Euro 2012 Qualification preview:
France vs Romania
France and Romania will both be looking to gain some ground on the surprise leaders in group D, Albania and Belarus, as they go head to head at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night.
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French football, which dominated world football at the end of the nineties and the early part of the new century, appeared to be in utter disarray over the summer during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
There were wide spread reports of infighting within the team, players were vocal about their lack of faith in head coach Raymond Domenech, and Nicolas Anelka was sent home from the competition after criticizing Domenech's tactics which led to the forward being
suspended for 18 matches by his own football association and eventually to his decision to retire from international play.Domenech was sacked after the World Cup and has since been replaced by former French international defender Laurent Blanc.
The new coach and his team got off to a rocky start in their qualifying campaign by losing their opening match 1-0 at home to Belarus. They have subsequently bounced back in a big way when they traveled
to Sarajevo four days later and stole a 2-0 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina. France currently sit one point back of Albania and Belarus, who each have a win and a draw.
Romania are undefeated in qualifying so far. They are, however, still without a victory as well, and have earned draws against both Albania and Belarus who sit atop the group. Romania did compete four
years ago in Austria and Switzerland, where they failed to progress past the group stage, and have been in and out of the international arena over the last decade or so.
Players to watch
France is well known for being a country that focuses on the development of players from a very young age. As a result they continue to a boast a lineup which is loaded with star players who compete in
the various top leagues in Europe. Oddly enough, despite so much individual talent, the French side have been unable to put together a cohesive unit the way they did a decade ago.
Blanc was a major part of the French side which captured World and European glory in 1998 and 2000, and he'll be looking to recapture that sort of spirit which established France as one of the finest footballing
nations on the planet. The French are now fielding a side that is the youngest its been in years. It's been rumored that Blanc will be unable to call upon two key players in Alou Diarra and Abou Diaby, but look for striker Karim Benzema and midfielder Samir
Nasri to lead the charge for the French.
For Romania, Stuttgart striker Ciprian Marica will be asked to find scoring chances up front, while veteran defendee and team captain Christian Chivu will be asked to organize the back line and keep France
away from goal.
What to expect
Romania have managed, thus far, to keep the leaders in the group at bay and keep themselves in contention. In France there must be real cause for optimism finally, and French supporters must feel like
their troubles are behind them.
The last time these two teams met was in September 2009 in a World Cup qualifying match. Then the two teams tied 1-1, and they also tied twice before that.
France will certainly prove it to themselves and to the world with this opportunity to get back into real contention on the international stage. France will reward their fans with a 3-0 victory.
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