France out of Euro 2008

good video/interview with Desailly: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2008/7460369.stm

Cheers Jeff. In my anger, I got about 3 reds on PES as I was going against Lyon and fouling Domenech’s chouchous. After all, it kinda helps put out the bad taste in my mouth, which, despite my optimism, will take a bit to get over. Don’t worry, I didn’t foul Benzema/Toulalan, but I did grab a hat-trick with Jérémy Ménez dribbling past Grosso a couple of occasions.

3 reds! Get a grip man!

Of course, I’m right there with you. Three fingers of Scotch, chasing a bottle of red wine, on a weeknight no less, is my outlet.

Oh right. I forgot, that as of 6 weeks ago, I can legally drink. I will save bottle of Krug when Les Bleus are victorious at World Cup 2010 (though I’m actually targeting 2014).

big benz looks like zizou, maybe they are related and they don’t wont people to know.

I’m more forlorn than disappointed. As Henry said, the squad confronted a lot of adversity; they just couldn’t play through it. Yeah, they played OK when they didn’t suck. And despite the three and out, I still think the quality was there. Something just never jelled: Ribery didn’t stamp his creative authority, Coupet was nearly comical, Anelka was invisible (although word is that Benzema might is giving him a run for the Sulk moniker), Nasri got lost, Gomis was a man among boys, Henry is slower and didn’t get great service, Thuram and Sagnol got outrun and Vieira was missed. In other words, few highlights for the Bleus reel. But, in fairness, too, I think, two huge refereeing decisions went against them: the handball in the box that wasn’t called ag. the Dutch and, to me at least, the overly harsh red card given today. Still, I can’t but applaud and, to Make and Lilian, say merci. And for all he could do to confound, I’m going to miss Domenech: the man brought some needed levity and humor despite — and I have no doubt about this — being fully committed to winning and convinced that the squad he put together could do so. So, a la prochaine. As for me, I’m fully behind that other Gunner — RVP — et al. May they accumulate double figures in goals through the final. Aller L’Oranje!

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=741012

This guy is a joke. I think I’ve just found the perfect job for Raymond Domenech when he finally gets his ass fired by the FFF (hopefully before the WC10 qualifying started): comedy.

Or fortune teller. As long as he stays away from coaching any soccer team.

It was a little bit like the World Cup finals replay when Abidal was sent off with a red card and France played with ten people. Then Italy scored with a penalty for a point (like how Zizou got one in at the finals) and I thought: hey, maybe we’ll go to a penalty shootout after this. But my wish never comes true!

As like any of the three Euro matches so far, the French team still lacked that offensive point until late in the game. They don’t pressure for the ball much and during the first half, had 0 shots on goal.

Well, for World Cup 2010, I think we’ll see a totally new French squad with lots of new faces (and a new coach!) and young fresh talents. It’d take some time for them to adjust to playing on the international stage, though, and maybe at Euro 2012 these new French team and their coach can show Domenech “what to do when you coach a world class soccer team”.

PdP,

I gave you a shout in the post, but if you’re not behind Cesc and Spain, I might want to take it back!

I’m kidding, of course. The Dutch and Spain have been fantastic. I’m all about our Gunners grabbing the glory. RVP and Cesc are the big, big stars – who else is still in there? (Help me out here – two of those three fingers of Scotch are taking hold).

Intan,

You’re hitting a nerve here. The truth is: France did have the talent to do really well in this tournament, and they blew it.

I’m hurting.

@Jeff

I’m hurting as I wrote that too I know France did have the talent to blow everyone out of the tournament with a blink of their eyes, but Raymond Domenech doesn’t know how to properly harness that talent, and it all came to waste.

I think that’s very painful thing to watch: all that golden beautiful talent going down the drain when all it should do is sprouting up like a fountain!

(oh God, I should just shut up now after that horrible comparison =X).

Jeff,

Sorry, man, but I’m stickin with the Dutch kid — though I’d like Cesc to find a more permanent place on the Furia. Still, it’s a shame those two have to meet in the semis and not later. Truth is, except for Italy going any futher, I’m cool with whatever happens, even if that means being forced to watch Ronaldo in the final

White wine for me tonight. And I am gutted.

