Who are France's next generation?

[ilv2]

The espoirs are going to play tuesday against belgium in a friendly match (a day before the senior team takes on Bosnia)

René Girard, le sélectionneur de l'équipe de France Espoirs, a communiqué son groupe de 20 joueurs pour affronter son homologue belge, en match amical, le mardi 15 août au stade Henri Jeanne de Bayeux. Coup d'envoi à 20 heures.

Gardiens
Steve Mandanda (Le Havre)
Simon Pouplin (Stade Rennais)

Défenseurs
Lucien Aubey (Toulouse)
Jérémy Berthod (Olympique Lyonnais)
Grégory Bourillon (Stade Rennais)
Albin Ebondo (Toulouse)
Younes Kaboul (Auxerre)
Olivier Veigneau (Monaco)
Ronald Zubar (Marseille)

Milieux
Rudy Haddad (Paris SG / Lorient)**
Yohan Cabaye (Lille)
Jérémy Clément (Glasgow Rangers)
Lassana Diarra (Chelsea)
Yoann Gourcuff (Milan AC)
Blaise Matuidi (Troyes)
Samir Nasri (Olympique de Marseille)

Attaquants
Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais)
Jimmy Briand (Stade Rennais)
Nicolas Fauvergue (Lille)
Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Liverpool)

**Haddad replaces Ben Arfa who is injured.

[rossgreen]

What about Bonnefoi at Juve?

[ilv2]

If anyone watched the River-Boca game, 18 year old Gonzalo Higuain scored two classy goals in a 3-1 win. Although it's likely he'll end up being an argentine prospect, he's technically eligible to play for France. However, he doesn't speak a word of french and grew up in Argentina, but hey, it's happened before :D In any case, it's a remote, remote possibility.

Also apparently "the French are very cold," Passarella (River's coach) said. "It is much warmer with the Argentine national team."

[ilv2]

et ben voila, just when I say that, out comes this piece of news!

http://www.football365.fr/depeches/filinfo_137013_34_Bleus-Domenech-l-
Raymond Domenech (sélectionneur de l'équipe de France, sur le site de la FFF)
(à propos de Gonzalo Higuain)
« On sait que c'est quelqu'un qui peut être intéressant. On ne joue pas à ce niveau à 19 ans si on n'a pas de talent. Sa deuxième qualité, c'est qu'il a envie d'être Français, et on était plutôt habitué à l'inverse. C'est un joueur qu'on va suivre. Je connais des gens sur place qui vont m'en parler, qui l'auront vu réellement, des techniciens en qui j'ai confiance. Après, à son âge, (on a) la possibilité de (le faire) jouer avec les Espoirs (français), de le voir, qu'il côtoie des joueurs français, qu'on fasse un comparatif avec eux pour voir s'il a un avenir au plus haut niveau ou si c'est un épiphénomène, comme ça peut être le cas avec des joueurs qui flambent quelques mois et qui disparaissent. Qu'il continue à jouer, à être titulaire et à marquer. A ce moment là, nous, on le suivra d'un peu plus près, on se rapprochera de lui, on peut le sélectionner à tout moment avec les Espoirs, car il est Français. »

AC (avec l'AFP)

[guignol]

until i glanced at the preceding post i thought he was talking about benzema!

[ilv2]

pfff benzema :rolleyes:





;)

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Apparently he's refused to play for argentina's youth teams. Maybe he is hoping for a les bleus call up.

[Allez Lyonnais]

Does anyone here follow Argentine league? I wanna know what the buzz is all about.

[ilv2]

he's a young star for River Plate, and has been great this season. The last match I saw with him was the derby against Boca wherein he scored two and led the River frontline that seemed like it could have scored at will (granted Boca's defense was in shambles but he demonstrated great composure for a player so young). My friends in Argentina are adamantly refusing to "let him go" to play for France, so to speak.

[Allez Lyonnais]

Is it true that he doesn't know a single French word?

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Its said that he can't speak french. As for not knowing a single word I'd find that hard to believe, im sure hes said baguette at least a dozen times in his life :D

[ilv2]

i think the moniker of Trezeguet #2 suits him well; all except for playing style though.

[Power_of_foot]

France desperately needs a player that can replace Zidane.
Without Zidane, France is a toothless lion.


Although this tournament is still going on, and France could well still qualify for the the 16 - and perhaps go further with luck and so forth - it is clear that subsequent will not - and probably should not - feature a good number of the players on the current squad.

For the European qualifiers and such, when I think France needs a new coach and a new injection of players. And they should stick with them, even if things go poorly in qualifiers.

Firstly, it seems to me that Domenech should go. We know Zidane is retiring. Wiltord, Thuram, and Makelele have also are likely playing some of their last games for France. But who else will be going? Dhirasoo seems a likely candidate. Barthez as well.

But who to bring in? A lot of the controversy in the current tournament revolves around the non-inclusion of players - like Anelka and Giuly - who aren't exactly new or young. France does have a lot of promising young players - however, most seem to be defenders and midfielders. For example, Lasana Diarra at Chelsea, Matthieu Flamini at Arsenal, Francois Clerc at Lyon, maybe Ben Arfa or Benzema at OL as well. I don't know the French league that well, but it strikes me that the France is deeper at the back and in midfield than upfront, with a cursory knowledge of young players outside the team. Then again, Cisse is still quite young - but his injuries raise serious concerns. Maybe Henry will still be in great shape. I think he might be. But he isn't going to want to keep playing for a side coached like this one.

Anyway, I'd be interested in the thoughts on these questions from people who are closer observers of French football than I have been.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

i think the moniker of Trezeguet #2 suits him well; all except for playing style though.

What you mean Higuain is not a one-dimensional goal poacher??




France desperately needs a player that can replace Zidane.
Without Zidane, France is a toothless lion.

I hardly think thats the case anymore.

[ilv2]

^lol, he has tremendous goal-scoring instinct, but when he's also extremely quick and his technique with the ball doesn't waver when he goes on solo runs. From what i've seen he's also comfortable moving around outside the box and doing the team thing (not saying Trez isn't a team player, but his style dictates that he wait inside the box)

anyways, the obligatory youtube compil. for everyone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxvxesdO1-0

[bsas]

Just read that he has been called by Domenech. We'll know in the coming days if he chooses France or Argentina. I'd be sad if he goes for France, but at the same time, I'll have someone to support in your NT :D

One thing, his nickname in Argentina is "Pipita" ("petite pipe"). I guess he'll have to change that :D

[Nanbawan]

One thing, his nickname in Argentina is "Pipita" ("petite pipe"). I guess he'll have to change that :D

I guess...:D

[ilv2]

LOL
"you must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Nanbawan again"

does it mean the same thing in spanish?

[bsas]

LOL
"you must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Nanbawan again"

does it mean the same thing in spanish?

No, fortunately...

[Nanbawan]

I think pipita is OK but the explanation should remain secret...Better than translating it anyway.