Buoyed by the success of the last 10 years, France Supporters still have faith

c’est encore possible.
on va ce faire une petite finale avec les spaghettis
ensuite on va refaire le match contre l’espagne dans les quarts!
allez les bleus

It may be a blessing in disguise this situation. If RD puts on younger players then he’s also preparing them for WC2010. IS IT FAITH OR WHAT!! France and Italy head to head in almost every single competition. (how often have we played Germany over the last 10 year for example?) Man I hope they beat the Azzuris and get a chance to meet Holland again.

Posted from  Thailand

I have a feeling that this one will be all about mental strength and freshness, and it’s going to be decided pretty quickly with whoever scores first.
You’ll get a hint of who will win just by the body language of the players coming on the pitch.

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 !!!

Je suis un trés grand suportaire de l’équipe de france depuis des années,
je suis un vanuatais un pays du pacific sud et je suis pas content de voir
l’équipe de france abatue par des autres équipes.
il faut que la france marque des buts il ne doit pas se laisser faire
il faut jouer comme zidane il était dans l’équipe de france comme en euro2008

Posted from  Vanuatu

“Instead, let’s put big Pat Vieira on him, and if he’s not available, oh, heck……Chabal !!!”

I could go for that! Let’s make him our new central defender. Anybody who comes near the goal? Flattened.

Edouard, welcome. I think you’re our first commenter from Vanuatu. And yes, “des buts” are going to be the key!

Posted from  United States

doume: bring out chabal
lol, you are a hero. he would actually help at this point.
put him in defense instead of thuram, and unleash him
on the del piero and toni lol

i wonder if domdom has thought of this

First of all a very good morning to my French friends/fans..This is a do or die match both for us Italians and for u. I definately commisaerate with the French on their dutch result because they did not deserve to lose so badly, why’in the first half after that Kuyt goal, i saw a very dominant France putting the Dutch totally on backfoot..Anything can happen and it is the small incidents and details that change a game . Italia had a very bad run in and were at the receiving end of many referee errors, i hope that seriously we have used up all our bad luck as Georgio Chiellini mentioned yesterday.Now the latest news is that as a last throw of dice, donadoni will unleash cassano right from the start..believe me, this could be the hour of Cassano and God help France if u play Thurram Lillian because i can guarantee u that Cassano will run rings around him. Italia´s time has come, iam very very certain that we will thrash France and shutt the mouth of big talking domenech..

Cassano has always been Donadoni’s joker. His presence on the pitch has been useful in Italy’s first two matches. Definitely someone who should be marked closely.

Posted from  United States

“The comments at this site are wonderful – more of the same. Ignore abusive comments. A moderator can delete those comments, and it’s a cleaner process if there aren’t a series of responses.”

The fact is, a moderator does not delete blatantly racist, xenophobic, bigoted comments on this site on any consistent, reliable basis. I’ve just gone thru the last few blog entries in the last couple of days and several racist comments are still there. These bigots post here freely. I think the policy on this website against racist comments is seriously lax and disgraceful. I’m sick and tired of reading crap from ignorant bigots on this France page on a persistent basis. I notice that there is NO stated policy in the FAQ about abusive or racist language on this site. Nor is there any e-mail address indicated (that I can find) where someone can lodge a complaint.

Posted from  United States

I don’t see how everyone has already forgotten that during Vieira’s reign at Highbury, he was never that keen to defend set pieces regardless of his size. It was always Tony Adams and on the special occasion little Ray Parlour defending big players that Vieira waould have marked with ease. We simply need a solid central defender in the mold of the great Laurent Blanc or Desailly. The only defenders that fit this bill are not even in the squad. Why didn’t Domenech pick Mexes and Zebina? Domenech’s star gazing days are over and FFF need to release him into unemployment after the tournament. Didier Deschamps will lead us to worldcup glory come Suid Afrika 2010!

Posted from  United States