I want the Spanish over the Italians, but the Dutch overall. (Because who says offense can’t win tournaments?)

The thing is, regardless, I still love these guys. Your photo of Henry’s concern for Ribery grabbed my heart. And Thuram will always be a god in my mind. And I still love Domenech, particularly his dry sense of humor, and am glad that he and Estelle will marry.

I find myself thinking that this was a necessary transition period. Out with the old, in with the new. A new generation can triumph, but they had to go through this first.

But… Damn. It hurts.

Laurie, I love these guys too. I really disliked Domenech during this stretch, but to be fair, I’ve never loved any sélectionneur we’ve had this decade. Was this necessary? I don’t think so. But it will prove to be an important lesson to those who will serve us well in years to come that they can’t take anything for granted and that they have to go about their games with joy. I think one of the biggest mistakes Domenech made was to bar the media from interacting with the players, when our guys should be able to enjoy the excitement such a tournament brings.

RD won’t stay. In fact the last qualifying campaign was a distaster too. This team simply can’t put it at the back of the net (really if you compare their offensive potential and the number of goals they score over the last 10 games, that’s ridiculous. RD will have to answer for not selecting Flamini, Mexes, and Trezeget- but there is worth, according to manu Petit, there is a clear lack of leadership on the pitch. Nobody actually knows who the real cap is- guys like Zidane, Deschamps, Viera (with 2 legs) were badly needed. That’s why they did create in attack but there was no clear direction- so NO GOAL!This team is an orphan team and this is not new.

this is a complete disaster and i was very dissapointed and sad benzema is good but the others are just not coming through…we need some major revolution for the team. raymond needs to get fired now!!!!

I think for me personally this tournament really ended about halfway into the Netherlands game. I held some hope following the Romania game, but nothing came of it. It just wasn’t there, plain and simple. It is a sad thing to realize, much like the end of a shitty relationship, but the fire of France has gone missing.

I’m not angry at the players or too mad at Domenech, for me it is always a pleasure to get the chance to see France play. There were chances, but like I said, they missed something, that final pass, that final touch, the sharpness it takes to go far and do well in these tournaments.

I’ll be rooting for the Dutch, they have completely dismantled teams this far, and I see no reason for that to stop. As a Tottenham fan, I can’t root for Fabs, especially after the Arsenal meltdown in the 2nd half of the season, I can’t say I have much confidence in his mental toughness.

I hope David Villa can keep up his form and make me curse loudly in recognition of amazing play.

à toute.

What “others?” There are plenty of guys who are coming through. Ben Arfa, Mexès, Lloris, Ménez, Sakho, Saivet, Clichy, Sagna and Flamini are guys who weren’t in this squad, yet they will likely be key players on Les Bleus soon enough. Nasri, Frey, Mandanda, and Squillaci are among those who didn’t get an opportunity to shine, having been stuck on the bench. I’m not concerned at all about what lies ahead, except indeed, Domenech has to go! Especially as Deschamps is available!

Very disappointing overall, and I agree with Laurie that while this hurts, the time of transition is necessary, and that time is now, with a new coach, a new captain, and a host of other new key players (like the ones Seb mentioned, plus maybe Lassana Diarra and Rio Mavuba).

While the situation seems bleak right now, we have to remember that the future does look bright with all the young talent France has. While the team is losing players who have been vital parts of this team throughout their international careers (Makelele, Thuram, Sagnol, Henry, Vieira, and Coupet) there are highly capable if not better replacements waiting for their chance to shine. It is simply the nature of international football; it is an endless cycle of players being brought into the side until there is someone better to take their spot.

Also, for those of us who have followed this team closely since WC 2006, it is clear that France has had some issues scoring goals, sometimes by failing to create many real chances (ex. Romania or England friendly) or as Kyle said, by failing to get that “final pass” or “final shot” that could put them through. I think that a fresh start will help France . Don’t get me wrong, I am a France fan through and through and while I am very upset by this tournament I am optimistic and eagerly waiting for a new (and hopefully improved) French team to support on the way to South Africa 2010.

