France World Cup Blog » World Cup 2006

Its a beautiful day: President of the French Football Federation Resigns

Sarah — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:24:56 +0000

How’s your ego feeling now Jean Pierre?

After years of mistakes, coverups and refusing to change a broken system Jean Pierre Escalettes has finally resigned as President of the French Football Federation. Needless to say- I think this has been a long-time coming – the problems France had at the World Cup were neither sudden nor unpredictable. They were issues that manifested themselves over a series of years without being dealt with or addressed. As President of the Federation, Escalettes perhaps is not at fault for all that went awry (to put it mildly),but he was certainly in a position to prevent the explosion had he been willing to set aside his own pride. So, Jean Pierre: Let this be a lesson to you as I’m sure that resigning as a public disgrace has sent your ego through the ringer. You had many opportunities to correct your mistakes (namely keeping Domenech)-but you wanted to save face. The only happiness I have found in this situation is to now watch everything blow up in your face! I cannot say its not deserved as us fans have been dealt blow after blow since 2006. Good Riddance!

More details to come….

Les Bleus broke our hearts…and (as fans) we deserve better

Sarah — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:54:20 +0000

With the events over the past few days, its easy to feel like the Bleus have turned their back on the fans

*Post written to the tune of Everybody Hurts by REM…audio at bottom of post (below the jump)*

Please note: The timeline of events has been updated thanks to additions and clarifications made in the comments section of the post. Credit to Justin, Sandrahn and Jennifer!

I’ve been a fan of the Bleus since 1998, ever since the team’s glorious World Cup win in Paris – I became a passionate fan of the Bleus after their infamous first round exit in the 2002 World Cup. But, the feeling of losing so miserably after such joyous feelings and high expectations upset me, and formed my desire to follow the team until the day they would avenge the past and win the World Cup again. With each year I’ve become more enthralled with the Bleus- and though I joined the France-mania in 1998, I’m hardly a fair weather fan who jumped on the bandwagon. Since 2002,I can count the number of games I’ve missed on one hand. At times, it’s even mysterious to me how I have developed such a strong connection with Les Bleus. There have been a lot of times when I could have abandoned the team because the Bleus are not always an easy team to love. Growing up in Texas (the founder of freedom fries), it was hardly a passion that was encouraged and I’m pretty sure I was the only one on the France bandwagon. Even outside of those cultural issues, both the French Football Federation’s as well as the team’s performances and behavior the past decade have alienated even their most ardent supporters. In 2006, France fans were given a brief reprieve when they managed to string together 3 magnificent performances in a row (Spain, Brazil, Portugal) to make it to the finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. For reasons we all know, we did not win that Cup. And it is clear that without a miracle, we will not win it this year either. And it breaks my heart. Really.

There are differences in fans’ dedication levels. Bandwagon or fair-weather fans will get excited and follow teams only when they’re playing well or during big competitions such as the World Cup. But hardcore fans get very connected emotionally and dedicate themselves to the team every year, despite its record. These people experience powerful emotions from watching the team and support them through the ecstasy of winning and the agony of defeat. These are the types of fans which seemingly live and die with their favorite teams and athletes. In any match, scenes of one fan throwing back their head in desperation are juxtaposed against the opposition’s supporters jumping up and down in jubilation. While the Mexican fans broke our their sombreros and tequila (before you accuse me of breaking out an ethnic stereotype, some of them actually did that), France fans experienced a barrage of emotions: sadness that their team was most likely going home in the first round, anger that the players didn’t seem to care, confusion over why a team of talented players could create neither a credible offense or defense and frustration that had the FFF made changes in 2008, this could have been avoided.

