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France-Colombia Preview

June 3rd, 2008 | By: Laurie | 9 Comments »

France-Colombia
Stade de France
21h00 local, 3:00 Eastern, 12:00 Pacific

This is it. The last chance to iron out all of the kinks that have been exposed in the past two games.

The biggest? How can this team actually put the ball in the net?

The main decision, obviously, will be who to start up front. Do we stick with Henry, or go with a slightly younger version of Henry (Anelka) or go with youth and energy (Benzema and Gomis)? I wouldn’t be surprised not to see Anelka on the field at all today, although I still find it tantalizing the way he paired with Gomis against Ecuador. And Ribery will probably be on one wing or the other, but who will start on the other side? Malouda? Govou? Or…?

And then there’s the central midfield question: Who will end up pairing with Makelele? And will Domenech risk him in this game to find the right chemistry, or can he see what he needs to by pairing the other players? I’d expect to see Toulalan, Diarra and Flamini all on the field at some point.

Then we have the rightback question: Was Clerc’s power on Saturday a one-off, or is he the answer to our rightback issues? And will Willy Sagnol be in form, or out in the cold? And Abidal or Evra for leftback? And who will be the best central defensive pairing?

So many decisions, and severe consequences (in the long term) for the wrong decisions. I think I’m glad I’m not Domenech.

At the moment I’m not finding lineups for either team. Sport24.com is saying they’re “Non communiquée.” Obviously this will change as we get closer to time, but I need to go to a school play that’s going to keep me busy until shortly before the game. I will be liveblogging the game again (to train my brain for Euros), so check back at this site as we get close to game time.

Last five matches for each team:
France – Paraguay 0-0 (Amical)
France – Equateur 2-0 (Amical)
France – Angleterre 1-0 (Amical)
Espagne – France 1-0 (Amical)
Ukraine – France 2-2 (Euro 2008, Qualifications)

Irlande – Colombie 1-0 (Amical)
Colombie – Venezuela 5-2 (Amical)
Colombie – Honduras 1-2 (Amical)
Uruguay – Colombie 2-2 (Amical)
Colombie – Argentine 2-1 (Qualifications, CM 2010)

Tags: Euro 2008

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Comments

By F**k the french | June 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pm

bunch of divers, every time the french play a big quality team they always dive to get a penalty. typical french behavior.

Posted from United States

By Inara | June 3rd, 2008 at 1:17 pm

L’Equipe has this lineup:

Coupet – Sagnol, Thuram (cap.), Gallas, Abidal – Makelele, Toulalan, Ribéry, Malouda – Henry, Benzema

By Laurie | June 3rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Hmm. Rather unimaginative, and pretty much the lineup I expect to see on Monday. Which is interesting. I’d expect a lot of changes at the half.

Posted from United States

By Inara | June 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm

I’m pretty sure Domenech will take out Henry, Makelele, Ribery, Benzema, Sagnol and either Thuram or Malouda.

By Les Bleus | June 3rd, 2008 at 1:36 pm

You don’t know what ur talking about. theyre not divers. I agree with this line up. Most likely henry benzema, to get ready for euro.dont forget gomis is only 22!

any way u could post video of games after theyre over like paraguay and this columbia game.

Thanks

By sandrahn | June 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am

Laurie, would it be possible to delete posts like the first one on this thread?

Posted from United States

By Peter | June 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am

What #1 is talking about ? divers ? he must confond with the italian team.
The guy pulled Henry from behind by the jersey .If this is not a penalty i suggest him to drop soccer and watch other sport.

Posted from United States

By terry carvallo | June 5th, 2008 at 12:59 pm

to f…. the french, BENITO MUSSOLINI ounce said SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF ENEMIES WE HAVE , thanks for your comments it shows class and fear lol

Posted from United States

By Laurie | June 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

Sandrahn, yes, it’s possible. I considered it. I could still do it.

But I’m a big believer in free speech, and I’m never sure where to draw the line. This one was close, but in the end I decided to leave it and let anyone who wanted respond.

The French team does seem to take a lot more abuse than other teams. I’ve said it before, and I think it’s still true. France haters hate them for being French, and diversity haters hate them for not being “French enough.” Whatever that means. But I think that in the long run people like this are just revealing their own ignorance.

But if it gets so pervasive or abusive that it interferes with regular readers’ abiilty to enjoy the blog, I’ll start deleting. Let me know if and when you feel the line has been crossed.

Posted from United States

Comments are closed