The too quick transition between the old guard and the so called new hopes will be a pure rubbish. Experience is always needed here. The transmission of experience was did by the human link. If you retire too quickly the experimented players, the youngs will have to learn only by themselves, and the most probably thing you learn by yourselves is how to loose.

Princedesparcs: What’s Benzema been doing to get the new Anelka tag? Would be terrible should he become a sulker. Really disappointed about this tournament. There’s a fine line between success and failure, problems were a lack of leadership and bad luck – certainly not individual talent. With a new manager and plenty of good players coming through, the future is certainly good for France

What a game. We first got lured by interesting teamplay and good fighting spirit in the first few minutes and then.. BAM POW BANG! Excuse my French but fate kicked us in the balls. They kept on playing but scoring a goal or two against Italy with ten players.. That would have been a miracle. I kept on hoping miracles against NL and Italy but it never came. I guess this is not a magical team and it wasn’t the right time for us.

Overall, I think Domenech’s mistake is two years old. He sould have started building a younger team right after the World cup. Of course, everybody says you need a balance between experience and youth. But look at the Dutch: the team is built on youth, with little sparks of experience here and there, not the other way around. I want a young team with a couple of experienced players that don’t necessarily make the starting squad but are more there to talk and share their experience. I want a young team that has nothing to lose and all to conquer, with older players to teach them and motivate them when it’s time. I don’t want an old team with young players who don’t know how to fit in.

“Overall, I think Domenech’s mistake is two years old. He sould have started building a younger team right after the World cup.”

Exactly. The rest of your paragraph following that comment is absolutely on-target.

The problem with Domenech is not that he held to the belief that you need experience in the team, that you need to find the right balance between youth and experience. He was correct about that, it’s how Italy won the wc. The problem with Domenech is that he used the young players as afterthoughts, he kept them marginal, he did no work in developing and nurturing them, in making them an integral part of the team.

Arsene Wenger and others have commented that this France team looked disjointed, there’s no cohesion, that there are two camps within the squad–young and old–and nothing that meshes them together. As others have said, there was no leadership which for me is disappointing on the part of Thuram. For me, he’s an obvious choice for a leader figure and he didn’t seem able to take the responsibility for that role. (And like Laurie, he will always be a god to me).

Amazingly, like some kind of deliberately-timed message from the football gods, Fox Soccer Channel in the US this week (two days ago) broadcast a U21 Euro championship qualifier from November 2005 between England and France. In that French team there was Clichy, Sagna, Ribery, Mavuba, Le Tallec and other talented players. They were absolutely brilliant and ran the England team ragged. They were amazing to watch. The obvious point for me while watching that game was “this is from THREE YEARS ago, look at all that amazing talent…and only ONE of those players is in Domenech’s first team. He’s done absolutely nothing with the others.”

I don’t think you can criticize Benzema or Gomis or the other young players for not performing in this tournament. The young players under Domenech simply have not been nurtured or used to their full potential.

I don’t think the penalty against Abidal was deserved at all but Italy definitely deserved their win. Congratulations to them for finally breaking the French 30-year hoodoo against them and advancing from a difficult group. Good to see at least a couple of Italy supporters here showing some sportsmanship.

I too am very disappointed but I thought I would be far more gutted than I am. I think it’s because I just felt that this was going to happen, I saw it coming since the last part of the qualifying campaign and the recent friendlies. It just felt like Domenech had not brought a cohesive unit of a team to the tournament.

Good to see some of you focusing on the positives–this had to happen for the FFF to wake the hell up and change direction.

I think Henry can still be used as an impact sub, not a starter. Surprised to see Sagnol retired but it’s for the best. Good for Makelele for announcing his retirement immediately after the game yesterday. Thuram and Vieira should follow suit. And please, no more Abidal or Malouda on the French national team ever again. I don’t know about Anelka anymore, I don’t know what’s happened with him. Maybe his great performances at Bolton masked his decline at the top level.

jeff my fellow gooner, thanks for your comments on the blog and my contribution to them. We gooners who are also France supporters have had a miserable year, haven’t we? I too thank all the fantastic posters here, you all make this blog.

I can’t choose between Holland, Spain and Turkey — so I’ll support all 3 and hope one of them can go all the way.

