Official: The Playoff Opponent is Ireland
It’s official. France’s playoff opponent is Ireland.
And Raymond Domenech is kissing the boots of UEFA for deciding to seed the draw.
France, the 1998 world champions, 2000 European champions and beaten World Cup finalists in 2006, will have the advantage of playing the second leg on home soil against an Ireland side coached by Giovanni Trapattoni.
While France, the highest ranked team in the playoffs at nine, will be favourites, the pressure will be on coach Raymond Domenech who came underfire during a qualifying tournament in which they were outshone by group winners Serbia.
He will be wary of an Ireland side who went through a qualifying group containing world champions Italy and Bulgaria without losing a match.
“We know what we have to do,” Domenech told RTL radio. “The goal was always to qualify for the World Cup, whoever we faced. We know Ireland. They’re very much like England, they all play in the Premier League.
NO SURPRISES
“The France players know them well from having played either with or against them. There won’t be any surprises. We know what’s coming.
“They’re a team who have not lost in qualifying, who drew with Italy in their last game after conceding a late goal. We know they’re tough, but so are we.”
Let’s not get overconfident; this won’t be a cakewalk. They’re going to play defensively and try to take it on set pieces. France frequently sucks against both defensive teams and set pieces.
But at least it’s not Russia.
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Sam
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Aditya
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Jean-Michel
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Jean-François
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http://www.europeanirish.com siasy
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Steven
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Frédéric
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Steven
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Terry from Naples fl
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http://thebeantownfrog.blogspot.com/ GFC
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http://kayacamilla.com Kaya Camilla
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Doc Latin
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Rajib
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sandrahn
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Jeff
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Italiano_in_madrid
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Doc Latin
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Benjamin
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Jean-François
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http://www.wickeddeflection.com jeff
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http://frenchleague.wordpress.com/ Dave Trotter
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http://frenchleague.wordpress.com/ Dave Trotter
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Terry from Naples fl
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Terry from Naples fl
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jeff
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http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie
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princedesparcs
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Jean-François
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Jean-François
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http://frenchleague.wordpress.com/ Dave Trotter
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http://www.xyz.bz xyz
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Jean-François
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jeanpierre
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Jean-Michel
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Jean-François
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Michel-Olivier
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Jean-Michel
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rossonero–
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alex

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