Chaos, utter chaos.
Team spirit, gone.
Respect, gone.
Anelka, gone.
Valentin, gone.
Possibility, still there, but slight.
Somehow, Domenech’s men are still in with a shot of going through to the round of 16. They’re currently better placed than Le Guen’s Cameroon, and could be better placed than Honduras and DPR Korea by the time those groups have completed their 2nd round of games. It is not the most auspicious of company, however where there’s life there’s hope.
Firstly – the mathematical possibility – all three of the following must occur for France to qualify.
1) France must win.
2) There must be a winner between Uruguay and Mexico.- now a naysayer might suggest a contrived result, remember if Mexico draw with Uruguay, they (most likely) play Argentina, if they beat Uruguay they play Greece/South Korea/Nigeria. Will Mexico really only want to play for a draw?
3a) There must be a goal difference turnaround of more than 5 with Uruguay, or more than 4 with Mexico OR
3b) There must be a goal difference turnaround of 5 if Uruguay lose, or 4 if Mexico lose, AND France score 4 more goals than the loser Uruguay or loser Mexico. If France score 3 more goals than loser Uruguay then they will draw lots.
Secondly – can they achieve this.
Short answer is yes – albeit improbable.
Long answer includes these factors: The camp is an absolute mess, in disarray – as Dave has reliably informed you.
Domenech is still the manager.
Anelka’s contribution will be missed, that may or may not be a positive.
South Africa’s impressive goalkeeper Khune (who kept them in it against Mexico and whose distribution has been sublime) is suspended.
The France team will be fresh after not training.
There will be lots of people in and around Les Bleus trying to prove lots of other people wrong.
South Africa’s chance of qualifying is even slimmer than France’s, thus heads may drop.
The chances of France surviving this group are slim. If the do survive, the prospect of (most likely) facing Argentina in the next round daunting, however, there is still the possibilty, and whilst it still exists then why not speculate?
Filed under: French National Team, World Cup Tagged: | Raymond Domenech, South African National Team, World Cup 2010
I’ll venture a prediction once I see the lineup but right now i don’t see a team that is:
1) prepared physically
2) prepared mentally
3) professional enough to save grievances for after the tournament
4) capable of scoring multiple goals, or even one
Meanwhile, I’m still upset at 4:39 AM France time… I need to drink a Ricard and get some sleep so that I can witness the inevitable trainwreck (or miracle) that awaits.
I wrote the following, earlier this evening, on a fellow OM supporter’s facebook wall when I should have just written it here:
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Yeah yeah, we know the FFF is incompetent and Domenech is a moron. But the show must go on. Most people don’t just quit on their team and country when things don’t go their way.
I wish I could personally ask the current players a few questions, starting with: “How does refusing to practice and focusing efforts on division help get a result on Tuesday night?”
Patrice Evra is still hiding from the press, perhaps trying to flush out the “mole” and point some more fingers at easy targets. Sorry, I won’t be distracted by this. If Evra’s the captain, deserved or undeserved, he’s got to rally the team to perform on the field, not get sidetracked with off-the-field divisions.
Nicolas Anelka’s lucky he plays for an English club and flew back to London. Just wait till the French-based mutineers get back to France. They, most of all, better get a good nights sleep and hope for a miracle tomorrow night..
Ribery’s laughing while he can. He faces trial when he gets home (underage girl, possibly trafficking), but then again, rich and famous celebs rarely get much jail time, if at all.
Put that same question you asked to the players. If they didn’t want to play for Domenech and the FFF, why didn’t they just refuse the call-up (think Riquelme and Maradona), or suck it up and act like professionals, and wait until the tournament was over to air grievances?
And if it’s such a revolution, why didn’t Evra have the balls to read the statement? They’re still using Domenech as a shield. Sorry, but in my book that’s gutless. Classless.
The France-Haters are cheering, but I’m not.
I can’t wait till Blanc takes charge. I hope to see some new faces, less high-school division, and a sense of unity and professionalism for Euro 2012.
Justin, it’s an unimaginable train wreck what is going on. Whilst I agree with most of what you have said, and they don’t deserve to go through, I think I’d still like them to do it. Probably just for the sheer improbability of it all.
For mine the problem is that of a leadership vacuum. As hackneyed and irritating as the Australian response to the Germany game was, it was professional, with the coach taking “full responsibility” (his words) and the players saying they’ll do what they can to turn it round. With the Ghana game being the “biggest match” (his words) of the captain’s career which includes a round of 16 match against Italy. Australia are thus in a similar but ultimately more likely position to go through, because they’re showing character.