Winds of change blowing for France
Source: Agencies |
October 11, 2010, Monday
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FOUR months after becoming a laughing stock at the World Cup, France has sprung back to life in its Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
Les Bleus, who made an embarrassing early exit in South Africa after Nicolas Anelka was kicked out of the squad for insulting coach Raymond Domenech, top their qualifying Group D after a 2-0 home win over Romania on Saturday.
"We are creating something," new coach Laurent Blanc told reporters after France's first win at the Stade de France in almost a year. "We need to re-invest this energy because there will be difficult periods. But for the moment there's a lot of pleasure."
Although it struggled in the first half against Romania, France was loudly cheered by a full-capacity crowd and broke the deadlock in the final 10 minutes thanks to its substitutes.
Captain Alou Diarra set up Loic Remy for the opener a few minutes after the Marseille striker replaced Mathieu Valbuena.
Substitute Dimitri Payet raced into the box to set up substitute Yoann Gourcuff for the second goal on a springlike night in Paris.
"There is a deep change," winger Florent Malouda said.
Young squad
Diarra, impressive as a holding midfielder, paid tribute to Blanc. "Yes, there is a Laurent Blanc effect. There is a young squad, everybody is involved," he said.
Under Domenech the French players would easily give up when facing sides camped deep in their own half, but they did not do so against Romania.
"We were patient and it paid off," Diarra said.
France, 27th in the world rankings, recorded two wins in a row for the first time since beating Austria and Ireland late last year.
France, which lost its opening qualifier 0-1 at home to Belarus and won 2-0 away to Bosnia-Herzegovina, has four points. It next plays Luxembourg in Metz tomorrow.
In Ramat Gan, Israel, a Niko Kranjcar pair handed Croatia a 2-1 victory over Israel and led it to the top of Group F.
Croatia has seven points, two more than Greece, which beat Latvia 1-0 on Friday.
Les Bleus, who made an embarrassing early exit in South Africa after Nicolas Anelka was kicked out of the squad for insulting coach Raymond Domenech, top their qualifying Group D after a 2-0 home win over Romania on Saturday.
"We are creating something," new coach Laurent Blanc told reporters after France's first win at the Stade de France in almost a year. "We need to re-invest this energy because there will be difficult periods. But for the moment there's a lot of pleasure."
Although it struggled in the first half against Romania, France was loudly cheered by a full-capacity crowd and broke the deadlock in the final 10 minutes thanks to its substitutes.
Captain Alou Diarra set up Loic Remy for the opener a few minutes after the Marseille striker replaced Mathieu Valbuena.
Substitute Dimitri Payet raced into the box to set up substitute Yoann Gourcuff for the second goal on a springlike night in Paris.
"There is a deep change," winger Florent Malouda said.
Young squad
Diarra, impressive as a holding midfielder, paid tribute to Blanc. "Yes, there is a Laurent Blanc effect. There is a young squad, everybody is involved," he said.
Under Domenech the French players would easily give up when facing sides camped deep in their own half, but they did not do so against Romania.
"We were patient and it paid off," Diarra said.
France, 27th in the world rankings, recorded two wins in a row for the first time since beating Austria and Ireland late last year.
France, which lost its opening qualifier 0-1 at home to Belarus and won 2-0 away to Bosnia-Herzegovina, has four points. It next plays Luxembourg in Metz tomorrow.
In Ramat Gan, Israel, a Niko Kranjcar pair handed Croatia a 2-1 victory over Israel and led it to the top of Group F.
Croatia has seven points, two more than Greece, which beat Latvia 1-0 on Friday.
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