Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Group A: France v. Uruguay Preview
Europe's biggest underachiever faces off with the South American team of the same distinction. On paper, France - as usual - looks the much better side, and Uruguay may struggle to contain France's wide players. Uruguay plays a traditional 3-5-2, with two very hard-working wingbacks - Alvaro Pereira on the left, Maxi Pereira on the right (no relation) - covering the wide positions, meaning that these two players must shoulder both the offensive and defensive burdens on the wings entirely on their own. France has a plethora of wide players, all recently given even more license in its new 4-3-3 formation. On the right there is Sidney Govou and the attack-minded defender Bacary Sagna, and the left there is the dangerous Franck Ribery supported by Patrice Evra (Florent Malouda, a natural left-winger, is deployed out of place in central midfield, but has a tendency to drift wide into his preferred wider position too). France will want to use its numerical advantage on the wings to supply the striker - Yoann Gourcuff, the typical central playmaker, is likely to be tightly man-marked by Walter Gargano and will struggle to find space.
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
World Cup Coverage Begins At Realclearsports With A Look At Group A Team Selection
This is the silly season for World Cup soccer.
It’s a lot like baseball’s spring training. Every team’s fans think they really have a chance to win – even though they don’t. The press is all geared up with little to report so every minor story gets blown way out of proportion. How players perform in the exhibitions leading up to the Cup receive extensive analysis – even though, like spring training, they don’t mean much of anything unless someone gets injured.
So it goes with the squad announcements this week emanating from the 32 participants in next month’s tournament. The only “surprises” tend to come from the enlistment of marginal players who are going to make the squad – the equivalent of baseball’s 24th or 25th player. And even the provisional squads announced this week have to be pared some more before the tournament opens.
With all these caveats in mind, we’ll begin to look at the squad announcements and other recent developments in the days ahead, beginning today with Group A – Mexico, South Africa, France, and Uruguay. (As background, we’ve already done an extensive analysis of all the groups in our book, “World Cup 2010: The Indispensable Guide to Soccer and Geopolitics,” so we’ll also be referencing that from time to time.)
GROUP A – MEXICO, SOUTH AFRICA, FRANCE, URUGUAY
This is the most wide-open group in South Africa with all four countries having a real shot at making the cut. Three have talent and South Africa has home tourney advantage – which counts for a lot at the World Cup. What makes the group difficult to call is that the three with talent are among the least consistent teams in the world’s upper echelon. In our predicted order of finish (more on that later), here’s the latest on surprise selections:
To continue reading, click here:
It’s a lot like baseball’s spring training. Every team’s fans think they really have a chance to win – even though they don’t. The press is all geared up with little to report so every minor story gets blown way out of proportion. How players perform in the exhibitions leading up to the Cup receive extensive analysis – even though, like spring training, they don’t mean much of anything unless someone gets injured.
So it goes with the squad announcements this week emanating from the 32 participants in next month’s tournament. The only “surprises” tend to come from the enlistment of marginal players who are going to make the squad – the equivalent of baseball’s 24th or 25th player. And even the provisional squads announced this week have to be pared some more before the tournament opens.
With all these caveats in mind, we’ll begin to look at the squad announcements and other recent developments in the days ahead, beginning today with Group A – Mexico, South Africa, France, and Uruguay. (As background, we’ve already done an extensive analysis of all the groups in our book, “World Cup 2010: The Indispensable Guide to Soccer and Geopolitics,” so we’ll also be referencing that from time to time.)
GROUP A – MEXICO, SOUTH AFRICA, FRANCE, URUGUAY
This is the most wide-open group in South Africa with all four countries having a real shot at making the cut. Three have talent and South Africa has home tourney advantage – which counts for a lot at the World Cup. What makes the group difficult to call is that the three with talent are among the least consistent teams in the world’s upper echelon. In our predicted order of finish (more on that later), here’s the latest on surprise selections:
To continue reading, click here:
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