That bond is a two-edged sword. A win by your favorite team can pick you up, but a loss is demoralizing (to say the least). Beyond losses, fans can feel a personal connection to players, which is why when even “off the field” scandals like Frank Ribery’s occur, fans can feel betrayed. There’s a lot in my relationship with the Bleus that I’m not proud of. I’ve cancelled lunches and dates at the movies because a game was on. My temper has snapped like a twig more than a few times and I’ve yelled at everyone in the room when the pundit misrepresented or distorted game or a player, or when one of my friends had the audacity to chat during a game. Of course if we won, it’s shots for everybody…

As a France fan, I’ve experienced many great and unforgettable moments. But as Bleus supporters know too well, there have been too many moments when they find a way to break your heart. When I saw Fabio Cannavaro and the rest of the Italian team raise the Cup in 2006 and heard the celebration from the Spanish fans in 2008, it was gut-wrenching. But neither of those can compare to what I have felt since the game against Mexico on Friday.

Since then, the shit has really hit the fan and I have felt more like I was watching a soap opera unfold rather than a team of world-class professionals participate in one of the biggest events in their career. While it was clear going into this tournament that all was not well, I never would have imagined that things would spiral out of of control this quickly. We all knew Domenech was not the right man to lead the Bleus for this tournament – that was abundantly clear in 2008. But, for reasons they have yet to explain, the FFF declared he was the appropriate man for South Africa. Since then, the atmosphere surrounding a team has resembled a country about to break into civil war. The FFF were pitted against both the public and the their famous alumni who repeatedly (every chance they got) denounced the FFF and Domenech. For most of the two years, Domenech has taken a majority of the hits and criticism. And while he is certainly not blameless by any means, surely we can all agree that there is enough blame to go around. But the lack of transparency and the team’s insistence of shrouding everything in secrecy has made it difficult to determine how to assign the blame. Instead, we are left to put the pieces together by a dramatic press corps who seem more interested in selling papers than writing the truth, a team of players whose oversized egos result in them constantly deflecting and blaming everyone else, Domenech who is clearly clueless and has no clue what is going on and how to fix it as well as the Federation who appear willing to do almost anything to salvage their reputation. And yet none of these people appear willing to take any responsibility for the position we are in now. And what position is that, you ask? Let’s just summarize the events of the last few days…

Friday, June 11

France settle for a draw in their opening match against Uruguay, picking up several yellow cards in the process.
Gallas boycotts the media, reportedly because he disagrees with Domenech’s decision to make Patrice Evra the team’s captain instead of him.
Malouda is reportedly dropped from the starting line-up against Uruguay for his honesty in a press conference, signaling there there is unrest among the team.

Tuesday, June 15-Wednesday, June 16

The press report that there are factions among the players who are squabbling over power and tactics. Ribery, Gallas and Anelka are identified as the primary instigators of the problems in the team.
According to the press, Yoann Gourcuff has been alienated by his teammates. It is reported that he often eats alone and doesn’t speak to many people on the team. In a press conference, Captain Patrice Evra states (paraphrasing) that Yoann never speaks to him and that if he wants to talk to Gourcuff he has to go through Toulalan. Bleus alum, Bixente Lizarazu, implies that Yoann may not fit into the group because of his privileged background, which makes him “too nice and too polite” to fit in. The day before France’s 2nd game against Mexico, the division is reported to have grown so much that Anelka and Ribery refuse to pass the ball to him. It is said that they are pressuring Domenech to replace both Gouvou and Gourcuff in the starting 11 (the replacements reported include Henry, Valbuena or Malouda).
Eric Abidal in a press conference admits that his and Gallas’ central defense partnership needs to improve- though he primarily appears to be talking about their on-field communication, the press speculate there maybe off-field issues impeding their ability to work together.

Thursday, June 17

France loses 2-0 their game against Mexico and Jeremy Toulalan picks up a 2nd yellow, suspending him from the final group game against South Africa
Gourcuff is dropped from the starting XI vs Mexico- reportedly because his teammates won’t pass the ball to him. He is replaced by Malouda.
Immediately following the game, some French press speculate that Domenech asked Henry and Cisse to play the second half and they refused.

