Yoann Gourcuff

Manager: Raymond Domenech
Captain: Thierry Henry
FIFA World Ranking: 10
World Cup Appearances: 12
Best World Cup: Winners – 1998

France Article

France Team Profile

The 1998 World Cup winners will have high hopes of winning another World Cup in South African but, however, could count themselves lucky to even be in the tournament after they qualified not only via a play-off but also under controversial circumstances. The French beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1, although their eventual winners didn’t come until late into extra-time and it was adied via the hand of Thierry Henry before William Galls nodded home to send France to South Africa, at the expense of a glum ROI.

Henry’s part in France qualifying sparked uproar amongst not only with the Irish FA but also with neutrals from all around the globe, and France might not be welcomed as warmly as some of the other European nations in South Africa. To add to the hostility, even the French supporters aren’t best pleased with their squad of underachievers as their displays in qualifying where bewilderingly bad at times, and the fact that it took a dubious goal to seal their qualification doesn’t sit well with the French fans, as they’ve had it in for Raymond Domenech for a while now, pretty much ever since their poor showing at Euro 2008 at which France didn’t even make it pass the group stage of the competition.

The French, though, remain a big contender for the crown regardless of their lacklustre qualifying campaign. Their squad is jam-packed with world class quality, whilst they generally tend to do well on the big stage, with the exception of their poor showing in their last major event – the European Champions in 2008. They will have a big point to prove, though, not only after their disappointing 2008 but to also make amends for their sluggish campaign throughout qualifying, as many French fans have lost faith in Domenech’s regime.

Nickname: Les Bleus (The Blues)

France Key Players

We’ll start with their influential captain, although in fairness Thierry Henry has done little to raise the morale in the France camp of late despite lending a helping hand… literally!

The French captain is the all-time leading scorer for his country with 51 goals in 118 appearances which, considering he looks as though he might carry on playing for France for a couple more years, could see him notch up a few more international caps before he hangs his boots up. There is no doubting the Va-va-voom star used to have unenviable talent when he was at Arsenal, enjoying arguably the best spell of his career in England, but since joining Barcelona, Henry hasn’t been the same and certainly hasn’t been as instrumental for France as fans would have hoped. Even so, Henry still has more going for himself than many others and remains a key player in the final third.

Now the final third, the attacking third, is where France look their strongest on paper yet so often you hear about France struggling to convert their array of striking options into regular goals, even against the smaller fish. Up front Domenech could take any number of forwards to South Africa with him; Djibril Cisse – enjoying one of his best spells in his career in Greece currently and his pace could be useful even if his finishing has never been clinical. Nicolas Anelka is unquestionably the best forward France have right now but even Les Sulk is going through a patchy spell at the moment, with goals drying up at the latter end of the season with Chelsea, so their pivotal forward doesn’t exactly come to South Africa with bags of momentum and confidence, and Anelka has always been a confidence sort of guy. The new guy on the scene comes in the form of a bulky forward, not in the mould of any previous France forwad stars in Andre-Pierre Gignac, who finished last season as Ligue 1′s top goalscorer and has already scored some crucial goals for France in qualifying.

The midfield is where the magic will hopefully take place; Franck Ribery, Yoann Gourcuff, Hatem Ben Afra and an in form Florent Malouda. Every single one of those named can make a real difference for France. Gourcuff is a fantastic crosser of the ball while he also boasts fantastic awareness and vision in a player-maker role, Malouda is a menace down the left flank and will be a thorn in most right-backs side, while former Marseille man, Franck Ribery, could really make the difference in South Africa providing he puts his off-pitch dramas to one side and concentrates more on his football. We must not forget Lassana Diarra and Jeremy Toulanan, who both play a pivotal role in that famous France defensive-midfielder slot.

In goal we have a talented Hugo Lloris, who has been excelling in France with Lyon and really does look a talented prospect for the future. His defence, however, does leave a lot to be believed with Patrice Evra the only reliable defender in front of Lloris. The positives about France’s defence is Evra and Cissokho are great at getting forward and providing a threat down the wings. However, this does leave them vulnerable on the counter while they’ve yet to really find a centre-back partnership which really works. The defence is a troublesome area for the French and could very well be their achilles heel in South Africa.

