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I think its a difficult time for French football. The tried to qualify without Zidane and nearly failed until Zidane came back from retirement. He comes back but then he doesnt seem to fit well into the system. It will be interesting to see how they play against Togo but surely they should now start thinking of the post Zidane era.

off topic slightly but when the italian player elbowed the american and cut him below the eye, the italian player was sent off. herry kewell admonishes the referee and now fifa is mounting an investigation. why isn`t fifa looking into further action regarding the criminality of the italian player?
which situation is more serious in real terms and has broader implications for the game and which is merely a bureaucratic snafu?

Listen Caleb, they might bring home an egg cup or a fancy tea cup but they'll still be singing about Jules Rimet in 2066! Oh that's right....that'll be 100 years from when they won it last. Altogether now 'three lions on a shirt.......'

Some of Zidanes first touches last night were genuinely awful. It's sad to see that due to time he has lost that great ability he once had. Great player but France need to play without him and I think if they do get through we will only see him as a sub. They're not going to get very far though as they are slow and old in all the wrong places, from the form so far someone's going to have to do a hell of a lot to stop Argentina winning the world cup.

France are still likely to qualify - a win against Togo should be enough, so we should all get to see him at least once more.

just to clarify, after zidane was substituted for trezeguet, he handed his captain's arm-band (albeit a bit tossingly) to one of his team-mates who inturn handed it to trezeguet (must be a really bad feeling to captain this kinda ending). after he had passed domenech without as much as exchanging a glance he tossed his tricolore wrist-band towards the bench (you know the kind that french players wear around their wrists). just to clarify, mind you :)

Zidane and Ronaldo. Two stars of recent World Cups now on the scrapheap.

I wonder where they will end up next? I hear Grampus 8 are still looking for a replacement for Linekar...

Its a shame to see such former greats as Zidane and Ronaldo fall from grace after they have bought us some of the best moments in football, Zidane is the unfortunate victim of time not being on his side and living in France as I do I know how much the public here wanted him to play, maybe this world cup is just a year to late for him.
Ronaldo on the other hand has no one to blame but himself, how is it possible for a player of his stature to just let himself go physically, he is a professional athlete after all earning a fortune the least he could do is eat a little less Paella and keep the weight off. I watched him playing for Brazil against a German club side in a warm up before the world cup started and even against a division one side in a friendly he was emabarassing I was forced to watch through my fingers......I am wondering how the sponsors of these footballing greats get to influence things nowadays, one thing is for sure not to many will be offering Ronaldo a new deal, how ironic is that the main sponsor for this tournament is McDonalds ??

what you think if the semifinals are playing among two europians and two south americans and they are brasil,england,argentina and germany.
and final game is between one south american and one europian.

Zidane still had a couple of sublime passes though: it's too bad Henry couldn't finish more than one.

Everyone criticizes Zidane, but France are still getting 4-5 quality scoring chances a game. A major problem is Henry's impotency at the international level.

I would play a 4-4-2 with Louis Saha and Terezeguet (sp?). Saha is in form and Trezeguet is a classy finisher.

I do agree that France is too old. Makelele, Viera and Zidane are way too on in years to perform consistently....

Zidane has definitely had his day, however his mood may have been better, and his second booking perhaps avoided, if the second goal that France undoubtedly scored had been awarded.

Why, oh why do FIFA not pay urgent attention to making sure that a goal is always awarded when the ball crosses the line? It's such basic stuff in this day and age really.

Everyone in the world knows that France scored 2 goals and yet this is not reflected in the final scoreline. It can't go on.

Sadly, my enjoyment of the tournament is diminished by this kind of farcical situation. France should be going into the Togo game with 4 points.

A Football Fan, Middlesbrough (not yet a part of France).

There's a big debate about wether Patrick Vierra's header against Korea actually crossed the line.

alot of people claims that Goalie Lee cleared it before the ball crossed the line. and the broadcasters in korea only shows replays from front angles only which makes it very difficult to tell.
Any solid evidence on this anyone??

France really are struggling at the moment, they're gunna be under huge pressure for the next match

Jim - on the subject of the second goal scored by France against South Korea, the best I can do is quote the online commentary on www.bbc.co.uk; it's the same story elsewhere, but I can't find any photos. There were numerous TV replays at the time here in the UK, and the ball was 2 feet over the line at least.