Saturday, June 19

On Saturday, France Football report that Anelka and Domenech get into an argument at the half time of the Mexico-France game in which Anelka tells Domenech to “Fuck off, you son of a dirty whore.” The press report that is why Anelka was immediately substituted by Domenech for Gignac.
The FFF announce that Nicholas Anelka has been dropped from the team after he refused to apologize for his statements. The FFF state that this decision was supported by Domenech as well as the team who voted to exclude him.
Nicholas Anelka releases a statement denying the quote attributed to him in France Football, but acknowledges that he and Domenech did have a heated discussion. He insists that the conversation should have been kept in confidence, states his love for the team and extends his support to ALL his Bleus teammates.
Evra appears in a press conference with a representative from the FFF. It is said that Domenech has refused to speak to the press. Evra does not condemn Anelka and appears to be more upset about the events being made public. He states that there is a “traitor” in the team’s midst- though he remains ambiguous, the fans and press speculate he could be referring to Domenech, Gourcuff or a member of their training staff.
The press report that Zidane is instigating problems by pushing for a particular line-up that doesn’t include Gourcuff and Gouvou through Ribery and Anelka. The papers report that initially Domenech seems open to the change until he hears the source of the idea is Zidane.

Sunday, June 20

The France team travels to the training grounds but refuses to train. The players arrive without shoes, indicating they had no intention of ever training. When Patrice Evra explains this to a member of the training staff, he and the staff member have to be pulled apart by Domenech as they get into a fight in front of the press.
The team signs autographs for fans but refuse to speak to the press.
Once they completed signing autographs, they board the bus and have conversation with Domenech with the curtains drawn. After 20 minutes, Domenech reemerges to read a statement from the players of the team which says that they are boycotting training in response to the FFF’s dismissal of Anelka. They state that Anelka was dismissed based on speculative press reports, that they made no effort to clarify the actual events that happened or to support the team and they did not consult the players over the decision. Importantly, the statement of the players indicates that all members of the squad agreed to boycott the training “without exception.”
Later that day, the trainer who was videotaped getting into a fight with Evra was interviewed on TF1 about the event. He denies the insinuation made in the press that Evra accussed him of being the “traitor” in the squad. He says the argument was over his frustration with the players decision to not train because he had just finished setting up the cones for the session and creating drills for the players to complete.
Frank Ribery and Domenech appear on TF1 where Ribery acknowledges the team’s failures and expresses his regret for not living up to the expectations of fans but continues to emphasize that the team believes there is a “traitor” who wants the team to fail. Ribery also denies getting into a fight with Gourcuff and Domenech seems to mock the idea that Gourcuff could get into a fight with anyone because of his serene personality. Sports Illustrated report that Ribery “burst onto the set” of Domenech’s interview. SI also report that Ribery knew of the team’s plans to boycott the next day’s training when the interview was pre-taped, calling into question the sincerity of his apology to the fans.
Team Director Jean-Louis Valentin resigns in the wake of the training boycott, stating his displeasure with the team’s decision.
Anelka’s club teammate John Terry defends Anelka, stating he is an honorable person and a great teammate.
Anelka’s other club teammate, Didier Drogba, remains ambiguous when asked about the situation. He admits exchanging texts with Florent Malouda but says that the French squad do not typically discuss intra-squad issues with people outside the squad.
Bleus Alums – Zidane, Makelele, Aime Jacquet, Lizarazu - condemn the team’s decision not to train. They complain that the players should show more “respect for the shirt.”
Gourcuff’s former teammate Marouane Chamakh defends Gourcuff on French television, describing him as both a good teammate on and off the field.
French President Sarkozy also condemns the team’s decision not to train.
The FFF issue a statement stating there will be an investigation into the matter.

Monday, June 21

The Bleus resume training, though their training gear does not contain any of the names of the sponsors who are reportedly considering withdrawing their sponsorship.
In an interview, Blanc admits being offered the Inter-Milan job but states he turned it down because he thought he could help Les Bleus improve whereas the Inter team was already a success
Domenech calls players’ strike “an aberration, an imbecility, a stupidity without name”
Henri Monteil, General Secretary of the FFF, reports that the younger generation of players are reported to have apologized to Domenech and asked for forgiveness for their behavior.
RMC reports that Planus is one of the ringleaders behind the training boycott, alongside Ribery, Evra, Gallas and Abidal.
Blanc is alleged to have asked the FFF to put a clause in place that allows him to leave his post at his discretion.
Gallas, Evra, Henry and Abidal are rumored to be out of the team’s starting XI for the last group match. It is unclear if this was a decision made by the FFF or Domenech alone- though it is rumored to be a result of their role in the events leading up to the final group game against South Africa. Toulalan is also unavailable due to picking up two yellow cards in the previous matches.
Zidane denies trying to influence the formation of the team, emphasizing that even when he was a player he did not dictate the team makeup.

