The decisive moment is only a few hours away – Will France be going to the World Cup?

November 18th, 2009 | by: jeff |

Anybody else feeling edgy?

I’m getting a little tired of reading that this France side aren’t “a spot” on the 1998-2000 side. Time for the lads to debunk that nasty sentiment; and a masterclass today would be a good start.

Join Laurie on this site later today (she’s never missed a match before, and I wouldn’t expect her to start now) for a bit of pre -, during -, and post-match banter (and ranting and raving).

I really enjoy the discussions in the comments, so thank you very much to everyone who joins in. There’s been a lot of good discussion about the performance in the first leg, but now that the second leg is upon us, I find that the memory of the performance is quickly fading, leaving only one solitary memory: we won away from home 1-0!

Sarah, who blogs about Olympique de Marseille on the Offside, talked to us about helping out with this site. I immediately responded that we could use the help, and only later realized that a substantial portion of my brain prematurely assumes France will advance. My stomach lurched, and I had to take deep long breaths, and remind myself that we could be in for a huge disappointment.

France World Cup Blog RSS Feed

http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

Yes, I will be here! I even forked over my 19.99 to Setanta because I couldn’t bear to rely on streams that might crap out on me halfway through. So I will be leaving comments on the game as it’s occurring; if you’re trying to watch it on time-delay on regular Setanta, don’t read the comments!

And Jeff, I share all of your nerves. I was rewatching the first half yesterday and seeing how many opportunities Ireland had and thinking ARGH! All it would take would be for one of those to go in, and we’re back at square one! France was definitely the better team, but as every France fan knows, what really counts is the scoreline. Let’s hope Lloris is really on again.

And I’m dittoing what everyone said in the comments about Anelka. In about the 20th minute I started counting the times he went to the middle of the pitch, took possession of the ball, then distributed it to our new de facto right winger, Bacary Sagna. There were a lot. It worked well on Saturday, but it also made Gourcuff redundant and occasionally left us exposed defensively. And now Ireland will be expecting it.

Three hours. Here’s some fun reading on stadium ambiance to fill the time:

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2009/20091117_235825_le-soutien-on-l-aura.html
http://lyon.theoffside.com Inara

I canceled my lunch plans for this match. Which is probably sad on one hand, but there’s no way I be out eating a meal while France’s WC fate hangs in the balance. I’d be constantly calling my sister for updates.

Rumors are that Escude will be partnering Gallas in defense. Escude is good, but he has like zero chemistry with the rest of the back four. To be honest, Gallas doesn’t fill me with much confidence either, but CB is probably the weakest position (well, besides that of the Stade de France home fans) that France have to contend with. Though I suppose if things get really dire, Nico could fill in – he seems to be playing everywhere else on the pitch these days.

But this game would be so much better if it were taking place in any other stadium in France.
sandrahn

I’m trying to distract my nerves by watching the insane Algeria-Egypt match online. To repeat, it’s INSANE! I’m wondering if the referee and all the players are going to finish the game alive.
Steven

It must be pretty intense, the British embassy warned its nationals to stay away from the Algeria-Egypt match … in fact, not to go anywhere near the stadium.
sandrahn

The players are kicking, slapping and punching each other in every part of the body they can get to, the keepers are constantly being slalomed to the ground and needing medical treatment….it’s nuts!
Steven

oh, no …