La Garde Republicaine vs. The Black Watch or maybe their football teams... Wednesday, September 12 Setanta TV 3 PM Eastern 2 PM Central 1 PM Mountain Noon Pacific
Never thought I'd say this, but the best piece of news for us is Henry won't be playing... Same team, replace Henry with Trez and keep Govou as a possible fill-in for Anelka or Ribéry and we're all set. We should have never lost the first leg in Scotland;we're definitely not going to lose this one. 3-0 to France and here's hoping Ukraine can put up a fight against Italy and take 1 or (let's dream...) 3 pts from them.
Yes, as someone noted, Henry is suspended. Considering that Trez was warming up during this match and Benzema wasn't among the 7 substitutes, it likely will be Trez who gets the start. Although both have been off to excellent starts in their leagues. If Vieira isn't 100% fit or Domenech doesn't want Maké to get another yellow, Toulalan I would expect would get a start. However, I think both of those 2 veterans were among the best players on the field today, so as good as Toulalan has been in L1 this season, it'd be tough to argue he should get the nod over them. If it comes down to a Diarra vs. Clerc battle at right back, I think we can all agree that Diarra should get the start. Then again, it appears that when the question is who starts in defense, it's almost a game of musical chairs.
I think Benzema will be on the bench and will come in in the second half and bag a goal. Definately Trez and Anelka to start though.
Looking forward to it, no pressure on us. France v Scotland preview video (begins 2:25) http://youtube.com/watch?v=1W4YDNUtBHA
Should be a good match, and tougher than some of the French fans are willing to recognize. The Scotts have played some solid football thus far through qualifying, and what they lack in depth or world class talent they more than make up for in terms of heart, determination, and hard work. They realize they are a solid contender to qualify at this point, and they aren't going to ease up at all until the very end.
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_2717496,00.html Barry Ferguson will not be fazed by the reputations of his illustrious French opponents in the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night... "They probably don't mention any of us," Ferguson said. "That's the arrogance about them, they probably don't know who we are. O...kay. now the only question is: who the hell is barry ferguson?
mrs. velocity: oh i wouldn't like that! mrs. particle: it would take all the fun out of it, woudn't it?
For once Setanta broadcast a match that I actually want to see! And right afterwards, I'm going to catch Mexico-Brazil live. Too bad there won't be any L1 representation on either team. I'm pretty sure Trezeguet will start, and hopefully he'll score a goal to silence some of his critics. If Vieira can't play for whatever reason, I won't shed a tear if Toulalan takes over. He's actually quite suited for the type of physical game that Scotland will be sure to display. I would love to see a slightly more attacking lineup, since Scotland is guaranteed to be defensive. Maybe something like this: Landreau RB - Mexes - Abidal - Evra Makelele Ribery - Nasri - Malouda Anelka - Trezeguet It'll never happen though because it's missing five defensive midfielders. I left RB blank because while Diarra is a great defensive midfielder, Domenech may go with someone more attacking (Clerc or Sagna).
ach, he's got nae troosers! don't take the GR lightly though, those guys are an elite corps. the two regiments of infantry are the french equivalent of the secret service, and the cavalry is the cream of the cream of the crop. last note: they are gendarmes and not army personnel.
Ture but the gendarmes are much more military like, particularly in organization than in the US. Aren't they a separate branch within the defense ministry? Regardless it was a cool picture and I was having trouble finding something as cool as the black watch photo.
it so happens my father-in-law is a retired adjutant-chef de gendarmerie, so i know a little bit about it. the gendarmerie as you point out is part of the ministry of defense, not the ministry of the interior like the police. the police, although national (municipal police are halfway between real police and metermaids, have limited powers and generally are not armed, though their situation is changing) are on the beat in larger cities. the gendarmes fill a role similar to sheriffs, state troopers, highway patrol... and also take care of the DOM-TOM. policemen work out of commissariats, gendarmes work out of (and live in) postes. there is a distinct rivalry between the two corps: a gendarme looks at the way a policeman's shirt is ironed and just shakes his head in disgust.
He sure will [youtube]Es0t50H44IE[/youtube] The comment from that Scot is pretty interesting, he accuses the French of being arrogant for not really knowing their "smaller" opponent, but isn't it even more arrogant of him to claim he deserves to be famous when he is from a relatively small team? anyway, let's hope this game goes better than the away match
It's not arrogance, he isn't saying the French should know who he is, he's just saying that the 'big stars' of Les Blues run the risk of underestimating their opponents (like they did at Hampden) although it's unlikely. The article was also referring to how players from smaller nations are sometimes more interested in swapping shirts with a big star at the end, while Barry prefers to keep all of his kits from matches. A draw would be nice tonight, though I'm not getting my hopes up. Oh yeah, Ferguson was the guy that Le Goon tried to force out at Rangers, which was basically the straw that broke the camels back as far as the supporters and board were concerned.
I think this should be an entertaining match with both teams going after the win. I imagine Scotland giving France some problems early on, but the team settling down and playing their possesion game. A comfortable 2-0 victory for les bleus i reckon.
On the previous occasion Scotland traveled to the City of Lights, they were beaten by 5 goals. Of course, it was only a friendly. What is important to note, though, is David Trezeguet scored a brace, coming off a big season at Juve where he led Serie A in scoring. 5 years after, Trez is again on top of the scoring charts (though obviously it's early in the season), plus it appears he is motivated again. Not only that, the entire team is more than motivated after losing at Hampden Park, so I strongly believe Les Bleus will be victorious, and the margin of victory could be large. Then again, having said that, France have had issues scoring goals, as they've averaged a whopping 1 goal/match in this calendar year. So in other words, anything can happen, though I wouldn't be shocked if Trez, Anelka or Benzema score a hat-trick.
what is also extremely important to note is that on the above occasion herr berti was our manager and is, thankfully, no more...
Indeed. I certainly don't think France will win 5-0. 3-0 or 2-0 is what I'd say, though Gordon is a very good keeper, while Les Bleus have been struggling to get goals.
Yea I don't see a drubbing in the cards. Thats why thought 2-nil. They should at least keep the clean sheet, even without our optimal back four.
I think a lot of you are underestimating Scotland. The game won't be comfortable unless you get a very early goal. One thing I was wondering about was how would the crowds react if the game is tied going into the end of the first-half? Well, maybe some of you.