Tuesday, June 22

Le Parisien reports that a douzen players on the team did not support the boycott which the paper suggests that Abidal, Gallas and Malouda spearheaded. Though the paper indicates a dozen players were not comfortable with the idea, they only list Gourcuff, Lloris, Mandanda and Valbuena as opposing the idea. L’Equipe suggests the players against the strike included Lloris, Govou, Mandanda, Clichy, Squillaci, Sagna, Diarra, Gourcuff, Malouda, Valbuena and Toulalan.
Papers reports that Alou Diarra, who will be replacing the suspended Toulalan, is the most likely candidate to wear the armband in France’s final group match. Diarra is the current captain for Bordeaux in Ligue 1.
FFF confirm that if eliminated in the first round, the French team will not receive any bonuses for participating in the World Cup.

Did I miss anything? Because over the past few days, its become increasingly hard to keep up with the conflicting accounts and turns of events. Even if we had months to prepare, I’m not sure that would be enough time to mend the damage that has been done in the past few days. To have come this far to do THIS, it is heartbreaking. And while I’m not naive enough to think that the team can possibly overcome this and band together against the FFF and the press- I am hopeful that some good can come out of this debacle- including a full house cleaning starting with the FFF at the top. Because things have to change and it can’t just be Blanc. If anything, it has become clear over the past few days that Domenech is not our only problem. And I for one am ready for a larger, structural change- because as Les Bleus fans, we deserve it!

2010 World Cup Friendly: Tunisia vs. France Preview

Sarah — Sun, 30 May 2010 17:13:10 +0000

REMINDER: Liveblog begins 10 min before match is due to start!

Today the Bleus take on Tunisia in their second friendly before the World Cup. Their first game against Costa Rica was largely a success last week, and the team will be hoping to establish a positive streak of games going into the tournament this summer. If you missed the Costa Rica game, check out Jean-Francois’ post-game review and player ratings and (as Jeff mentioned in the comments section) you can watch the replay on ESPN360. The more entertaining, offensive style displayed at times by France against Costa Rica was a breath of fresh air- I will admit, I’m anxious to see if the team can now play this well consistently, instead of just flashes of greatness.

And while games against former French colonies tend to breed enormous tension and can (at times) become hostile environments for the team- this one is expected to go peacefully. In fact, given the reception they received when they arrived in Tunisia, the France players can expect to receive a rather warm welcome from the home crowd (see picture below the jump).

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MATCH BACKGROUND

RAYMOND DOMENECH MAKES HISTORY

Some of you may know, if you read my post on the front page yesterday on Domenech’s legacy, that tomorrow’s match marks Raymond Domenech’s 75th match in charge of Les Bleus since he was hired by the FFF in 2004, equalling the record set by the much revered Michel Hildalgo. Meaning, that post-Sunday, when Domenech surpasses the record, he will have secured a place in France’s footballing history- though, how we reflect on his reign is still a question mark. For more on this debate, I suggest checking out my original post…

THE CAPTAIN ISSUE

Well, remember a while ago when I proposed a debate over the French captaincy should Henry not be available to serve as captain during the World Cup this summer? Well, that’s not exactly the situation we are in- Henry is technically “available” though for obvious reason, he isn’t the most preferred option for France’s starting XI. Well, according to the Daily Mail (I know, the source makes these allegations automatically questionable), Domenech’s choice over who will wear the armband during Henry’s absence has caused a bit of a storm in the France camp….

