OK, I'll be the one to crush the party, I'd like Swiss to advance since I have ties with this country. On the other hand, not being qualified would be less a catastrophe in the Helvetic Confederation whereas it would be a national mourning in the Republic of Ireland.
It was a tough defeat to take on board but you beat us and I've no qualms about that. We owe the Swiss one from the last campaign and hopefully we'll nab second place. Very hard to get a ticket for yesterdays match but I'd have paid just to get in just to see Zidane play.
i'll listen to it when the boss is out, but perhaps all 3 voices are actors and its a canular within a canular? did you notice that the words were on the screen karaoke style? and do you know that learning the words to la marseillaise is in the school curriculum starting this year? there's more to this than a prank. my kids recited the pledge of allegiance every morning last year, so it doesn't really shock them. in fact, my 11-year-old's reaction? qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons? trop cool!!
hey vinny, you've only got 7 posts so don't go thinking you're the best troller in the world just yet streets ahead of us right now? maybe. but it doesn't matter who's best right now. it matters who's best in june. and france is coming together. if they win their last two qualifiers it will be 4 wins with back to the wall; they'll have built a lot of camaraderie and momentum. and football is a funny game. 4 years ago a brazilian friend told me "the selecao is crap this year, the coach is a lunatic and none of the players care. and with france as good as they are right now, it's no use anyone else showing up anyway..."
my understanding is that outside of dublin, football is only the fifth most popular sport after gaelic football, hurling, horse racing, and rugby. of course the national sport in switzerland has something to do with banking i think...
i think this is a dilemma that will go down in the history of french football. barthez will be french keeper until both he and coupet retire, and i can't say he doesn't deserve it. it's just one of those things. coupet gave a long interview to france football last week where basically he says he has to accept the situation of playing his career at the same time as a legend. and here's what he said to olweb yesterday: i haven't hampered the evolution of the NT, at least. that was my main objective, not to be a burden. coming out to catch crosses? that's my game. i knew i was under scrutiny this match, more than ever. modesty. anquetil and poulidor, barthez and coupet... my allegiance is chauvinistic, but also is on a personal level. i can claim coupet is as good a keeper as barthez, but not a better one, it's not true. but as human beings, frankly, barthez isn't a patch on greg. would barthez have run the length of the field when revault knocked himself out on the post? compare vercoutre's and gavanon's opinions about the men in whose shadows they stand. barthez doesn't even practice with OM now, nor sit in the stands for their matches. to quote what he says about coupet, "it's not my job to worry about n°2"... no, fabien, it's clear you're busy enough with n°1!
funny how your presuming this is my first 7 posts ever on the internet, dont be such a fool as to judge an opinion by the users postcount. what i meant was france are not the fluid team i watched and admired for years, they just dont have that spark anymore! i honestly think they dont think they have it in them to win the world cup, maybe quarters or at most semi's. Guignol - i'm entitled to my opinion without being called a troll. dont be so ignorant. i like france, i love their fans (had great craic on wednesday with them!!) and their a joy to talk to before and after the game. i hope ireland & france do progress outta this group, their the 2 best teams, but i'm just being a ralist in saying france wont win the world cup. hope you prove me wrong though, honestly i do, keep the cup in europe where it belongs!!
I must go sleep, but I do want to say he has been at every home match (Intertoto and L1). I look out for it! He's sitting w/ Anigo every single time. I have seen photos of him w/ Carasso in training -though the last time I can account for that was maybe a month ago. I don't have him running the lenght of a pitch (can't recall an incident needing him to) but I do have him running to the halfway line! Australia v France match where Muskat nearly broke Dugarry's leg and Barthez ran to the halfway line right off the bat, first to try to stop the fighting ( Zidane, Vieira, Candela, Trezeguet, were beating Muskat up (I remember clearly Zidane running into the crowd and the first thing he grabbed was Muskat's throat while Trezeguet was alas too tall for the melee so he proceeded to hit the top of Muskat's head repeatedly) poor Makalele being too short to have any effect trying to stop the fighting at all, all the while Pires is chatting w/ an Aus player(!)) then he was the only one who was on the floor w/ Dugarry trying to comfort him and had to actually keep getting pushed away. I don't even recall Zidane getting on the floor.