Strengths

The amount of quality Raymond Domench has at his disposal is bewildering yet to achieve so little with them in recent competitions is baffling. We could go on and on quoting world-class players that play for France; Theirry Henry (Captain) the all-time leading French goalscorer, Franck Ribery, Nicolas Anelka, all are established footballers in the modern game but when they take to the field for France, they just don’t seem to click. Hopefully that will change in South Africa, only time will tell.

Weaknesses

The problem we can see arising is when France need a goal, at that will arise at some point believe you me, we wouldn’t have any confidence in France lifting their game and asserting a bit of pressure on their opponents. They’ll be times when they need to raise their game and race through the gears, and while they do have the inventory to do such a feat, they never do. Moreover, the French are accustomed to disappointing us and their French followers these days, so another lacklustre campaign in South Africa wouldn’t be at all surprising.

France Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: Europe

Group: 7

Position: 2nd (Qualified via a 2-1 victory over Republic of Ireland in a play-off)

Win-Draw-Lose: 6-3-1

Goals Scored: 18

Goals Conceded: 9

France Qualifying statistics:

• France had to rely on a wide-spread of goalscorers to get them through an awkward group 7 , with Gignac & Henry sharing the top goalscorer honour with just four goals each.
• Austria were the only nation to beat France during qualifying, with Domenech’s under fire France losing their opening qualifier 3-1 in Vienna.
• France ended the group unbeaten in nine before losing 1-0 at home to Republic of Ireland in the qualifiers, a defeat which ended an unbeaten run of 10 for France.
• Over half of France’s victories in qualifying came via a NIL scoreline, so a tidy defence has been the basis for their successful qualification bid.
• Only Thierry Henry and Bakari Sagna played every qualifier, including the two-legged play-off with ROI. 

World Cup Potential: 3/5

France aren’t high up on our list of possible outright winners but they will be a contender nevertheless. They have a host of big names which can turn any match on it’s head and decide the huge encounters with one gifted strike of the ball. They are a team that will need to hit the ground running, though, and a sluggish start could spell the end before the tournament has even got into it’s stride, although, the last time France won their opening game was back in 1998. The same year France went on to record their first ever World Cup outright win. An outside chance certainly, but others with stronger claims are preferred.

France World Cup Betting Odds

France to win the World Cup: 100/1 – SportingBet

Before the World Cup the odds on France were 18/1 

Official France World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon)

Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)

Cédric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux)

Defenders

Anthony Réveillère (Olympique Lyon)

Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)

William Gallas (Arsenal)

Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)

Éric Abidal (Barcelona)

Sébastien Squillaci (Seville)

Patrice Evra (Manchester United)

Marc Planus (Girondins Bordeaux)

Midfielders

Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)

Jéremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyon)

Alou Diarra (Girondins Bordeaux)

Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Yoann Gourcuff (Girondins Bordeaux)

Abou Diaby (Arsenal)

Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon)

Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique Marseille)

Strikers

Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)

Djibril Cissé (Panathinaikos Athen)

André-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 France Fixtures – Group A

World Cup 2010 Group A - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

Outright: Holland @ 10/1 WilliamHill

 In my opinion, when a discussion arises about which of the favourites you fancy, there’s always a bracket of about eight teams and we’ve opted for a team slap-bang in the middle of this eight team fracas. The Dutch over the years have been heavily criticised for their lacklustre defending and lack of big defensive names. At South Africa 2010, Holland will go about trying to win their first World Cup title – with a large proportion of fans claiming the Netherlands are the best footballing nation never to have won the FIFA World Cup – with a similarly suspect back four. However, the Dutch defence does have more combative qualities and individuals than in previous tournaments with John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen and Andree Ooijer, while the calm and composed figure of Giovani Van Bronckhorst will marshal the back and ensure the entire Holland defence remains focused throughout 90 minutes and then some. The tournament may well come too soon for right-back Van Der Wiel, who is a serious talent and a player with the potential to catch several prying eyes should he get the chance. What we’re saying though is that Holland now look sturdy and reliable enough at the back to be taking on,as we’re sure all of you are well aware of the array for talent they possess in the final third of the pitch, which will rival the likes of Spain and Brazil in my honest opinion.

