FRANCE CONFIDENT AHEAD OF THEIR OPENING GAME
The 1998 World Cup Champions France believe that they will silence critics when they face Uruguay in their opening game. France has been under heavy criticism recently, and they want victory so that they can satisfy their fans, and extinguish the doubts of all sceptics.
France has been in underwhelming form in their warm-up matches, losing to China 1-0, drawing 1-1 with Tunisia, and winning against South American Costa Rica 2-1. Since arriving in South Africa, Coach Raymond Domenech has restricted his team to their luxury five-star resort so that they can focus on their matches in the World Cup. They are even training behind closed doors. Due to such tactics, he has been under heavy criticism from French media and the French Sports Ministry. Sports Minister Rama Yade criticised the team by saying that they should have shown some decency during the economic crunch by not choosing such posh accommodation. Domenech, who steered France to the 2006 World Cup final, has a no love lost relationship with the French public and media. His popularity in France has significantly dropped, and he will be replaced by former skipper and 1998 World Cup winner Laurent Blanc after the tournament.
On the other hand, Domenech has brushed aside his squad’s troubled build-up and believes that his team will perform at optimum when they start their campaign. “To lose against China in our final build-up game hardly pleases me but at the end of the day it remains a preparation game. Now we get down to the real thing. The fact that France are here still irks some,” said Domenech. He was referring to the team's qualification after Thierry Henry scored against Ireland with his hand in their play-off match. If that controversy wasn't enough, the French team was rocked by a s*x scandal. The underage prostitution scandal pointed fingers towards several team members, including star Bayern Munich player Franck Ribéry. However, France has been drawn in a relatively easy group, and this provides considerable consolation to Coach Domenech and French fans. Other teams in their group include Uruguay, which they will be facing in their opening game, host South Africa, and Mexico. Thierry Henry will be the lone survivor of the 1998 World Cup triumph after Patrick Vieira failed to make it to the squad. However, Henry will not be given a regular spot, and he will be mostly used from bench as super-sub. William Gallas and Manchester United’s Patrice Evra will lead the back four with Jeremy Toulalan and Abou Diaby shoring up midfield. On the other hand, coach Domenech has a variety of options in attack. Yoann Gourcuff, Franck Ribéry and Nicolas Anelka have provided Domenech enough fire-power to capitalize for an attacking play. France will also have a strong bench in the form of players like Chelsea’s Florent Malouda and Andre-Pierre Gignac.
Meanwhile, for Uruguayans, it is another chance to relive their old glory days. Uruguay was the first team to win the World Cup in 1930. They repeated this feat in 1950, but since then have failed to make an impact in the World Cup. This time round expectations at home are not high, and Coach Oscar Tabarez is keen to ignore the past. Unlike France, Uruguay has performed considerably well in their recent World Cup warm-up matches, as they defeated Israel 3-1 and Switzerland 4-1 respectively. Tabarez has named his team for Friday’s clash in advance, with defender Mauricio Victorino and midfielder Egidio Arevalo as surprise choices. Victorino, who plays in Chile with club Universidad de Chile, replaces Andres Scotti in the top flight. Tabarez will be employing 3-4-1-2 formation in his opening game. Defending his formation choice, he said, “The system we have can adapt to the different things we could face against France.” Tabarez is nicknamed ‘El Maestro’ due to his tactical knowledge and command. Up front star striker of Atlético Madrid, Diego Forlán, will be partnering Luis Suarez, who scored 35 goals for Ajax this season. Uruguay vs. France is be the second game of the World Cup, and will be played at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.
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