Why was France successful in the 2006 FIFA World Cup but not UEFA 2008?

Question

Why was France successful in the 2006 FIFA World Cup but not UEFA 2008?

Answer 1

No Zidane!!!

Answer 2

They miss Zidane's ability and his leadership. Plus their coach seemed lost at times.

I think instead of the mix of old and young, they should go young next time and let the chips fall where they may.

Answer 3

Zidane was the heart and soul of France in the 2006 world cup.

His leadership was missed .....

I think their lack of success in the Euros was solely on the coach, Domenech. The French have very good players but his decisions on squad selection (leaving players like Trezequet or Clichy out of the squad) and his extremely conservative formations just did not work.

My country, Colombia, played France in a friendly before the Euros....They beat us 1-0 on a penalty kick but France was not impressive against my country, who were not featuring most of our starters. I knew then....France were going to disappoint in the Euros

Answer 4

1) Luck

2) Reality

Answer 5

Domenech - A disaster!

Answer 6

They had Zidane in 2006

But in 2008 they didnt

Answer 7

Because they had no leadership and were lead by a horrible coach. It was their first major tournament since Zidane's departure and their captain Patrick Viera was out with injury the whole time. Because many of their players were aging such as Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram, they had to rely on their inexperienced youngsters who are being called France's next golden generation like Samir Nasri, Karim Benzema, and Frank Ribery (slightly experienced). Furthermore was the squad selection that Domenech went with. He chose to bring Biftimbi Gomis over experienced strikers like Djabril Cisse and David Treziguet, arguably the besk inside the box striker. Their last game against Italy was a complete disaster as he pulled Thuram from the center of defence and decided to go with Eric Abidal in the middle to cover Luca Toni, and he ended up getting ejected. Domenech then pulled Nasri from the game who he had subbed in earlier for the injured Ribery for another defender instead of pulling either Jeremy Tulaloun or Makelele who were both playing defensive midfield.