In the game versus Costa Rica, when Henry was replaced by Sydney Govou in the starting XI, Manchester United’s Patrice Evra wore the France armband. Allegedly (and again, consider the source), William Gallas took exception to this decision. Now, don’t get me wrong- I admire a lot of things about Gallas. The guy has so much fire and passion. Unfortunately, even at his old age, he hasn’t figured out how to channel and/or communicate this passion to his teammates in a way that motivates them. I think it should be obvious why Domenech didn’t choose Gallas for captain. For starters, the guy has been a question mark and we didn’t even know if he was healthy enough to be included in the team until a few days ago. Second, I think the Arsenal experiment proves that he is better as an informal leader- there clearly needs to be someone on the team to reign in Gallas when he inevitably crosses the line. I think the reports over Gallas’ relationship with several of his Arsenal teammates prove that he hasn’t completely learned his lesson after he had his armband taken away by Wenger. So, given these obvious reasons why Gallas shouldn’t be captain- I’m shocked over his sense of entitlement to the title. For me, this is basically another reason why he wouldn’t be the best choice for the role. Leaders need to have confidence and a winning mentality- but they also need some humility. So, while I’m glad to have Gallas’ experience, fire and passion leading our backline this summer- I fully support Domenech’s decision to maintain his leadership role as an informal one and I actually doubt the validity of the story. When stories about the French team start in the English press- without any mention in the French press- it automatically raises a red flag.

Given the other players on the team, I think Patrice Evra was the natural choice. I adore Jeremy Toulalan when playing for France- but even he has admitted that he isn’t vocal enough to command the respect needed to boss around the huge personalities on the team. Ribery has been passed around in the press as a possible replacement to Henry. I can’t think of a worse idea. The guy is talented and despite my personal dislike of him, I’m glad he’s on the team. That said, I don’t think there is a bone in his body that screams leadership potential. Anelka is another example of this same conundrum- talented, skilled player who just isn’t a natural emotional leader. Ribery and Anelka lead the team’s tactics and offensive strategy- but I question if they have what it takes to emotionally pick the team up and carry them on their backs.

PLAYERS TO DOMENECH: DON’T MAKE US A SLAVE TO THE SYSTEM

As I mentioned before, there was a remarkable difference in the way France played against Costa Rica as compared to their outings in the World Cup qualification campaign and recent friendly against Spain. In the recent player interviews, several of the players were outspoken on their preference for the 4-3-3 formation Domenech deployed against Costa Rica.

“There was an improvement in the way we played. There was a lot more movement around the ball carrier, which wasn’t the case in the last few games, and we were able to find a lot of space,” France midfielder Yoann Gourcuff said. “We spoke to each other a lot, you have to keep talking when you only have three in midfield.”

“We felt free, we didn’t feel like we were prisoners to a system,” Malouda said after the Costa Rica game.

So even though I’m sad to see Lass leave in the manner that he did- with (reportedly) a rare genetic blood disease- I think there is a silver lining, at least for the team, since it has forced Domenech to give up on his preference for two holding midfielders.

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THE OPPOSITION: TUNISIA

Tunisia come into this match after a a year of disappointments. Tunisia are, undoubtedly, a team of talented individuals. But, they have struggled to accurately display that talent as they crashed out of World Cup qualification as well as the African Cup of Nations in January. The Tunisian Federation has been in a bit of a tailspin the last few months and are currently searching for coach- further proof of the complete disarray of the team is the fact that Domenech was being touted (by credible sources) as the next Tunisian coach. Tunisia is probably the team I support the most behind France and the US – so you can imagine my joy at the idea of having to deal with Rayray for a another few years. Until recently, when this story started to look less likely, I was convinced I was cursed.

But despite the chaos, Tunisia will definitely show up with extra motivation to win this match, even referring to this game as “their World Cup.” Interestingly Ligue 1 Talk is reporting that the Tunisian players have announced that there won’t be any unnecessarily rough tackles in the game today, recognizing what is at stake for the French players. There is no doubt that they have the players to win this gam; remember, they started the goal scoring first the last time we played. Yassine Chikhaoui will make his return to the squad after struggling for almost two years with a knee injury. While he probably won’t start, it seems like he is likely to make it on to the field at some point during the game.

