based on how worm'vila has performed for france, playing him with or without diarra (who has been a delighful surprise) is not being cautious. it's dangerous barking insanity.
give that herbman a cigar! Old trophy, 1960-2004 - - - - - New trophy, 2008- The Henri Delaunay Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the European Football Championship, is named in honour ofHenri Delaunay, the first General Secretary of UEFA, who came up with the idea of a European championship but died five years prior to the first tournament in 1960. For the 2008 tournament, the trophy was slightly remodelled to make it larger, as UEFA felt that the original was too small compared to other trophies awarded in other European competitions. The new trophy, which is made of sterling silver, now weighs 8 kilograms (18 lb) and is 60 centimetres (24 in) tall, being seven inches longer and one pound heavier than the old one. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original was removed, as was the marble plinth.
I'm going to take this opportunity to point out some interesting parallels. In 2006 an unimpressive French team opened the tournament with tie against a team coached by Roy Hodgson. They progressed in second place to face a heavily favored Spain. They won, followed up with a semifinal win against Portugal, then faced italy in the final. In 2012 an unimpressive French team opened the tournament with tie against a team coached by Roy Hodgson. They progressed in second place to face a heavily favored Spain....What happens next? In 2004 Greece defeated the host team, tied, then ended the group stage looking weak with an unimpressive loss to an already eliminated Russia. They then faced the defending European Champions and went on a series of 1-0 wins to take the trophy. And lets not forget the possibility of a Spain-Portugal-Italy route to glory a la 2000. "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." -George Santayana. I think that is the explanation for the feeling of doom we all have about this upcoming match. We are doomed to repeat history and become champions. C'est la vie
^^^^^^Thank you FrenchSteve. I was planning on looking up some scenarios from the past because things seemed eerily familiar to me. Great post.
I started hearing rumors about 9 hours ago that Blanc was scratching him from the starting lineup because he keeps causing issues with a few teammates. Hmmmm. This is getting interesting.
Yes I heard this, but now I am hearing rumours about him being kicked out. Surely just rumours as doing it on the eve of the game is a bad move. Shame about Mexes missing out tonight also.
Yeah, it might just be rumors. I haven't seen anything reported from the major sports media in France.