I still can’t f****** believe that nightmare. It was already over so early with Ribéry’s injury and Abidal’s stupid red card. I had to turn it off. I just coudn’t watch. Domenech and Abidal make me ashamed to be French. Nice job pulling a f****** Zizou and letting your country down.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=741534
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=741381
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=738425

You guys are sad, more than sad. Glad you are out. After the Romania game, where both teams were happy with draw, already after 70 mins, I hoped Italy and Holland would progress. Italy at least tries to play positive football.

France defends, plays shitty football, refuses to utilize their good players and just generally plays ugly, negative football. In the world cup you had Zidane to cover that, now the true France shows its face. Even more so after the game – what a sad show Domenech is putting on.

So yeah, I hope he stays

@ julien
don’t blame abidal, blame domenech for playing players out of position.
he decided to drop flamini and keep vieira as a spectator.
@ porchetta
i think spain is going to beat italy, remember pirlo and gattuso are suspended.

Wouter,
I can figure out why one would actually spend time writing nasty posts like you do, I guess we need people like you to remind us that we support a great team, with its ups and downs, but a great team..we SUPPORT- you seem to be ignorant of the meaning of that word.

@ Wouter: I agree with you that Domenech did a poor job, but..
1, your source, goal.com: What kind of a website is that, the headlines completely transform what he says. The website is Italian, but I’ll take that as a coincidence.
2, “I hope he stays”. Why? Your point was to say he’s a poor coach and he disrepects his opponents, but you want us to keep him. So I guess your opinion is biased against us and you had nothing to do here. I like your spirit, buddy.

It is very unlikely that any European team will win the South Africa wc. Porchetta, I know you’re absolutely certain of your Italian Racial Purity to the rest of us subhumans on the planet (seig heil!) but the notion that any country can win TWO world cups back to back in the modern era is LAUGHABLE. HILARIOUS STUFF!!!

Only one country has done that–BRAZIL–and it was in an era when there were far fewer countries competing in the world cups.

Europeans struggle in international tournaments outside Europe, it becomes a much more level playing field with the rest of the world. They do not have it as easy outside their own soil. I expect a South American or maybe even an African team to win it — or possibly a European team that has so far struggled to compete against the traditional European powerhouses.

It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I’m not one of those who can easily hide

How could the others unashamedly come over here and redicule us with their mean spirited comments, after two sent-offs in two consecutive major tournaments. Wouldn’t the Azzurri be crying non stop about the officiating had this happened to them? The red card was absolutely rubbish, and the referee punctured a match that might have been one of the most dramatic in the modern era.

Totally neutral for the rest of the tournament even though there are some gunners still alive, but what’s that got with Les Bleus? Correct?
The fine line between Club and Country is quite transparent when it comes to international tournaments. I mean Cesc wanted to get revenge on the French and he’s got more than enough teammates and a great manager who is French, so atleast the competition is for real even if the officiating seems to be superficial. I’m not blaming our shortcomings on the refs, just making a valid point. This all goes back to Domenech who should’ve
gone with the mentality of “Total Football” against the Romanians.

To set our goals for 2010 seems a little too soon, it will take them another 4 or more years to find that magical, Platini, Zidane, and how could we ever forget the tower of power “DESAILLY”?

Nothing to hang our heads and full marks to Les Bleus for doing what they could with lack of key personnel.

ps.Any of you living in Europe going to watch the Gunners at the Emirates Cup?
There are still tickets left for the match against Juventus!

@ Porchetta
i’m not an astrologist like domenech, i don’t trust the stars, so all i can do is hope and have faith. the world cup is going back to south america, argentina is going to win it. they have good players like messi, buonanotte, aguero, fazio, tevez, lavezzi and others that will see argentina capture the world cup.

@ sandrahn
senegal could win the world cup if only france stop stealing young players of senegalese descent. italy is doing the same thing with young players that could help argerntina win the world cup.

Foreverzidane: “How could the others unashamedly come over here and redicule us with their mean spirited comments” — how can you expect anything less from these people? I’m not a fan of Italy or Portugal but I’d never go over to their pages and gloat at their defeat. People who kick those who are already down are cowards and bullies.