For more details on the Tunisian team and a video of the last time France and Tunisia met in Paris check out the Tunisian World Cup Blog (highly recommended).

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TEAM UPDATES: FRANCE

Luckily, France didn’t sustain any injuries in their Costa Rica match and although there was a scare with a Gallas/Cisse tackle earlier in the preparation, everyone seems to have been careful since then. While the team hasn’t sustained any new injuries, the number of baby bleus is multiplying quickly. A week ago, Florent Malouda left the team’s camp to be by his wife during labor for baby #4. A few days ago, Alou Diarra’s wife also went into labor and I’m unsure if he has returned back to the squad in time to be present in today’s match. Congrats to both families!

Regarding today’s lineup, it has been suggested that Domenech will stick with some of his changes that worked in the last game against Costa Rica. Those changes include leaving Henry on the bench (initially), giving Ribery the role he wants on the left and letting Anelka lead the attacking line-up as the center forward. Is it just me or has Domenech been making some great, rational coaching decision lately? Keep it up Rayray (just not in the future with France, the US or Tunisia)! Some of the changes that didn’t work are also likely to be remedied, including replacing Mandanda with Lloris in the goal. As you all know, I love Steve and have tremendous respect for his ability and talent. But, he did not display what he is capable of during the Costa Rica game and (in my opinion) wasted a chance to give Lloris some serious competition. The good thing is that France is very fortunate to be deep in the goalkeeper position. I expect Lloris to start today.

Expected Starting XI (4-3-3): Lloris; Sagna, Abidal, Gallas, Evra; Toulalan, Malouda, Gourcuff; Govou, Anelka, Ribery

Valbuena played well against Costa Rica, but one performance does not make a starter. Part of what makes him an incredible asset for France is his amazing speed- which is a deadly weapon to throw on the field once the other team has begun to tire. I expect him and Diaby to make an appearance in the second half and will be looking forward to them showing everyone their performances against Costa Rica weren’t just beginner’s luck. I really loved the pictures that came out with the team hugging the leprechaun after his goal (below). I felt like the players were not just happy to have scored a winning goal, but they were happy FOR Valbuena to have scored the goal. After a few years of sulking and moodiness, its a nice change….Abidal recently commented that the team dynamic is much improved from 2008 because “no one is here to..kill the atmosphere” (Credit, again, to Ligue 1 Talk).

Henry poised for Euro heroics?

jeff — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:25:08 +0000

We all know what happened in 2002 when France had a team full of attackers coming into the World Cup in blazing form. They had burned too brightly, and they had burned out. Zizou limped out of training injured, and the side imploded, unceremoniously.

Henry, a red-card villain of 2002, is coming in on a different theme this year. Despite scoring a consolation goal, Henry’s Barcelona were recently stuffed 4-1. Henry has often been injured this season and rarely gets a start for Barcelona; his club side that’s been comprehensively defeated in the league to Real Madrid and lost their Champions League semi-final tie to Manchester United.

He should come into Euro 2008 hungry.

That’s the stuff, Franck

jeff — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:26:56 +0000

If Franck Ribery can reproduce a bit of this Bayern Munich form for France this summer, the Champagne will be flowing.

The Spanish commentary to the first Ribery goal: “Por favor.” Please.

Here’s a link that might work better (that Daily Motion link kept freezing on me) with all 4 of Bayern’s goals from the game.

Here, after Ribery’s first goal, the German commentary turns French: “Formidable, incroyable , superbe, Monsieur Ribery.”

European Club Cup – A great warmup for the European Cup of Nations

jeff — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:09:22 +0000

People following football blogs aren’t the sort to let the questionable naming of major competitions be an obstacle to their enjoyment, but it just might help increase interest among Americans if the European Club Cub wasn’t oddly named the Champions League, and if the Euros had a name a bit closer to the “World Cup.”

But while the naming of the tournaments is a bit of a mess, the product on the pitch has been good quality. The buzz from the Liverpool-Arsenal second leg is only just starting to dissipate, and the first leg of Liverpool-Chelsea is tomorrow. Barcelona host Manchester United Wednesday.