Arjen Robben will miss at least one of their games, but they have ready-made replacements should such a dilemma arise, which it has, with Rafael Van Der Vaart, Ryan Babel, Elia and Afellay, the latter especially talented,. There’s an explosive quality about the Dutch which has endeared them to many a punter in the ante-post rings, with Holland’s price of around 16/1 a month ago now a distant memory, with Holland now a general 9/1 shot. Coach Van Marwijk has players which can really make things happen and every single one of their forward thinking players are fearless when it comes to taking possession and running at defenders. In Van Der Vaart, Robben, Afellay and Van Persie, Holland have players which can beat a defender, while all three are lethal at shooting from distance. With Dirk Kuyt they have a predator inside the penalty area and his menacing runs inside the box are so hard to pick up, and in the centre of the park Wesley Sneijder will pull all the strings. There’s so much talent on display that we honestly feel the Dutch can outscore any team on their day, and in Elia and Babel they have two subs with lightening quick pace and the pair will scare the living daylights out of defenders when they make their way onto the pitch after an exhausting 70 minutes have passed by.

We got on them at 14/1 a few weeks ago but can honestly say their price of 10/1 with WilliamHill still screams value. There isn’t a team formidable enough in a forward sense that will scare Holland’s defence enough to concede several cheap goals, while their midfielders/forwards are explosive, creative and will score plenty of goals over the course of the tournament. What’s more, their group, Group E, is arguably the easiest of the lot on paper while the likelihood is they’ll face either Paraguay or Slovakia in the Round of 16 stage – Quarter-Finals should be a doddle and by then, with some impressive and ruthless displays in the bag, Holland’s price will have plummeted further.

Dark Horse: France @ 20/1 Bet365

I’m not too sure what price is needed to necessarily qualify as a ‘Dark Horse’ but you can’t say no fairer than 20/1 on the country which finished runners-up in Germany four years ago. France have seemingly lost their way in recent years, embarrassing when exiting the 2008 EURO’s at just the group stage and then putting in some bizarre displays during their pre-World Cup preparation period – The 1-0 defeat to China the worst of the lot. But France remain a big footballing nation, packed with talented individuals. Granted the team as a whole has recently lost it’s way, while rumours of dressing room disharmony appear to be true, but the French are a proper tournament team in that they only get stronger as the tournament goes on. There group will test their South Africa mettle but should they come through Group A unscathed, it will naturally instil a great deal of confidence and self-belief into the French team.

However, their could be a trend forming with France, as after their 1998 World Cup triumph, Les Bleus followed it up four years later with a bottom of the group finish. They were runners-up to Italy in 2006, so will lightening strike twice? There is evidence to suggest that it could; poor showing at EURO 2008, disappointing friendly results and a disjointed team at present. The group stage is pivotal for me. If they bypass a tricky Group A containing Mexico, Uruguay and hosts South Africa, France will be a big player in the knock-outs, as per usual.

Golden Boot: Wayne Rooney @ 11/1 Boylesports

We know full well that Spain’s duo of Villa and Torres will be there or thereabouts, as should Brazil’s Luis Fabiano because of the amount of games all three should play according to their outright prices, but England’s Wayne Rooney was the only player to briefly contest the ‘best player in Europe’ tag last season before injury blighted his glistening finish. The former Everton hitman racked up 26 goals in 32 Premier League appearances, as well as 5 in 7 during United’s Champions League campaign. He’s arguably the most passionate and determined forward heading to South Africa, although that has often got him into trouble in the past. Confident on the ball, ambitious, can score with his head, from distance, and after enjoying his first proper full season in the striker role with his club, Rooney has tweaked his radar and now knows exactly where the goal is. Against teams such as the United States, Algeria and Slovenia, Rooney could bag a good 4 or 5 before hopefully building on his tally during the knock-outs.

