World Cup 2010 French Squad
When France is playing for the World Cup, either at qualifying stage or in the finals, you are never sure what kind of results to expect from them. The team can either be the returning heroes for their nation or complete zeroes. After finishing at third place in the 1986 World Cup, France could not qualify for the next two editions in 1990 and 1994. For the 1998 World Cup they entered through an automatic place as hosts of the tournament and ended up winning it. In the 2002 World Cup they became the first defending champion in the history of the competition to exit without netting a single goal. They exited at the group stage which still remains the worst ever performance by a defending champion. The better French side turned up again in the 2006 World Cup, only to be beaten in final by Italy on penalty shootout.
In the qualifiers for upcoming World Cup in South Africa, France’s yo-yoing display of performance continued. The losing finalists of the previous World Cup started their qualifying campaign in Group 7 of the European qualifiers with a defeat to Austria. They won against their main group rivals Serbia but followed it with a draw with Romania. There were then two one-nill victories against Lithuania and another over minnows Faroe Islands. They drew with Serbia at home and then thrashed Faroe Islands with five goals. France won against Austria in their last group match but could only earn themselves a play-off place, as Serbia had confirmed their top spot in the group and earned an automatic qualification.
Les Blues, as the French national team is nicknamed, were paired with the Republic of Ireland for the play-off tie. France won with a one-nil score line but found themselves up against a very determined Irish side at the Stade de France. The Irish were in control of most of the game and overthrew the one goal deficit which took the tie to extra time. The French team benefited from the hugely controversial handball from Thierry Henry in the Irish penalty box, which assisted William Gallas for the winning goal. No doubt they did qualify in a shameful manner, both in terms of their performances in the qualifiers and the winning goal in play-offs, but they need to overcome this and do their level best in South Africa.
Going through the final 23-man team sheet, one would find that each of the players play for esteemed clubs in Europe and are well established in their club teams but only gathering the players of such high caliber is not enough for the right winning mentality. There have been many changes in the squad throughout the qualifiers and Coach Raymond Domenech, is under immense pressure since his team’s poor performance in Euro 2008. His own squad players have been questioning him on exclusion of players like Patrick Vieira and Ben Arfa. There have already been confirmed reports from the French Football Federation (FFF) that the current coach will be replaced by the former French defender and the 1998 winning captain, Laurent Blanc, after the World Cup in South Africa.
The squad will have some very exciting players in the attacking third. Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry will be spearheading the attack, supported by Franck Ribery and the star-in-the-making Yoann Gourcuff. In midfield, Lassana Diarra, who plays for Real Madrid and previously been with Chelsea and Arsenal, has withdrawn from the squad after suffering from stomach pains. The holding midfield position will now be the responsibility of Abou Diaby and Jeremy Toulalan.
William Gallas missed the end of season with Arsenal after an aggravating calf injury. He is expected to sit out of most of the pre-tournament friendlies but he is so important to the French team that coach is still keen to take him to South Africa, as his main central defender. French squad is rich in talent in terms of full-backs with Patrice Evra, Eric Abidal, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna all available.
France will face hosts South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay in Group A. The group looks easy for now but the French team will need to work really hard to progress any farther than the first knock-out stage.
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