one point. But this team just isn’t made for his style of play. It’s sad. My guess is that this was his last chance, ever. But he got the biggest ovation aside from Anelka. There is that.

The guy next to me gave me a great education in French expletives. (Favorites: “Oh la putain!” and “Oh la vache!”) My twelve-year-old has now picked up “Oh la vache!” as a general, all-purpose expression. I suppose he could do worse.

Like a lot of people, I am not convinced by 1-0, especially since the only score was a penalty. This makes me incredibly nervous going into Euros. I can say, “But it was without Benzema and Henry,” but didn’t they both play at Spain? With no goals? I love this team’s ability to get the ball, hold the ball and play pretty. (Despite the fact that England led on possession, France looked better at it. Hey, that counts for me, okay?) But I sure wish they could find the back of the net more often.

I’m down to four minutes now. So let’s see… It was fun to see Beckham’s 100th cap, but they didn’t make much of it at all. It was fun to see Anelka’s ovation when he was subbed out. It was fun to be at a game where they actually won.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

The Guardian’s Paul Doyle summarized the game, “A comfortable win for an under-strength France team that was nonetheless a class above England. Anyone thinking Fabio Capello would bring a quick fix to England’s deep ill has tonight been outed as deluded. Toulalan – my man of the match for whatever that’s worth.”

Our own Rajib liked the look of Anelka, Ribery, and Malouda, but thought the defense had some shaky moments. Eric was hoping for a more impressive win, and lefutur, as feared, thought the game was boring.

Thoughts from your humble correspondent, Laurie, are forthcoming…at some point. It can be a pain to get internet access when you’re traveling.

Just a few thoughts on the list:

Is this really Mathieu Bodmer’s first call-up? For some reason I thought he’d been around before.

I’m happy to see Gael Clichy again. The biggest bright spot in the dreary A’ game last time around was his face during the national anthem. He was aglow.

Good to see Mathieu Valbuena on the list. He’s always fun to watch. And Louis Saha’s back! Think he’ll be A or A’?

From the Italian contingent, Philippe Mexes and Sebastien Frey are on the list. But not Trezeguet. Again.

And Mavuba’s back. Interesting. He fell off my map when he left France, but I guess he’s on Domenech’s again now that he’s back.

Somebody tell me what you know about Mathieu DELPIERRE from VFB Stuttgart and Adil RAMI of LOSC. I don’t know enough about either to form an opinion at this point.

Anything else interesting that you see?

UPDATE: Louis Saha picked up an injury against Bolton on Wednesday. Is this just his luck or what? Called up now is “Florent Sinama-Pongolle (photo), le jeune buteur du Recreativo Huelva (Espagne).” Anybody know anything about this young goal-scorer for Recreativo Huelva in Spain?

Liste des joueurs sélectionnés

Gardiens de But
Grégory COUPET Olympique Lyonnais
Sébastien FREY ACF Fiorentina
Mickaël LANDREAU Paris-SG
Stève MANDANDA Olympique de Marseille

Défenseurs
Eric ABIDAL F.C. Barcelone
Jean-Alain BOUMSONG Olympique Lyonnais
François CLERC Olympique Lyonnais
Gaël CLICHY Arsenal FC
Mathieu DELPIERRE VFB Stuttgart nouveau
Julien ESCUDE F.C. Séville
Patrice EVRA Manchester United
William GALLAS Arsenal F.C.
Gaël GIVET Olympique Marseille
Philippe MEXES AS Roma
Adil RAMI LOSC nouveau
Bakary SAGNA Arsenal F.C.
Sébastien SQUILLACI Olympique Lyonnais
Lilian THURAM F.C. Barcelone

Milieux de Terrain
Mathieu BODMER Olympique Lyonnaisnouveau
Alou DIARRA F.C.G. Bordeaux
Lassana DIARRA FC Portsmouth
Mathieu FLAMINI Arsenal F.C.
Claude MAKELELE Chelsea FC
Rio Antonio MAVUBA LOSC
Samir NASRI Olympique de Marseille
Jérôme ROTHEN Paris-SG
Jérémy TOULALAN Olympique Lyonnais
Patrick VIEIRA Inter de Milan

Attaquants
Nicolas ANELKA Chelsea FC
Hatem BEN-ARFA Olympique Lyonnais
Karim BENZEMA Olympique Lyonnais
Jimmy BRIAND Stade Rennais
Djibril CISSE Olympique de Marseille
Sidney GOVOU Olympique Lyonnais
Thierry HENRY F.C. Barcelone
Florent MALOUDA Chelsea FC
Franck RIBERY Bayern Munich
Louis SAHA Manchester United
Mathieu VALBUENA Olympique de Marseille nouveau

That’s it for me till I get back, unless I can find an internet cafe while I’m there. I know Jeff will keep you informed and entertained about the games.