Dark Horse: Dirk Kuyt @ 125/1 bWin

Although the Liverpool winger may not be a prime candidate in the eyes of most punters, there’s no doubting the striking talent of Kuyt and his commitment to the cause. Inside the opposing penalty area he’s a menace, a predator just waiting to pounce on any half-chance that may come his way. Although Kuyt has scored just 15 goals in 62 appearances for the Holland national side, he’s a big time player, one of those individuals that will pop up with a scrappy goal, a two-yard stab home if and when you need it. He’s arguably one of the smartest players we know when it comes to manufacturing scoring opportunities – Always the first to charge in on the keeper when free-kicks and long distance efforts are pummelled in – and more times than not Kuyt find himself with the ball at his feet and an empty net in front of him. Moreover, he’s part of a very talented Dutch squad expected to make some serious inroads in the summer, so Dirk Kuyt should get his fair share of games to score in and at the odds looks a decent each-way punt.

Golden Ball (Best Tournament Performer): Yoann Gourcuff @ 125/1 888Sport

One of the stars of tomorrow for France, although their lack of depth in midfield has resulted in an early call up for Bordeaux’s highly talented play-maker. For 23 years-old, Gourcuff has a wise head on his shoulders and is extremely confident carrying the burden of creating the majority of France’s chances. His set-piece deliveries are scintillating, has been known to strike a few beauties or two from distance and is very composed when under pressure. Gourcuff can pick out those impossible passes and will be the driving force behind France’s forward play. If the French are to emulate their run to the final four years ago, we have little doubt it will be because of an inspiring tournament from a player with a bright future ahead of him.

Manager: Raymond Domenech
Captain: Thierry Henry
FIFA World Ranking: 10
World Cup Appearances: 12
Best World Cup: Winners – 1998

France Article

France Team Profile

The 1998 World Cup winners will have high hopes of winning another World Cup in South African but, however, could count themselves lucky to even be in the tournament after they qualified not only via a play-off but also under controversial circumstances. The French beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1, although their eventual winners didn’t come until late into extra-time and it was adied via the hand of Thierry Henry before William Galls nodded home to send France to South Africa, at the expense of a glum ROI.

Henry’s part in France qualifying sparked uproar amongst not only with the Irish FA but also with neutrals from all around the globe, and France might not be welcomed as warmly as some of the other European nations in South Africa. To add to the hostility, even the French supporters aren’t best pleased with their squad of underachievers as their displays in qualifying where bewilderingly bad at times, and the fact that it took a dubious goal to seal their qualification doesn’t sit well with the French fans, as they’ve had it in for Raymond Domenech for a while now, pretty much ever since their poor showing at Euro 2008 at which France didn’t even make it pass the group stage of the competition.

The French, though, remain a big contender for the crown regardless of their lacklustre qualifying campaign. Their squad is jam-packed with world class quality, whilst they generally tend to do well on the big stage, with the exception of their poor showing in their last major event – the European Champions in 2008. They will have a big point to prove, though, not only after their disappointing 2008 but to also make amends for their sluggish campaign throughout qualifying, as many French fans have lost faith in Domenech’s regime.

Nickname: Les Bleus (The Blues)

France Key Players

We’ll start with their influential captain, although in fairness Thierry Henry has done little to raise the morale in the France camp of late despite lending a helping hand… literally!

The French captain is the all-time leading scorer for his country with 51 goals in 118 appearances which, considering he looks as though he might carry on playing for France for a couple more years, could see him notch up a few more international caps before he hangs his boots up. There is no doubting the Va-va-voom star used to have unenviable talent when he was at Arsenal, enjoying arguably the best spell of his career in England, but since joining Barcelona, Henry hasn’t been the same and certainly hasn’t been as instrumental for France as fans would have hoped. Even so, Henry still has more going for himself than many others and remains a key player in the final third.

Now the final third, the attacking third, is where France look their strongest on paper yet so often you hear about France struggling to convert their array of striking options into regular goals, even against the smaller fish. Up front Domenech could take any number of forwards to South Africa with him; Djibril Cisse – enjoying one of his best spells in his career in Greece currently and his pace could be useful even if his finishing has never been clinical. Nicolas Anelka is unquestionably the best forward France have right now but even Les Sulk is going through a patchy spell at the moment, with goals drying up at the latter end of the season with Chelsea, so their pivotal forward doesn’t exactly come to South Africa with bags of momentum and confidence, and Anelka has always been a confidence sort of guy. The new guy on the scene comes in the form of a bulky forward, not in the mould of any previous France forwad stars in Andre-Pierre Gignac, who finished last season as Ligue 1′s top goalscorer and has already scored some crucial goals for France in qualifying.