To add to something that you alluded to about holding our heads high: given all the problems with the French NT (the manager, a disunified squad, aging legs, players suffering burnout after long seasons, Group of Death, etc.), they actually performed pretty well. Against Holland and Italy they showed some fantastic play.

Michel-Olivier, I can’t agree that there are a lot of “poached” players from Senegal that France have taken. It’s up to the player to decide, they have the option to represent whichever country they prefer. Vieira was born in Senegal but emigrated to France at the age of 8–he was raised, educated, trained in France. He’s visited Senegal only twice in his life for brief visits. He doesn’t even know the native tribal language (Woloof) which is still widely spoken among Senegalese besides French. He never played in Africa. It was France that trained him. He could’ve chosen to represent Senegal but he chose to represent the country where he spent almost his entire life, the country that trained him.

Plus now players like Kanoute have the option to play for the countries where they either emigrated from originally or where their parents emigrated from, even tho they were trained in France. Kanoute could’ve chosen to represent France, he chose Mali instead.

Italy has been using Argentinian players since the first world cup.

FRANCE HAS A GREAT TEAM, I BELEIVE IT EVEN IF THEY ARE OUT MR DOMENECH CONGRATULATION ON YOUR COACHING, IT IS TIME FOR A NEW COACH AND A NEW PROMISING GENERATION, I AM THINKING OF LUIS FERNANDEZ,JEAN TIGANA,DIDIER DESCHAMPS, THIS TOUNAMENT IS OVER LIKE IN 2002 LET’S REGROUP AND REBUILD FOR 2010 BUT THE COACH HAS TO GO

Foreverzidane,

Though I share your pain in Frances loss it is not fair to blame the ref. He had no choice but to issue a red card to Abidal. Abidal would have been better off risking letting Toni have the shot and not make such a clumsy tackle.

Till 2010

Guys don’t listen to the taunts of these supposed Italian supporters, they don’t even speak a word of Italian and probably think that Spaghetti and meatballs is a dish of preference. I support the Azzurri and though I don’t care much for Domenech I am a big fan of many players on your team, good match, apologies for the stronzi that invade your message board.

Maybe a French supporter who wants to get em riled up against us.

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/blogs/sw30.html

Nevermind Gomis, Anelka? Are you serious?!

In a sense, I am one of the lucky ones. Because I am currently in Malaysia I was not able to watch the match (I would have been able to normally in Thailand where I live). Not that it made finding out the result any easier. Over the past few days, I’ve been reading everything on here as part of the my own build up for the game. With all the huge disappointment, will you all allow me to vent just a tiny bit? The following is in no order of importance.

- With Domenech’s idiotic tactics, terrible statements over the years, etc, I will have a gigantic beer when he gets the sack. I am still have trouble with the Boumsong for Nasri. Where things thrown from the stands and hit him on the head.

- The generation is still a strong one with WC-winning capabilities. Priority must be given straight away to the yonger ones like Flamini, Ben Harfa, and a couple others so that can have the time to gel into a team. And even if it results in more losses, we must revive the attacking style (that’s why i’d go for Tigana as the next coach though I admit I don’t know that much about him). I don’t spectate the sport of football to see how well a team can minimize risk, score from dead ball situations, seek fouls. I spectate it because it’s a great game played openly!! So go Holland for the rest of the tournament.

- Believe it or not, I played against the city of Trappes at a time when Anelka was there before he moved to the PSG youth system (I think my team lost something like 8-1) so I always sort of supported him. Not anymore – where was he during this tournament? Nowhere.

- Despite some of things said on this blog, there are indeed many sporting Italians fans who have congratulated France now and in the past, and understand how it has come to be that EDF is a multi-ethnic team. We need to remember that. A couple of them, close friends of mine, are married to Africans and have children with Italian nationality. Perhaps this debate will die down as countries evolve (they always have and will continue to do so) and peoples mix (they also always have and will continue to do so)?? Maybe I am being too idealist but doesn’t seem like there is much choice in the matter.