We should all be so out of shape.

He was there to do some charity work.

“It was a different story on his visit to a local shanty town. His plan to open a sports hall was cut short when, feeling a little worn down by the travelling, he left after just seven minutes when hordes of journalists and locals advanced. But he still had time to miss a penalty against a local politician.”

Zing. Ouch. I think I’ll head off to find some less negative reporting.

A huge thanks to Jeff for taking the reins of this blog while I’ve been busy elsewhere. I’m taking off on Thursday for Europe, where yes, I will be watching our boys play England next Wednesday.

So. Excited.

When I get back, Jeff and I will be splitting the France blogging duties as we head into Euros. It’s going to be a wild ride, so I think it will take two of us.

Next up, The List. So stay tuned.

While I was doing a quick google search about the title to be absolutely certain that “caviar” is masculine, I discovered that caviar is also halal. (Similar to the Jewish “kosher.”) Just fyi. In case you were wondering.

Doumé gave us this clip, along with the word “caviar,” slang for a beautiful, perfect pass. (French football 101. Thank you, Doumé.) I saw the video clip, but didn’t really appreciate it until I was able to watch it occur last night in the run of play. It is SO good to have Willy Sagnol back! Even if he’s not 100% fit, he always seems to put himself in a position to have the time to look up and decide where a pass is going. You don’t realize how rare that is till you don’t have it for a few months. Welcome back, Willy.

Now that I’ve watched the whole game, I’m confused. As a whole, France played well. They controlled the ball fairly well throughout the whole game. Spain is a good, up and coming team, but they didn’t outclass France by any stretch of the imagination. France just didn’t drive forward enough to get enough chances on goal. They didn’t play with any sense of urgency until after Spain scored, when they came alive. Why is that?

Part of it was the subs, I think. Hatem Ben Arfa brought in a whole different energy level compared to Patrick Vieira, and Ben Arfa combined with Benzema is frequently magical. They just didn’t have enough time to create that magic. Question: Did Raymond put Ben Arfa in at right mid? It didn’t occur to me to pay attention till afterwards, but now I’m having memory visions of him coming up the right flank. And this would have freed up Lassana Diarra to go back to central mid, where he seems to be more comfortable. Maybe that had something to do with the energy surge? Can Ben Arfa play both right and left? It would be nice to have another switch hitter like Ribéry.

I’m not writing off Lassana Diarra just yet. He didn’t have a great game, but he was playing out of position. (I think. Where is he playing at Pompey? I’ve barely been paying attention to EPL this year.) It worked to play him out of position at rightback in the Italy game. This? Not so much.

A couple more interesting videos. First, I hadn’t seen the actual booing of the Marseillaise till Saturday night. Wow. Much more intense than I expected. What is it the commentator says? Stupid, ridiculous and disrespectful? (Going by memory here.) I’ll ditto that.

Second is the goal. It looks like Escudé dove for the ball and ended up on his butt, which left Capdevila unmarked for the rebound. (? Is that what everybody else sees?) But there were several Spain players criminally unmarked on the play, so I don’t want to blame Escudé.

http://www.soccers.fr/index.php?s=7a845a10bfa07d5c8f819f929ed27036&showtopic=88057

I’ve only watched the first half so far, but a few things stand out:

1) When this entire defensive line is on, they’re a dream team. Abidal, Gallas, Thuram, Sagnol. Amazing together. At least for 45 minutes.
2) On a related note, it’s so good to have Willy Sagnol back!!
3) I wonder what an offensively-minded Patrice Evra would have done in this game?
4) I’m really uncertain about this midfield. But Malouda had a good first half.
5) Henry wasn’t bad, but Anelka was beter.

I’ll watch the second half and report back. In the meantime, if you download the video, I’d like to hear your thoughts.