Uruguay vs France: Post-Match Analysis, World Cup Soccer 2010
With the group opener between hosts South Africa and Mexico ending in a 1-1 draw, it was an opportunity for both France and Uruguay to get their noses ahead in race to progress through this group. It was always going to be a tough encounter with the French having some established players in their side against the Uruguayans’ agility in powering through their forward line and a strong defence. Both teams had enough credentials to score goals but on the day, it ended in a goalless draw with both teams finding it difficult to break their opponents.
The French team had started to suffer much before the match because of the reported dispute among some players with Coach Raymond Domenech. Florient Malouda has had a wonderful second half season with his club Chelsea but he has been publicly criticizing the French Coach over a number of issues. The player had to pay the price for this and was not included in the starting eleven for this match. Such things do effect the team’s morale especially before such a big tournament and it was clear when the teams entered the ground that the French players had their shoulders falling down which is not a good sign at all for a team which intends to progress till the later stages of the tournament.
Abou Diaby was not expected to start the match but he was given a starting place by the coach and was the best player on the ground. He was assigned the task of patrolling in front of the defensive line and breaking the through balls to the Uruguay’s attacking duo of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, and so he did. Not only did he fulfil his defensive duties but was never afraid in going forward with the ball. As expected, most of the attacks from the French team came from the left flank where skipper Patrice Evra was always looking to make a move with Frank Ribery had his brilliant skills on offer to inspire his team.
The Uruguayans did well in keeping Ribery quite for most of the match by man-marking him with two players. They had rightly identified that this would be the favoured channel for the French for any sorts of attacks. Young player Yoann Gourcuff is playing at a very crucial position for France but looked like feeling pressure of playing in the biggest tournament of his career so far. He needs to work in training for the set-plays and create more opportunities for his attackers in future matches.
As the match went on, the Uruguayans started to settle in well and looked more likely to break the deadlock. The in-form Forlan did not receive much assistance from the Uruguay midfield. The defensive line was very strong for Uruguay and they did well to keep the French attackers deprived of any clear chances. Diego Godin had a very good performance and, together with his partners in defence, put enough steel to keep out the crosses and through balls reaching Nicolas Anelka and Sidney Govou.
The only real highlight of the match was the sending off of Nicolas Lodeiro. He only came on as a substitute and in just 18 minutes that he spent on the pitch, the Frenchman received two yellow cards along with the early marching orders. France was expected to up the tempo after this moment but Uruguay did not go completely defensive and tried well to win the match.
There are more question marks on the French squad after this match. If ever they were favourites to win this group, they are not anymore after this match. There are tough times ahead for them and it would be a hard battle among all the four teams to get the qualifying places for the round of 16.
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