11/6/10 Group A. Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
France 0-0 Uruguay
Les Bleu have never been my favourites. This is mostly to do with beating Brazil in '98. I was eight years old that year, my soccer world featured Ronaldo, bright yellow and no one else. Certainly not the Frenchmen. That win, 3 goals to nil, made me rather traumatized. Then, beating them once again in '06, against a not very good Brazilian team, showed France to be Brazil's nemesis. Man, they just crumble when they see that rooster.
I know that France is a very good team, they have mastered the art of playing both European football with a French and African twist. Extraordinaire Zidan made the team move as if they were in harmony, he made them flow. Also, I don't like the coach at all. Raymond Domenech is scary, and those dark eyebrows add to it.
So seemingly without Zidan and the unsure feelings regarding the coach, I wondered what the French players would do. There is one irritating thing about them though. They start of in this lackadaisical manner, and somehow just end up in the semi-finals. Why do they do this? Can't they just play well from the beginning?
With nobody taking much notice of Uruguay, they played an important strategy. They kept most of their players in defence and had few chances at goal. It was clever, and the French, who don't find it very easy to finish and get goals, even if their midfield might be powerful, couldn't break through. Henry came on with much show as usual, and had his first try at offside. I don't know if he enjoys it.
Even though the French players kept banging at the posts, they came away with a draw. Better for South Africa I guess. They might have not gotten very far in their first game, but France, burbling with big names like Malouda and Ribery, is full of strong talent. We will see them when they play Bafana.
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