Flamini Recalled for France, Just in Case

June 2nd, 2008 | by: Laurie |

Will he or won’t he play?

That’s what Raymond Domenech and everyone else is wondering about the injured Patrick Vieira. Vieira will definitely miss Monday’s match against Romania, and Raymond and the gang will make a decision as to whether to drop him from the squad on Sunday, the final day for roster changes.

And what’s the injury, anyway? Last week we were reading about his cuisse gauche. Now Reuters is saying it’s his left ankle? But AFP is still saying thigh. I would think that when somebody’s legs are as long as Vieira’s, it would be kind of hard to mistake one for the other, but what do I know?

Today Raymond recalled Mathieu Flamini into the fold, just in case. He’s not officially on the roster. Yet. But if there wasn’t significant doubt about Vieira, they wouldn’t have taken it this far.

From the AFP article, linked above.

“I sense that Vieira is determined to be fit, when he could have given up instead. But he really wants to do everything possible to prepare himself for the tournament,” said Domenech.

However, Domenech admitted that were France to be without one of their icons then things could become difficult especially as they are in the ‘Group of Death’ with Romania, Italy and Holland. “Yes, when Pat is at his best he is irreplaceable… If we are pushing the deadline to the limit is is because of that. I know all about his ability to motivate himself and inspire the others.”

Domenech said that there had been some debate over who would replace Vieira. “There was a discussion over whether Mathieu (Flamini) or Alou (Diarra) should be recalled. However, I would say Flamini has more variety to his game, than the other midfielders who could have been called up.”

It could be worse, though. Italy just lost Cannavaro.

France World Cup Blog RSS Feed

Yaz

Well, it could be very worst. Flamini is a precious player.
Benjamin

flamini is a good replacement.
my hope is that viera is fit for the tournament,
or that he drops out now if he istn fit.
no sense in dragging it out and then see ur with 22 players
instead of 23, and withouggt a precious midfielder.
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

Domenech made it really clear that Flamini’s status is as a sub at the moment. He took Lassana Diarra’s place in the depth chart I think.
Benjamin

on the bright side…cannavaro is injured for italy.
so italy’s defense is gonna be crap, expect them to be home on June 18TH after their game against france
Seb

Let’s not overreact. Cannavaro hasn’t been very good for Madrid in the past 2 seasons, as he certainly won’t be the defender he was during the World Cup. Italy also has, unfortunately, like us, an impressive amount of depth in defense.

Now, were Daniel De Rossi to go down to injury and miss the tournament, that indeed could be a fatal blow.
sandrahn

Seb, agreed. Cannavaro isn’t the same player he was in 2006 Germany. Italy have plenty of good replacements for him.
terry carvallo

italy, is my favorite team with spain they are the only teams that worry me,and i am sure they are also very worried will see………….
squiggy

Benjamin,

Italy – defense – crap are not a wise word combo to use.

The defense, though stricken by the injury, will still be solid. Will it be like in years past? Who knows? I have no clue what Gamberini can do. So, if I had to choose between Thuram and Gallas and with whatever combo Donadoni settles on, I would go with the stability of the French duo.

But like I said, we’ve seen time and again for 70 years the Italians always have a player that steps up.