Who among the French players will be making the cut and earning starting berths in these semi-finals? Henry might not be able to play. What about Thuram and Abidal? Abidal has been critical of his own form, and evidently put in a request to be benched.

If Patrice Evra turns in yet another good performance for Manchester United, and Abidal doesn’t make it off the bench for Barcelona, would that have any bearing on their chances for France this summer? I can’t discuss French leftbacks without a mention of Gael Clichy, a fantastic player who’s a joy to watch; winning the ball and bombing forward, but Evra, at this point, has surely earned a chance to play for France.

Will Makalele be first choice for Chelsea? His chances are better than Malouda’s. Will Anelka figure for Chelsea? Everything is aligned for Nico to score the goals to secure a couple European cups.

Some light reading after the France-England Friendly

jeff — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:07:59 +0000

Julien Pretot wrote a piece yesterday for Reuters about the game. Trezeguet appreciated the applause from the crowd, but Domenech doesn’t pay attention to the crowd.

Gabriele Marcotti has piece on Domenech on SI.com. Journalists sympathetic to Italy, and Gabriele is Italian, tend to strongly dislike Domenech; which is one of the things I like about Domenech.

France 3, Mali 2

jeff — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:33:23 +0000

France’s second-string side went up 3-0 against Mali today in Paris, and held on to win the friendly 3-2.

We had links to highlights in Daily Motion, but they quit working. Here are some pictures from the game.

France-England

jeff — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:41:32 +0000

Clairfontaine must look like a M*A*S*H unit with all the injuries:

1. France’s great hope, Karim Benzema, has an injured left ankle – Replaced by Trezeguet (Trezegol?)
2. Arsenal’s impeccable right back Bacary Sagna – Replaced by Reveillère
3. The World’s best player as recently as 2003, Thierry Henry – Replaced by Loic Remy
4. France Captain Patrick Vieira has a sore thigh muscle, and is “very frustrated.”
5. Sebastien Frey – Replaced by Nice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
6. Perennially crocked, but hugely talented, Louis Saha
7. Marseille midfileder Mathieu Valbuena

Domenech says he should have picked 45 players instead of just 39, to cover the two games. I’m reading through the Domenech interview on L’Equipe; here’s a good question:

Entre un joueur longuement blessé et un autre qui ne joue plus en club, qu’est-ce qui est le plus grave?

Between a player long-term injured and a player who’s not playing for his club anymore, which is more serious?

Le manque de temps de jeu n’est pas le plus important, les blessures sont plus gênantes. Un joueur qui manque de temps de jeu s’entraîne quand même, il peut se préparer. Celui qui est blessé pendant les six derniers mois, ça fait réfléchir. C’est difficile de l’amener vite en compétition.

The lack of playing time is not most important, the injuries are more awkward. A player who misses playing time is still training, he can prepare. Those who are injured during the last six months, that makes one reflect. It’s difficult to quickly bring him into competition.

Who did the interviewer have in mind when he asked that question? And who is Domenech referring to: injured for the last six months?

Patrick Vignal, our man at Reuters, expects Trezeguet and Anelka to start up front. Now that should be an absolutely mouthwatering prospect. Anelka is into the idea.

Laurie, who’s planning to attend the France-England friendly, is an Anelka supporter, and why not? Here’s a guy who was known universally, fairly or not, as “L’Enfant Terrible;” roughly translated, a spoiled brat, just a few years ago. Those days are gone. I’m still smarting from the assist he had to set up Chelsea’s winning goal over Arsenal yesterday. The current version of Anelka is a combination of blinding pace, brilliant skill, and perfect attitude.

And Trezeguet is just one of the Davids who could be returning like a prodigal son.

France Blog Exclusive – Views from a Proper Reporter covering Les Bleus

jeff — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:57:54 +0000

The name I see more than any other when I’m searching out stories about L’Equipe de France is Patrick Vignal of Reuters. He has the beat covered, and I thought it would be interesting to see if he would tell us about his work and his thoughts about Les Bleus going into Euro 2008. He was completely gracious about answering questions. I started by asking him to tell us about his job and a typical workweek.