The midfield is where the magic will hopefully take place; Franck Ribery, Yoann Gourcuff, Hatem Ben Afra and an in form Florent Malouda. Every single one of those named can make a real difference for France. Gourcuff is a fantastic crosser of the ball while he also boasts fantastic awareness and vision in a player-maker role, Malouda is a menace down the left flank and will be a thorn in most right-backs side, while former Marseille man, Franck Ribery, could really make the difference in South Africa providing he puts his off-pitch dramas to one side and concentrates more on his football. We must not forget Lassana Diarra and Jeremy Toulanan, who both play a pivotal role in that famous France defensive-midfielder slot.

In goal we have a talented Hugo Lloris, who has been excelling in France with Lyon and really does look a talented prospect for the future. His defence, however, does leave a lot to be believed with Patrice Evra the only reliable defender in front of Lloris. The positives about France’s defence is Evra and Cissokho are great at getting forward and providing a threat down the wings. However, this does leave them vulnerable on the counter while they’ve yet to really find a centre-back partnership which really works. The defence is a troublesome area for the French and could very well be their achilles heel in South Africa.

Strengths

The amount of quality Raymond Domench has at his disposal is bewildering yet to achieve so little with them in recent competitions is baffling. We could go on and on quoting world-class players that play for France; Theirry Henry (Captain) the all-time leading French goalscorer, Franck Ribery, Nicolas Anelka, all are established footballers in the modern game but when they take to the field for France, they just don’t seem to click. Hopefully that will change in South Africa, only time will tell.

Weaknesses

The problem we can see arising is when France need a goal, at that will arise at some point believe you me, we wouldn’t have any confidence in France lifting their game and asserting a bit of pressure on their opponents. They’ll be times when they need to raise their game and race through the gears, and while they do have the inventory to do such a feat, they never do. Moreover, the French are accustomed to disappointing us and their French followers these days, so another lacklustre campaign in South Africa wouldn’t be at all surprising.

France Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: Europe

Group: 7

Position: 2nd (Qualified via a 2-1 victory over Republic of Ireland in a play-off)

Win-Draw-Lose: 6-3-1

Goals Scored: 18

Goals Conceded: 9

France Qualifying statistics:

• France had to rely on a wide-spread of goalscorers to get them through an awkward group 7 , with Gignac & Henry sharing the top goalscorer honour with just four goals each.
• Austria were the only nation to beat France during qualifying, with Domenech’s under fire France losing their opening qualifier 3-1 in Vienna.
• France ended the group unbeaten in nine before losing 1-0 at home to Republic of Ireland in the qualifiers, a defeat which ended an unbeaten run of 10 for France.
• Over half of France’s victories in qualifying came via a NIL scoreline, so a tidy defence has been the basis for their successful qualification bid.
• Only Thierry Henry and Bakari Sagna played every qualifier, including the two-legged play-off with ROI. 

World Cup Potential: 3/5

France aren’t high up on our list of possible outright winners but they will be a contender nevertheless. They have a host of big names which can turn any match on it’s head and decide the huge encounters with one gifted strike of the ball. They are a team that will need to hit the ground running, though, and a sluggish start could spell the end before the tournament has even got into it’s stride, although, the last time France won their opening game was back in 1998. The same year France went on to record their first ever World Cup outright win. An outside chance certainly, but others with stronger claims are preferred.

France World Cup Betting Odds

France to win the World Cup: 100/1 – SportingBet

Before the World Cup the odds on France were 18/1 

Official France World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon)

Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)

Cédric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux)

Defenders

Anthony Réveillère (Olympique Lyon)

Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)

William Gallas (Arsenal)

Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)

Éric Abidal (Barcelona)

Sébastien Squillaci (Seville)

Patrice Evra (Manchester United)

Marc Planus (Girondins Bordeaux)

Midfielders

Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)

Jéremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyon)

Alou Diarra (Girondins Bordeaux)

Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Yoann Gourcuff (Girondins Bordeaux)

Abou Diaby (Arsenal)

Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon)

Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique Marseille)

Strikers

Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)

Djibril Cissé (Panathinaikos Athen)

André-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 France Fixtures – Group A

World Cup Group A - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

World Cup Group of France