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France looks to keep up post-WCup renaissance
Source: Agencies |
October 11, 2010, Monday
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FRANCE is well down the road to redemption after its World Cup nightmare and will be expected to keep up its renaissance under new coach Laurent Blanc with a victory over lowly Luxembourg in European Championship qualifying tomorrow.
Successive victories, against Bosnia-Herzegovina and then Romania, have breathed new life into Les Bleus' Group D campaign, which began in dismal fashion with a 1-0 home defeat to Belarus.
Blanc, who took over from Raymond Domenech after the World Cup in South Africa, has added some sorely needed youth and freshness to the national team and it seems to be paying off, with even France's notoriously hard-to-please fans starting to get behind the side.
Next up is the visit of bottom side Luxembourg as France bids to stay top of the group before a long break in qualifying.
"We are leaders, even if we know that qualifiers go on for a long time," Blanc said.
"We'll see what the future brings. Before the (Romania) game, I said the team lacked experience - one single game won't change all that."
The team that saw off Romania through late goals by substitutes Loic Remy and Yoann Gourcuff contained few survivors from France's embarrassing World Cup campaign. A clear-out is what the French side needed after a couple of years of stale performances by their old guard in the final throes of Domenech's reign.
With Karim Benzema given a chance to spearhead the strikeforce and playmaker Gourcuff looking to rediscover his form of two seasons ago, France's attacking options appear plentiful, even without suspended Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery. Its defense has also improved under Blanc.
"We haven't conceded a goal in two games now and it's important to have this defensive strength," said Alou Diarra, who could lose the captaincy he held against Romania with Blanc intent on rotating the armband. "We know that we can score at any time with the attacking potential we've got."
France, which has dropped to No. 27 in the rankings, is one of the many European heavyweights currently top of their qualifying groups.
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and world champion Spain all lead the way in their pools and England will join them if it can beat Montenegro at Wembley.
England, which comfortably won its opening two qualifiers, did not play on Friday in the third round of matches, allowing Montenegro to climb above Fabio Capello's side with a 1-0 home win against Switzerland that maintained its perfect start.
"It is going to be a tough game," said England winger Ashley Young. "They have won the opening three games but if we apply ourselves like in the first two games, we will be able to get that win we need on Tuesday.
"The main thing is to be winning. We've got six points and it would be nice to end year with maximum points from three games."
Mirko Vucinic scored the winner for Montenegro against the Swiss on Friday but his side, which is yet to concede a goal in qualifying, will be given its sternest test so far.
"We can go to England with belief," Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic said. "If we show enough quality as a team, we can beat England. But even one point would be a dream for us."
England has lost winger Aaron Lennon and center back Phil Jagielka to injury over the last few days and with James Milner suspended, Young could be given a start by Capello. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry could also return to the heart of the defense after returning from injury.
Defending champion Spain is two points clear of Scotland in Group I, having played a game less, ahead of their match at Hampden Park and the Netherlands hosts Sweden in Group E in another top-of-the-table meeting.
Germany has also won three from three so far and looks to continue its great start in Group A when it visits Kazakhstan.
Elsewhere, Portugal will close the gap on Group H leader Norway to two points if it defeats Iceland away, Georgia and Greece are bidding to leapfrog Croatia at the top of Group F when they play Latvia and Israel respectively, and unbeaten Italy will remain at the summit of Group C if it beats Serbia at home.
Slovakia and Ireland are level on six points at the top of Group B ahead of their match in Zilina.
Successive victories, against Bosnia-Herzegovina and then Romania, have breathed new life into Les Bleus' Group D campaign, which began in dismal fashion with a 1-0 home defeat to Belarus.
Blanc, who took over from Raymond Domenech after the World Cup in South Africa, has added some sorely needed youth and freshness to the national team and it seems to be paying off, with even France's notoriously hard-to-please fans starting to get behind the side.
Next up is the visit of bottom side Luxembourg as France bids to stay top of the group before a long break in qualifying.
"We are leaders, even if we know that qualifiers go on for a long time," Blanc said.
"We'll see what the future brings. Before the (Romania) game, I said the team lacked experience - one single game won't change all that."
The team that saw off Romania through late goals by substitutes Loic Remy and Yoann Gourcuff contained few survivors from France's embarrassing World Cup campaign. A clear-out is what the French side needed after a couple of years of stale performances by their old guard in the final throes of Domenech's reign.
With Karim Benzema given a chance to spearhead the strikeforce and playmaker Gourcuff looking to rediscover his form of two seasons ago, France's attacking options appear plentiful, even without suspended Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery. Its defense has also improved under Blanc.
"We haven't conceded a goal in two games now and it's important to have this defensive strength," said Alou Diarra, who could lose the captaincy he held against Romania with Blanc intent on rotating the armband. "We know that we can score at any time with the attacking potential we've got."
France, which has dropped to No. 27 in the rankings, is one of the many European heavyweights currently top of their qualifying groups.
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and world champion Spain all lead the way in their pools and England will join them if it can beat Montenegro at Wembley.
England, which comfortably won its opening two qualifiers, did not play on Friday in the third round of matches, allowing Montenegro to climb above Fabio Capello's side with a 1-0 home win against Switzerland that maintained its perfect start.
"It is going to be a tough game," said England winger Ashley Young. "They have won the opening three games but if we apply ourselves like in the first two games, we will be able to get that win we need on Tuesday.
"The main thing is to be winning. We've got six points and it would be nice to end year with maximum points from three games."
Mirko Vucinic scored the winner for Montenegro against the Swiss on Friday but his side, which is yet to concede a goal in qualifying, will be given its sternest test so far.
"We can go to England with belief," Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic said. "If we show enough quality as a team, we can beat England. But even one point would be a dream for us."
England has lost winger Aaron Lennon and center back Phil Jagielka to injury over the last few days and with James Milner suspended, Young could be given a start by Capello. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry could also return to the heart of the defense after returning from injury.
Defending champion Spain is two points clear of Scotland in Group I, having played a game less, ahead of their match at Hampden Park and the Netherlands hosts Sweden in Group E in another top-of-the-table meeting.
Germany has also won three from three so far and looks to continue its great start in Group A when it visits Kazakhstan.
Elsewhere, Portugal will close the gap on Group H leader Norway to two points if it defeats Iceland away, Georgia and Greece are bidding to leapfrog Croatia at the top of Group F when they play Latvia and Israel respectively, and unbeaten Italy will remain at the summit of Group C if it beats Serbia at home.
Slovakia and Ireland are level on six points at the top of Group B ahead of their match in Zilina.
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