"32 mins: France should be two goals ahead. Patrick Vieira meets Zinedine Zidane's corner with a powerful header which is clawed away by goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae behind the line. The whistle goes soon after for a foul by Florent Malouda on Ho Lee as he follows up to stab in the loose ball".

A Football Fan, Middlesbrough.

When you're struggling, you need drastic changes to improve. The French need that, and if manager doesn't do that, the French are out.

Also, why only Zidane, sack Viera also. I feel Makalele, Viera partnership is too defensive. Doesn't work.

Hi - not sure if this is the right place for this comment or not; this is the first time I've looked at the Blog and I notice the earlier criticisms of Ian Wright's 'performance' and attitude on the Â鶹Éç (back around June 13). Does anyone share my revulsion at his antics after the France game on Sunday night? Marcus Desailly must have been cringing - or resisting the urge to slap him into line. It was disgraceful and embarrassing at best; if he's happy to play the court jester role, let him do so at his own expense. The hysterical laughter and counting of the days since France last won the World Cup had no place on a supposedly 'professional' sports panel - it was childish and offensive and another display of exactly the kind of arrogance that gets English pundits and fans a bad name ... not least in the rest of the UK. Surely there have been complaints about that part of the programme and Ian Wright's antics in particular?

No Zidane is not nearing its end. I am sure he still has some hidden resources underneath his magic feet. Nevertheless, the game showed clear evidences of the weaknesses of Henry alone with two flankers. Perhaps his way works fine with the gunners insofar as the British Premiere League teams play and attend the fight. During games like Monday's sinister, Korea did nothing offensively and awkwardly defend during 90 minutes, Henry is everything but effective.
Be careful anyway, the French team looks like a diesel team. It has started very slowly but it can at any time beat anyone.

Yer thats it from Zidane, thats the best its going to get from him in this world cup, and im taking into account whether they qualify for the 2nd round or not.

Its been sad in a way how such a great footballer has declined rapidly, his last 2-3 seasons he really hasn't performed well and his stats this season havn't been good at all by his high standards.

He just dosn't have it in him anymore, his head wants to do one thing, but his feet/body can't do it.

This is a difficult time for French Football with Zidane on his way out, and the liklihood of Makele and Thuramm probably retiring from international football as well, never mind Barthez.

Then there's the coach who in my opinion dosn't have a clue tatically, makes awful subsitutions i mean y was Dharosoo brought on when Trezequet or Louis Saha would surley have given the side abit more of a punch.

And lets remember France were fortunate to qualify from their group, it was only the return of Zidane, Thuramm and Makele that managed to get them through, and remember they should have lost both games 2 the Irish.

France will just have to hope that when the likely new manager comes in - whoever it may be - that still with the likes of Henry, Malouda and the emerging Ribery that the new France can be reborn.

Saying that i still expect them to comfortably beat Togo thus going through but after that they'll play Spain who right now are 10 times better than France.

Good blog there Nigel Adderley

I would love to see the French go out in the first round. They're a team who've been relying on their reputation for some time, and even when they were world and European champions I didn't particularly enjoy watching them. Even Greece are more fun to watch- and that's saying something!

i'm not a huge fan of epl and thank god for that!
never seen such overrated pricks like henry..nd he is supposed to be THE best player in EPL?? even the other stars of epl -- nistelrooy, lampard, gerrard, drogba --- are such pathetic excuses for football players.
learn from argentine how soccer is spelt.

greece won euro 04 how can you say there not gd to watch its a huge disappointment to see them not qualify as they beat alot of big guns in 04. GO ENGLAND!!!!

Step back for a second and consider what you saw during the France - Korea game. Henry, Ribery, Malouda, Wiltord all playing at hyper speed.
Yes Zidane was slow and yes Claude Makelele was slow but ZZ has been slow for a few years and CM always plays slow.
I wouldn't want England to meet them any time soon....vote your opinion on France here:

EDITORS Not sure if this posted earlier:

Step back for a second and consider what you saw during the France - Korea game. Henry, Ribery, Malouda, Wiltord all playing at hyper speed.
Yes Zidane was slow and yes Claude Makelele was slow but ZZ has been slow for a few years and CM always plays slow.

I wouldn't want England or the US to meet them any time soon....
What do you think are France past it - vote for fun here:

I fancied France for a last 4 finish, but for some reason again, they haven't fired as they should have.
Strange days indeed