 Franck Ribery
Isn't this the same nation that has only reached the World Cup finals three times? And the one that are regularly accused of playing negative football? It is? Then how can one explain the optimism currently shaping the predictions of pundits and punters alike?
Well, it is probably safe to say that World Cup fever is starting to mount and the Irish public are craving an extra large slice of it. Add to that the fact that the French are now considered to be a wobbly wonder of a team, while the Irish are seen by many to be tough to beat. Funny how perceptions can change with just a few games.......or if there is a big prize to fight for.
However, for all of this talk that is laced with positives, it is still going to take two big performances for Giovanni Trapattoni's team to book their place in South Africa next summer.
Ribery out, Gourcuff in
Halloween has yet to hit, but the fireworks were set off last week when it was announced that France would be without playmaker Franck Ribery for the two-legged Play-Off next month.
While I remain wary about a player being ruled out of a match so many weeks before it takes place, it is very comforting to know that the Bayern Munich man is at least struggling to reach full fitness and is likely to miss out.
Ribery is the one player that the French wanted to have in their line-up when they face Ireland because he can create goals, finish chances, and cause general mayhem for opposition defenders with relative ease. Without him in their team, Les Bleus will struggle to find that spark of imagination needed to open up a tight game.
The man expected to take over from Ribery is Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff. The 23-year-old is back playing after overcoming a niggling injury and if he is able to reproduce the form that he showed last season in Ligue 1, where he picked up the Player of the Year award, then there will be plenty of reasons for the Irish team to worry.
In contrast to this, France might opt to go with a completely different formation. With their manager, Raymond Domenech, renowned for regularly making head-scratching decisions and using four strikers in his starting eleven for certain games, Gourcuff might not even feature. It depends on whether he has an issue with the Cancer starsign that the winger possesses as Domenech tends not to trust players with certain zodiac signs.
Moving the goalposts......again and again
From the few comments that were left on my last blog entry, it was clear that many people are still angry about Fifa's decision to change the Play-Off draw to a seeded format. This anger is fully justified from the perspective of the teams that were dropped into the Category Two slot due to their official rankings being lower than France, Greece, Russia, and Portugal.
Yes, it is outrageous that the world governing body in football can alter the rules like that in order to favour the 'bigger' nations, but it was typical of how Fifa has been run under Sepp Blatter's reign. To list off his numerous follies would require a blog entry all on its own, so let's just settle with the fact that he is more interested in the politics and money that power the game rather than what makes the game so enjoyable.
Oh, and it is not just Blatter that should be blamed, but the whole Fifa board. They all wanted to see the big teams involved in South Africa and made sure that they made their Play-Off route that little bit easier. But there could be a few surprises yet.
To IrishinOhio: I presume that RTE will broadcast the Play-Off games live in Ireland, although if you are stuck for a live feed I'd suggest checking out justin.tv as they usually have links up there on match days.
Feel free to leave more comments on this blog and I'll try to answer any questions that you might have. | |