Euro 2012 Preview - France
Nickname: "Les Bleus" ("The Blues")
Absurd FIFA ranking: 16th! (Yes, Croatia, Denmark, Russia and Greece are all rated more highly.)
Coach: World Cup '98 winner Laurent Blanc
Match Schedule:
June 11 – France v. England (Donetsk, 12 p.m. EST)
June 15 – France v. Ukraine (Donetsk, 12 p.m.)
June 19 – France v. Sweden (Kiev, 2:45 p.m.)
Prospects: Laurent Blanc took over at the shambles of France's acrimonious South African World Cup campaign in 2010 and Raymond Domenech's sacking. Since then, Blanc has shed some of the old guard (e.g., Anelka, Henry), has brought along some bright new stars (e.g., Yann M'Vila, Loic Remy) and Les Bleus have gone on an impressive run of 16 matches unbeaten after a rocky start to the qualifying campaign. The French as always have an embarrassment of riches in the middle of the park but are a wee bit light up front, especially after the withdrawal due to injury of Remy. I suspect they'll have a slow start against England and will then have to win their second match against hosts Ukraine. The last match with Sweden will then be vital.
Key Player: Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa has been a revelation this season, laying on many of the goals snapped up by the Senegalese duo Ba and Cisse. He'll need to do the same this summer if France are to progress further than the quarter-finals.
Youngster to watch: 25 year old Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is often overlooked but as the skipper, he's a key part of what makes Blanc's side hard to beat.
Who Will Get the Goals: Karim Benzema has been in sparkling goalscoring form for Real Madrid this season and is the top scorer in the current squad. A decent shout for Golden Boot.
Who Will Get the Cards: Milan center back Philippe Mexes' lack of mobility could be a liability.
Prediction: Sadly, France will likely top Group D ahead of England. That sets up a Quarter-final match-up on June 23rd with Italy. I'm taking a risk given Italy's current crisis, but I just sense that their superior tournament mentality will edge France out in a penalty shoot-out after probably the dullest match in the tournament.
posted by The Blue Devil @ 12:05 PM
4 Comments:
England WILL WIN on Monday June 11th!
From your mind to the England boys' ears, mate. I hope you're right.
The French were 4-0 winners over mighty Estonia today with Benzema getting a brace. I was hoping he'd be walking with a brace, instead (sigh)....
I would say that 24 year old players Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa are the players to watch. They are they key players and Benzema should be bagging a few goals. I agree that Mexes will get the cards due to a lack of pace ans a minor case of ADD. That FIFA ranking really is absurd and to say they are worse than Denmark and Greece? Definitely not since Larry White became the gaffer. I predicted in the PPP that France will go all to the final, losing to Germany. The Euros is a short tournament and it's not about which team is the best team, but which team is in the best form and Larry White really has Les Bleus performing on all cylinders.
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