I'd take it, anyway the only thing you can ask to a team in a WC it's to reach those semis, after that...everything is open. But I agree on one point, the team that we see today couldn't win the WC ; since you're presumably a football fan, you must know it's way too early to draw definitive conclusions for next year yet.
not to get into a fight, but... Raymond Domenech has heaped praise on Lyon keeper Gregory Coupet, with the French coach admitting he is a serious challenger to Fabien Barthez. Coupet produced an assured display during the vital 1-0 win over Republic of Ireland, catching the eye with the way he commanded his area in the face of an Irish onslaught. Barthez has been the undisputed number one for Les Bleus for a number of years, but it would appear as if his position is now under threat. "There was pressure during the last five minutes of the match," said Domenech. "But when the Irish kicked long balls in the area, it was always Greg who came out of the furious fray with the ball in his hands and a smile. "Greg has never been a substitute. With Fabien Barthez they are high level keepers." Coupet claims the win over Ireland filled him with pride. "I don't want to be a burden on the team," Coupet told L'Equipe. "My first aim is never to be a brake. I know I can't make mistakes, but it is important I also give trust to my defenders and it is what I try to do. I was very happy in Ireland and very proud. I am a big rugby fan, so to play an important match at Lansdowne Road was great." http://skysports.planetfootball.com...=4&title=Domenech+hails+Coupet&channel=france
The Sarko effect, I think people will get tired of those any time soon. Unless...it actually worsens...
The picture on the right of the first poster "Révolution Nationale" really sounds like some midday news... Maybe the Vichy regime was also shitting in their pants because they did not want to disturb the Nazis...
Nanbawan, you're really out of the point if you believe Zidane, Makelele, Coupet, Thuram, Henry and the others are Vichysts. Sorry but I could hardly hear anything more ridiculous than that one. When you're selected in the natinal team, I consider that it's part of the game to represent your country. What I've seen in that gesture was only a sign of a motivation and certainly not disrespect towards Ireland. Furthermore, the whole Lansdone Road has song the Irish anthem, and that was truely impressive. But despite this, you don't accuse the Irish about growing fascist. I hope you'll realize how misguided you've been in your comparison.
Then what was he driving at ? If his point is that Sarkozy is a Vichyst, then he's also deeply wrong. I don't have any sympathy for that guy but he's definitly a liberal. If you can't make the difference between fascists and liberals, then you need a political education.
I don't think that Nanbawan is calling anyone Vichyist, he's just pointing out that the current political climate sounds and looks a lot like one from the not so distant past. Now, jumping from that to him saying that Zidane of all people is a Vischyist is a big leap.
He's clearly a liberal when it comes to economics, but I don't think lines are that clear in modern politics anyway. My post was mostly an hyperbole yet those past years we've witnessed a definitive grip on national emblems and symbols unprecedented in recent times in France.
Could you give any example outside of footie ? By the way, I don't believe waving a French flag in a stadium is necessarily despiseful or racist. Sorry Nanbawan but you seem to see the evil where it shouldn't be. I have a lot more problems with what's going on in Italian stadia for instance. A team such as SS Lazio should be banned from any European competition as long as it doesn't do anything with their supporters. There we talk about a real problem.
Just listen to the news. I was dressed in blue, white and red for the WC98 final...And as sl7vk -thanks mate- stated, it's much more related to the current political climate in France and I would add some politicians are playing with fire. Real problems are everywhere, if you only focus on the obvious, you're likely to be surprised. But yes, the trendy resurgence of fascism in Italy is a manifestion of something which is very concerning. PS : Don't forget my original post was also a short-cut, you'll get used to these !
What news ? Paris has lost the Olympics ? Millau bridge is wonderful ? the A380 is a beautiful plane ? France says no to the constitution ? Which politicians are you thinking about ? Please give me examples because you haven't given any yet and I'm really not sure about what you're talking....