With
Euro 2012 kicking-off - it's time to profile the countries taking part, from
their footballing beginnings to the present day.
Coach: Laurent Blanc
Group
Winners
One to Watch: Karim Benzema
As
we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least,
will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own
countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European
Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. At It's All In The Game,
I shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists that will bid to become the
champions of Europe until 2016.
The
French team are the subject of our next Euro 2012 profile. The French, as a
nation, have a proud footballing tradition going back to 1904 when they
contested their first match. As you might expect then, France have a fairly
illustrious history in International competition, taking part in thirteen World
Cup Finals tournaments, finishing third in 1958 and 1986 and winning the
tournament in 1998 on home soil.
There
have been two “Golden Generations” in the recent history of French football
which have both delivered major honours. The first was in the 1980s, it
included the “Magic Square” of Platini, Tigana, Giresse and Luis Fernandez,
which terrorised defences. This team was unlucky not to secure at least one
World Cup-beaten by West Germany in the semi-finals both in 1982 and 1986. It
did, however, triumph at the European Championships held in France in 1984,
France’s first success in a major tournament, with Michel Platini scoring a
tournament record nine goals.
After
a period of decline, which saw them fail to qualify for three of the next four
major tournaments, France found a second “Golden Generation”. Including players
such as Zidane, Thuram, Henry and Trezeguet, the squad added to World Cup
success in 1998 by going on to be crowned European Champions in Holland two
years later-Trezeguet scoring the Golden Goal winner to beat the Italians 2-1.
Much
has happened to France since then, a turbulent decade has seen them fail to
emerge from the Group Stage in three of the last four tournaments. In the one
tournament which they did, France reached the final of World Cup 06 in Germany,
only to be beaten on penalties by Italy following Zenedine Zidane's dismissal
for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi. Internal disagreements and personality
clashes, between playing staff and management,plagued the French team in the
years which followed, culminating in the team refusing to train during a
mutinous 2010 World Cup campaign.
As
things are Les Bleus have qualified for Euro 2012 by right as group winners,
however they are somewhat lucky to be in that position for my money. An
unconvincing set of performances which began with a defeat by Belarus in Paris,
ended with France scraping through after being awarded a remarkably soft, late
penalty against Bosnia-Herzogovina.
Had
it not been for that favourable
decision, France would have been in the play-offs and Bosnia would be through
to the tournament proper. Having said that, Les Bleus only lost once and conceded only four goals in the ten games,
which, I suppose, is to be expected for a team managed by Laurent Blanc.
Looking
at the current France squad there are some very talented players there, for
example Samir Nasri and, of course, Frank Ribery, however , the squad is
lacking depth and experience, especially in defence and up front. The goal scoring responsibilities will fall very
much upon the shoulders of Karim Benzema, the young Real Madrid striker.
Benzema
was controversially left out of the squad for South Africa after being caught
up in a scandal before the tournament so will be keen to make an impression this
time round. After a rocky beginning, he has settled well in La Liga and is now
a regular first choice for manager Jose Mourinho.
The
imposing front-man is starting to find his best form and has scored 20 league
goals for Real this season. With pace, strength, skill and composure Benzema is
a match for any defence and all of France will be hoping he can keep his form
going and bring it into the Euros with him, if he doesn’t, France may struggle.
France
are a work in progress after all the changes brought about by the South Africa
debacle, and although Blanc has done a reasonable job in steadying the ship and
bringing in new players, doubts still remain over the togetherness of the
squad. Recent friendly victories away to the Germans and, going back a bit further,
over England at Wembley have gone a long way towards dispelling these
murmurings but whether they can hold it together under the intense pressure
tournament conditions is still debatable.
Les
Bleus find themselves grouped together with England, Sweden and co-hosts
Ukraine. With England first up, a victory over the old foe would see the French
take a huge step towards winning the group. Should they accomplish that, they
may well face Spain or Italy in the second round and whether they can beat the big
boys on the big stage will be properly put to the test.
By Neil Patterson
Email: neil.b.patterson@gmail.com
Facebook: http://goo.gl/MJce0
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Neil1980