- Overall, it really is strange that so many racial components come into the discussion. I wasn’t aware that I should be ashamed that France has players of different ethnic backgrounds, the vast majority born and raised in France. I also wasn’t aware that if Patrick moved to France at a young age, grew up in France, was trained in France and chose to defend the French colours, I should also be ashamed. I am quite proud of it actually. I am half-French and half-American and left France when was 19. If magically someone asked me to play for EDF (in a parallel but extremely distant universe), I would do it in a second. And if someone told me that I couldn’t because I am not “full-blooded French”, I’d ask to meet them in a ring.

Thanks for indulging me on this one. Needed to get it all out!!!

Alessio, I see you’re a Juve supporter and I have no doubt you are qualified to comment on this topic. Yet although I am not a huge fan of Anelka, he deserved to be in the squad, I believe, as he did help significantly in the qualifiers (even if it was against the “minnow” countries). I do think Domenech erred in overlooking his second half of the season at Chelsea, and I definitely thought Trezeguet deserved to be in the squad, with Anelka being the 4th, instead of 3rd, striker.

In any event, as I have said all along in this thread, I am happy to have actually met, over the course of these years in the rivalry, some very classy Italian fans, and actually some of them are my own cousins. After the whistle had sounded yesterday, even though I wanted to turn off the TV, I was touched to see Thuram and Cannavaro sharing kind words, as well as even Grosso going over to comfort a beleaguered Benzema, as even though I enjoy the overwhelming intensity of our rivalry, I think when the matches are over we should all show the class that our two nations are renown for. After all, I don’t think that any of us should take after Domenech.

Inara, Jeff, & Laurie,
Thank you for the excellent coverage of our squad. I’m addicted to the site and have adopted the offside & the site that Stephane & J.P. run as sister sites to this one. Although its safe to say that we all wanted Euro glory, the friendlies were not very convincing and this may just be a blessing in disguise. We will rebuild no doubt and I know that the strong community of readers and commenters will keep it interesting throughout the process.

Ben and Luc, FANTASTIC POSTS!!

Seb, I have yet to see anything from Anelka to convince me. I completely predicted he would flop at Chelsea, when they were pursuing him in January I said to my ManUre friend that he was worthless and would be completely underwhelming. The CL final confirmed it. When a guy has the world’s record transfer fee, you can infer 2 things. Either #1- He’s terrific and likes to move around, or #2- He’s incredibly overrated despite some talent and the big clubs don’t learn. For Anelka, it’s #2.

I am a Juventino and despite it being Italy’s gain, I feel bad for Trezegol. He was outstanding this season, and while watchin Euro2008 French games (and Italian) I kept yelling, how many times where there goal scoring opportunities that weren’t hammered in. (Luca Toni comes to mind) Trezegol would have pounded those in.

As a Juventus+Italy supporter, I of course love to see France lose to us. But being a Juventus fan, I have a special place for France. Thuram, Zidane, Trezeguet, Platini, Deschamps, even down to the Boumsongs and Zebinas, (no mention of Henry or that traitor Vieira) I admire and enjoy watching Les Bleus…even if I won’t say I like them.

Trez has proven his class. His France goal/game ratio is ridiculous. Yet still he has been a scapegoat of sorts. I know he is a Bleu at heart and hates to see his footballing brothers lose but Domenech had this coming to him. France did not have the world of opportunities this Euro but the few they had were squandered. Trez may not be the fastest striker but a great finisher he is. His work with the head and anywhere in the 30 yard box is respected in Serie A.

His France goal/game ratio is ridiculous, his Juve one is just as ridiculous. 220 goals in 390 games.

Sandrahn – If you want to know anything about senegal and france soccer players, ask and please don’t embarass yourself with these types of “facts”.
No animosity but most of what you wrote is not accurate.

And I still can’t believe nobody has talked aboyut Raymond’s proposal to Estelle Denis

Magnusson, then refute what I said by backing up your comment and showing me where I’m wrong.

Yeah I heard about the proposal around noon Magnusson. What is this garbage about? He couldn’t take the heat during the press conference so he distracts journalists with a half assed public marriage proposal? This guy is making a complete spectacle of himself.

http://ballhype.com/video/domenech_on_m6/

Its great that his personal life is going great but you have to question the timing of this.

has anyone mentioned how idiotic leaving mexes out was.

domenech proved himself a fool.

he constantly said crap about italy.

he left trez, mexes and flamini out.

anything having to do with italy he vetoed. these are the actions of a very stupid man.

if i were those players, i’d have been cheering italy on.