Patrick: I’m a Reuters sports correspondent based in Paris, in charge of a five-strong team covering sports both for the international wire and the French-language service. We cover all major sports. I cover mostly soccer but also rugby, tennis, athletics and other sports, including boxing at the Olympics. I staff all the soccer internationals staged in France as well as the Champions League matches but hardly ever Ligue 1 games. I follow the France team at major events (European championships and World Cups). I’ve been working exclusively for Reuters for 19 years. There is no such thing as a typical workweek and the number of stories varies. We do work long hours and are on duty most weekends.

Jeff: When you’re at a small Domenech press conference, obviously there are several French reporters there, but how big is the contingent of reporters writing in English? Do you also write stories in French?

Patrick: When I’m at a small Domenech presser, there are not many reporters writing in English, usually at least three, from the main news agencies (Reuters, AP and AFP) but rarely more. I occasionally write in French. I’m French but my mother’s English and I’m comfortable with both languages.

Jeff: How would you describe your writing style? Writing a fan site is terribly biased – we’re advocates for our team; and newspaper columnists feature their opinions in their writing. Your writing isn’t biased in the same way, but you still convey enthusiasm and opinion in your writing. France supporters are following Karim Benzema closely. After Lyon’s first leg against Manchester United in the Champions League Round of 16 you described Benzema as “an exceptional player” and wrote:

“Lyon’s Karim Benzema stole the limelight with his superb second-half strike. With hardly any space, he swiftly moved the ball from his right to his left foot, smoothly turned and left Edwin van der Sar no chance with a low drive that bounced off the post and into the net. Alex Ferguson, who knows a special player when he sees one, admitted he was impressed.”

Now this is the kind of stuff we eat up. Coming from Reuters, not the first place to turn for hyperbole, it says something to see him described as an exceptional player.

Patrick: On writing style, at Reuters, we are asked to do exactly what you seem to like, which is not to be biased but not to be boring either. If a match is thrilling or a player truly exceptional, we can say so. Bits of colour, descriptive and relevant background are encouraged. We try not be too dull and dry. The blog [http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/] is a place where we have even more freedom.

I asked for his personal opinions about the France team for this summer.

Patrick: France have an exciting new generation coming up and should be a major threat at the 2010 World Cup. Euro 2008 might come a bit too early for Benzema and company but they are so talented that you never know. I think Benzema has what it takes to become just as special as Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) when he was in his prime. Ben Arfa is different, not as complete and more of a winger. He’s not yet the finished article (Benzema almost is) but has great potential.

Samir Nasri is a fine playmaker but he’s been struggling lately and is not even sure to make the Euro 2008 squad. Franck Ribery is a versatile player who can play both as a winger and as a playmaker. He has reached a new dimension since joining Bayern Munich from Olympique Marseille. If Bayern win the UEFA Cup and France shine at Euro 2008, he could even be a strong candidate for the Ballon d’Or.

Domenech has many options with all those new attacking players coming up. The way France play (that’s me speaking, not Reuters) has a lot to do with where Thierry Henry wants to play and who he wants to play with. The most exciting formation would be with Henry and Benzema paired up front and two wingers, to choose from Franck Ribery, Florent Malouda, Sidney Govou and Hatem Ben Arfa. You could also dream of having Benzema as a lone centre forward with two wingers, one being Henry, if only he could be convinced to play there.

That will not happen. France won the 1998 World Cup playing Italian-style defensive football and have continued doing so since. So the days of the 4-2-2-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-2-3-1 or anything with plenty of defensive players and no more than two strikers are not numbered.

I told Patrick that I thought the Vieira-Makalele partnership should be saved for testimonial matches, but he differed.

Patrick: Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele should both play at Euro 2008, providing both are fit. In the future, we could see a more attractive formation with a playmaker, who could be either Ribery or Nasri, playing behind two strikers (or maybe even three, but that may be too much to ask for).

A few nuggets in there from Mr. Vignal. We thank him very much for his contribution to the site, and look forward to reading his stories on Les Bleus in the buildup to Euro 2008 and during the tournament this summer.