Italy 0-0 France

Some may not think so but I thought it was an interesting game — neither keeper was really troubled but clearly the more assured, domniant team overall was France. I esp. loved seeing what looked like a reinvigorated Vieira, he’s not the same player he once was but on Saturday he was much like the old, uncompromising, skilled enforcer of Arsenal. I was impressed with France’s no-holds-barred uncompromising approach — they went out to dominate not just the ball but physically, and they succeeded. They had a huge amount of fouls and I thought that was great against Italy. I loved seeing the “bulldog” Gattuso brought down a few times. And all hail to Diarra! Wonderful to see a player like that now at Arsenal.

I was, however, very annoyed with Domenech insisting on pairing Henry with Anelka, and never taking Henry off. I just don’t have much confidence any more in Henry on the NT and I’m glad he’s suspended for the next game, it means France have more of a chance of scoring. France could’ve won the game on Saturday (imagine being the first foreign side to defeat Italy at the San Siro) if Domenech had paired Anelka with Trez or Govou.

Now they HAVE to beat Scotland, a team whose style of football I really don’t care for.

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Oh, and by the way, the result of Saturday’s game means that that France’s record against Italy since 1978 still holds: Italy hasn’t been able to beat France in open play since then.

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This is a very positive result for France, now if they can grab all 3 points versus Scotland, that final match at Ukraine may be inconsequential!

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Aye, I’d say Henry and Anelka are more similarish… why not pair one of ‘em up with targetman-poacher Trezegol?

Ahead of tomorrow’s France-Scotland game, here’s an excerpt from a preview from the Independent:

“You only need to look at Les Bleus’ record in competitive games to understand that Alex McLeish’s side will require a superhuman effort, or divine intervention, to leave the Parc des Princes with even a point. As Roy Aitken, one of manager McLeish’s coaching assistants, reiterated yesterday: ‘We’re facing one of the best sides in the world.’

The last big event that France missed out on was the 1994 World Cup. They did not need to qualify for France 98 (as hosts) or the 2002 World Cup (as champions), but aside from that they have played 46 qualifiers in five campaigns since, winning 30, drawing 14 and losing just two. Only one was at home, to Russia in 1999. The other was away, to Scotland, last October.

Before the Scots take too much solace from that, it should also be remembered that France tend to score a lot (97 goals in those 46 games) and concede few (18 in 46). In their last 21 qualifiers they have shipped just four goals. And in their last 10 matches, including friendlies, France have kept eight clean sheets, won seven of those games, and lost just twice, 1-0 defeats to Argentina, in February, and to the Scots.”

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/internationals/article2950343.ece

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