“The national coach, after the draw in Serbia did not speak about the game in his interview but he spoke about his life and said : “I just want to thank all the people who are supporting us. I Thank my wife too because life is hard. I got around 200 sms (text messages), so thanks to everybody”. It’s a habit for him not to speak about football. Remember the Euro 2008, after the game Italy-France (France lost 2-0) when he asked his wife to marry him.

So after the game, all the TV & radio shows, and all the websites have spoken about this statement and the 200 sms “scandal” because nobody loves Domenech.

48 hours later, i put online a website called “Un sms pour Domenech” which means “One text message for Domenech”. The website allows football fans to send a virtual sms to Raymond Domenech. After only 72 hours, 4000 sms were sent to the website, which welcomed 50.000 visits. This is the french buzz of the week (TV, radio, website relayed the website).

The adress is http://www.unsmspourdomenech.fr”

Best Regards,

Johann Crochet, founder.

Bits and pieces from some of the more repeatable texts currently up:

• Mais RAYMOND dis moi pourquoi PIRES ET GUILY ne sont plus selectionné en EDF !j’ai demandé à ESTELLE et elle m’a souris … j’ai pas compris !! So Raymond, tell me why Pires and Giuly are no longer called up for the EdF. I asked Estelle and she just smiled at me. I don’t understand!
• [..] Tu aimes le golf et tu fais jouer l’équipe de France de foot de la même manière : score minimum!!!! You like golf and you have the French team play football in the same manner: score the minimum!!!!
• Raymond ta lu le livre le coaching pour les nuls ??? si non tu devrais Raymond, have you read the book “Coaching for Dummies”? If not, you should.
• Merci de nous faire rêver Raymond, tes choix sont très judicieux et tu aimes prendre des risques…continu sur ta lancée. Thank you for making us dream, Raymond. Your choices are very judicious and you like to take risks. Continue to forge ahead.
• Raymond personne ne t’aime ! Charlie.M Raymond, nobody likes you.
• Diaby ou Cheyrou plutôt que Toulalan, aux côtés de Lass, c’est mieux ! Change de lunettes ou fais-toi épiler les sourcils si tu vois pas bien… Diaby or Cheyrou over Toulalan, beside Lass, it’s better! Change your glasses or pluck your eyebrows if you’re not seeing well.
• Raymond is a king!!! Please stay. As an Arsenal fan I don’t want the FFF getting any ideas about Arsène Wenger!

“Un Raymond d’Amitié: Raymond et Yoann” – Zizou is replaced in Raymond’s heart.

FRANCE A: The Starters (at Euro 2008)

Coupet
Sagnol – Thuram – Gallas – Abidal
Ribery – Makelele – Vieira – Malouda
Henry – Anelka

FRANCE B: The Backups

Frey
Clerc – Boumsong – Squillaci – Evra
Govou – Toulalan – L. Diarra – Nasri
Gomis – Benzema

FRANCE C: The Rejects

Landreau
Sagna – Escude – Mexes – Clichy
Ben Arfa – Flamini – Diarra – Rothen
Cisse – Trezeguet

FRANCE D: Black Listed, or Out of Form Alumni

Rame
Chimbonda – Givet – Silvestre – Zebina
Giuly – Mavuba – Dacourt – Pires
Wiltord – Saha

FRANCE E: Ready For a Cap

Mandanda
Perrin – Bodmer – Faty – Rami
Cabaye – Diaby – Matuidi
Valbuena
Menez – Gouffran

FRANCE X: Failed to Impress

Letizi*
Mendy – Z. Camara – Reveillere – Jurietti
Faubert – Pedretti – Mavuba – Meriem
Piquionne – Moreira

*Capped but didn’t have Domenech as a manager.

What’s crazy is that even though six lineups were listed, there were several players who just as easily could have belonged but weren’t included because of space constraints (Hugo Lloris, Yoann Gourcuff, Jeremy Matthieu). Also excluded are the younger players who aren’t quite ready (Younes Kaboul, Habib Bellaïd, Jimmy Briand) and those that will come of age in time for World Cup 2010 (Gabriel Obertan, Henri Saivet, Mamadou Sakho, etc).

That’s a LOT of depth.

I hate to say it, but this video of France’s team bus is a fairly accurate reflection of the squad’s performance in Swissaustria.

“Just one thing: for corner kicks, get somebody else than Malou to cover the likely target. Instead, let’s put big Pat Vieira on him, and if he’s not available, oh, heck……Chabal !!!”

I’m not so sure about Vieira. I’ve said before that a not-100% Vieira kind of scares me. But I could get completely behind that second idea: Sébastien Chabal.

Okay, so he’s used to playing with a different-shaped ball. And he may be used to using different rules. And he’s not on Raymond’s list of twenty-three.

But we could work around the first two concerns. And as far as the third? We could…umm… We could say he’s Sébastien Squallaci! Seriously, who outside of Lyon has ever paid attention to what Squillaci looks like? We’ll just say he grew his hair out again! But…but darker this time! And…and he bulked up a bit, with protein shakes and a rigorous weight-lifting program! He’d even answer to the same name. Truly, who would know?

And then we stick him on the field in central defense. And the first time Del Piero comes near? Splat! Chabal… I mean Squillaci flattens him! Camoranesi? Splat! Pirlo? Splat! Zambrotta, Grosso, DeRossi? Splat, Splat, Splat! Toni? Splat! (But not in the face.)

And the he’d head down the field and flatten Buffon, just for fun. (HATE Buffon.) And the ref would come running up to deliver the red card? Splat. Out he goes too.

(I bet that next time, they’d call the handball.)

And then he’d leave the field, to thunderous applause. And Thierry Henry would take the ball and charge down the field and score. And then Benzema. Then Henry again. And then Malouda a couple of times, to get his confidence back. And then Ribery! And then they’d sub in Anelka, and he’d slam home a couple while yelling, “Sulk that, British tabloids!”

And then they’d play the pretty triangle game for the remaining 85 minutes. Because it’s not nice to get greedy.

What do you think? Can we draft Chabal?

One of the newer features is their “Player Updates” which are updated every other day about every single player on the squad. While some of the updates are merely about their performances, others are a bit more personal, and it’s a nice way for fans to stay in closer touch with the players.

Here are some of my favorites from yesterday (these have since been updated):

Jean-Alain Boumsong: Appeared slightly uncomfortable leaving the Letzigrund Stadion in a suit that looked at least one size too small for him.

François Clerc: Has been playing pinball and table tennis in his spare time at the hotel.

Sébastien Frey: The ACF Fiorentina man admitted he was no longer certain if Raymond Domenech regards him as France’s second-choice goalkeeper.

Franck Ribéry: Had a strangely subdued first half, but was the only France player to improve in the second period.

You can read the rest here.

(Guys, don’t answer that.)

First, Djibril Cisse and his son Cassius.

And then it’s Philippe Mexes, caught in an act of idol-worship. Chris, who writes the Roma blog, says he thinks this is from the time he was fresh out of Auxerre and new to Roma. Maybe ‘03-’04? And probably still thinking, “OMG, am I really on the same field?”

(Thanks to Kickette for the first photo find, and Chris for the second.)

(And there’s no actualy nudity here, but I’d recommend against watching this at work. For what it’s worth.)

Oh, also? Just fyi, these aren’t the official jerseys. In case you were wondering.

(Hat tiip to Euro2008 Statistics for the find.)