France 0 – 1 Scotland (NOOOOOO!!!!!!!)
Okay France fans, altogether now. Let’s put our heads together and engage in a collective primal scream of the “How the hell did this happen!?!” variety.
So. Yeah. How the hell did this happen? Absolutely beautiful play and a complete and total breakdown in the entire team’s ability to cross the ball even remotely towards anyone who could put it in the net. And one major defensive lapse. Given the way the game went, we should have seen 3-1 or so. Instead, we are now out of Euro qualifier position.
So I guess I now have my answer to the Trezeguet and Anelka question. A completely ineffective partnership. Trezeguet, sadly, just doesn’t fit into the team style of play, and yet without a poacher we have no goals. Thing was, though, I’m not sure anybody could have put these balls in. Every cross seemed to sail ten feet past the goal, directly to a defender.
On the plus side, the atmosphere was amazing, even with 15,000 drunk Scotsmen. Or perhaps because of the 15,000 drunk Scotsmen. All of them amazingly polite despite the vast amounts of alcohol consumed before the game. (One of them told me, “I’ve been drrrrinkin’ since nine o’clock this mornin’, but I feel pretty good.”) After the game I joined them in a huge parade down the Avenue. You haven’t lived till you’ve paraded with 15,000 kilted drunken Scotsmen. An experience for the ages.
I really, really liked Julien Escudé in central defense, btw. I’d be comfortable with him replacing Thuram. Lassana Diarra needs some work on his crosses before he’s ready for primetime at rightback. Vieira played a lot better on Saturday — Nasri was a lot more solid. Makélélé was good, Abidal less so. Malouda and Ribéry and Anelka were solid but ultimately ineffective. And I don’t hold Landreau responsible for the goal. It was unstoppable.
Towards the end of the game I found myself wondering what this would have looked like if we’d gone with three defenders and three forwards, like it was after Benzema came in. Could it have been worse? What’s worse than not qualifying?
Ah, well. Still worth the money. I’m leaving Paris for somewhere else tomorrow (I’m winging these last few days), so I probably won’t post till I’m home on Tuesday. Until then, think positive thoughts for France and negative ones for Scotland and Italy.
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Stu
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sandrahn
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sandrahn
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Stu
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sandrahn
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sandrahn
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sandrahn
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Krys
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sandrahn
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Krys
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http://lequipemoustache.blogspot.com L’Américain
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sandrahn
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http://lequipemoustache.blogspot.com L’Américain
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sandrahn
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whb
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skillz
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Krys
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Krys
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http://www.pieandbovril.com/forum/index.php?showforum=20 Ned
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http://www.pieandbovril.com/forum/index.php?showforum=20 Ned
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Krys
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Krys
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http://el-diva.blogspot.com anusree
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http://lequipemoustache.blogspot.com L’Américain
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glatisant
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sandrahn
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Dave
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Patrick
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http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie
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glatisant
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Dave
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glatisant

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