romania vs france...
Romania vs France: 0-0
Romania: Lobonţ -
Contra, Tamaş,
Goian, Raţ - Cociş (Codrea, 64'), Rádoi (Dicá, 90+3'), Chivu - Nicoliţă, Mutu (M. Niculae, 78') -
D. Niculae
France: Coupet -
Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal - Ribéry, Makélélé, Toulalan, Malouda - Benzema (Nasri, 77'), Anelka (Gomis, 72')
An expectably boring match. France were content with ball possession and didn't do much to entertain (with the exception of Ribéry, who unfortunately played a position that I consider rather unsuitable for him), and Romania didn't dare to experiment, probably aware that France would make use of the tiniest lapse, given the chance. The most interesting duel in the first half was the one between Ribéry and Malouda - and that figures, I think. Ribéry had to play on the right, which Mehmet Scholl called stupid during the half-time analysis because it limits Ribéry's power and therefore wastes his talent. When he suddenly moved to the left, quite possibly without Domenech's approval, he immediately helped create a good chance for France. Funnily enough, Malouda didn't move one bit. He stubbornly remained on the left side, even when the others started to ignore him as they advanced. WTF.
Near the beginning of the second half, Romania seemed to change their tactics. Instead of long passes from the defense right to the forwards, passes that never found their target and were headed straight back by the French defenders, they now tried to work themselves through the French midfield by short passes. Unfortunately, their strikers were too weak, and they didn't get any big chances to score. The French, on the other hand, didn't even seem to want the victory, because their advances were half-hearted at most, leaving Ribéry, Benzema and later Gomis completely alone. I pitied Ribéry especially, who got more and more frustrated with every minute because he never got the ball when he was in a good position.
Oh, and am I the only one who thinks that it would be more correct if France were renamed "France & DOM-TOM"? After all, six out of the thirteen French players (=46%) on the pitch today were either born outside France or have a foreign origin (Thuram, Makélélé, Malouda, Benzema, Nasri, Gomis). I can't think of another country that picks such a great percentage of their players from abroad - well, maybe apart from the Americans, but they're a former colony themselves, anyway. ;)
ETA: I'm a bit too busy to reply to you all right now (I will do that eventually, please be patient with me), but that last comment was more tongue-in-cheek than serious - sorry if that didn't come across too well. I clearly didn't want to imply that those players aren't French, and it isn't a black/white issue either (pfft, as if I would make racist remarks) - I mean, Benzema and Nasri aren't black, after all.
Romania: Lobonţ -
Contra, Tamaş,
Goian, Raţ - Cociş (Codrea, 64'), Rádoi (Dicá, 90+3'), Chivu - Nicoliţă, Mutu (M. Niculae, 78') -
D. Niculae
France: Coupet -
Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal - Ribéry, Makélélé, Toulalan, Malouda - Benzema (Nasri, 77'), Anelka (Gomis, 72')
An expectably boring match. France were content with ball possession and didn't do much to entertain (with the exception of Ribéry, who unfortunately played a position that I consider rather unsuitable for him), and Romania didn't dare to experiment, probably aware that France would make use of the tiniest lapse, given the chance. The most interesting duel in the first half was the one between Ribéry and Malouda - and that figures, I think. Ribéry had to play on the right, which Mehmet Scholl called stupid during the half-time analysis because it limits Ribéry's power and therefore wastes his talent. When he suddenly moved to the left, quite possibly without Domenech's approval, he immediately helped create a good chance for France. Funnily enough, Malouda didn't move one bit. He stubbornly remained on the left side, even when the others started to ignore him as they advanced. WTF.
Near the beginning of the second half, Romania seemed to change their tactics. Instead of long passes from the defense right to the forwards, passes that never found their target and were headed straight back by the French defenders, they now tried to work themselves through the French midfield by short passes. Unfortunately, their strikers were too weak, and they didn't get any big chances to score. The French, on the other hand, didn't even seem to want the victory, because their advances were half-hearted at most, leaving Ribéry, Benzema and later Gomis completely alone. I pitied Ribéry especially, who got more and more frustrated with every minute because he never got the ball when he was in a good position.
Oh, and am I the only one who thinks that it would be more correct if France were renamed "France & DOM-TOM"? After all, six out of the thirteen French players (=46%) on the pitch today were either born outside France or have a foreign origin (Thuram, Makélélé, Malouda, Benzema, Nasri, Gomis). I can't think of another country that picks such a great percentage of their players from abroad - well, maybe apart from the Americans, but they're a former colony themselves, anyway. ;)
ETA: I'm a bit too busy to reply to you all right now (I will do that eventually, please be patient with me), but that last comment was more tongue-in-cheek than serious - sorry if that didn't come across too well. I clearly didn't want to imply that those players aren't French, and it isn't a black/white issue either (pfft, as if I would make racist remarks) - I mean, Benzema and Nasri aren't black, after all.