“And I still can’t believe nobody has talked aboyut Raymond’s proposal to Estelle Denis”

I had a post almost ready to go up on the main Euro page, and my phone/internet went down! But fear not. I’m on it.

haha, ya laurie
i think domenech shoulda gotten dumped after this pathetic display.
then i woulda hookep up with estelle for consolation, just like guily
did LOL

JE TE NIQUE DOMENECH ET BAISE TA FUTURE FEMME !!!!

I knew this game was lost when these articles came out. The Italians “approved” of the referee before the game – do I recall some nasty business about referees and Italians? Coincidence?
http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=737210
and this, Buffon “urges” Van Basten?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2008/article-1027097/Italy-captain-Buffon-urges-Van-Basten-prevent-fix.html
Sounds like he made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats.
Cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats. cheats.

Hey Porchy man:
Your team won it, even the penalty which Toni totally did his best salesmanship was quite legit, the red card a bit harsh but it was the right call (as much as I hate to admit!).
Now we’ve got 10 players to your 11 correct?
Wouldn’t your logical mind imply that one team has more space than the other by coverage? Therefore more chances, so please don’t gloat over the fact that Italy could’ve won by 6 goals. France faught hard with 10 and as
a Les Bleus fan I’m proud of these guys. However how can you predict the unlucky tip by Henry? France squandered many chances as well.
Also enjoy the rivalry, if there was no Les Bleus who else would bring
so much hatered and anger in you? PORTUGUESE perhaps?
Now I hope that you grow up and become a fine full blooded Italian “MAN” not a “BOY”,
and stop your stupid streotypes on the French blog pages. CIAO!!!!!!!!

On a lighter note I’m sure you’ve seen the Bus carrying Les Bleus on theoffside.com . If you haven’t seen it you should. It summarizes this tournament for them as if anything else could’ve gone wrong.

http://euro2008.worldcupblog.org/news/video-of-the-french-coach-getting-it-all-wrong.html

Our biggest problem is midfield control. It was the same in the World Cup final. When Vieira went out in that match, there went midfield control and there went the match. Likewise here. Ribery’s efforts are generally for naught because when the ball enters the middle of the pitch, we have no effective answers for Gattuso, Pirlo and the like.

No, there isn’t another Zidane out there with his touch, control and mastery of the midfield. So tactics have to enter the picture. Our back line was also appalling. As a cule, I can say that Thuram pulled out some man-like performances for us this past year, but he just wasn’t there for Euros. And whenever Abidal gets near the center, look out, as we Barca lovers also discovered this past season.

If we’re making the Anelka/Trezeguet discussion, it’s Trezeguet, all day and all night. He’s for sale for 25 million, and if the price comes down, I hope we grab him. He’d look great in blaugrana.

A new coach with logical selection patterns fixes a lot of the problems, I think. Making the Cup final (despite Domenech) only masked the difficulties. His loyalty to Barthez (Coupet would NOT have allowed that cross to get to Materazzi) was as unfathomable as his loyalty to Coupet this go-round.

Argh, merde, mon dieu, quelle horreur….comme vous voulez.

Hi talia (post June 19th, 2008 at 1:24 am) — just letting you know you left your tinfoil hat over at my place.

I’m happy that I’m not the only when who is upset about this frustrating euro cup. I’m French but I live in Holland, and on school all those people say Go Holland in their orange shirts lol// anyways Ribery is a legend, too bad he was out after 10 minutes, from then on I knew France wudn’t win.. n france shud have got 2 penalties in the match against Holland.. I miss Zidane and I hope Henry will still play in the world cup, he is just 30 i think he cud continue for at least 4 years

Point is:

C.Ronaldo couldn’t and won’t ever be able to do it,
Henry Likewise, Ribery likewise, Kobe Brayant as well.
Zidane did it, so did Michael Jordan for years!

You can be the greatest player on the planet but LEADERSHIP
is a whole different intangible!

The others need a supporting cast as case in point with Portugal
and C.Ronaldo the world’s current greatest footballer.