France

France has had a mixed few years in international football. In 2010 the players appeared to go on strike during the World Cup in South Africa when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the squad for verbally abusing coach Raymond Domenech. They crashed out of the tournament after only scoring one goal and finishing bottom of the group. Since then World Cup winner Laurent Blanc has taken the helm and guided France through a tricky qualifying group. A loss to Belarus at the start of the campaign caused a stir but since then France has looked solid and have beaten Brazil, England and Germany in friendlies. So what to expect from this volatile nation? The answer is, we don’t really know. Laurent Blanc’s side only conceded 4 goals during qualifying, a stat only beaten by Germany, who conceded only twice. The ex-Manchester United centre-back has clearly brought his knowledge into the squad but they do possess a lot of talent in defence. Stripped of his captaincy Patrice Evra has remained Blanc’s favoured left back with Barcelona’s Eric Abidal converting to a more central role. The tall Adil Rami will probably play alongside Abidal, keeping the likes of Philippe Mexes, Younes Kaboul or Laurent Koscielny on the bench. Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna would have completed the back four with but his injury has put him out of the tournament. Anthony Reveillere, Mathieu Deduchy and Gael Clichy, of Lyon, Lille and Manchester City respectively, are all possibly wingback replacements. The new French captain is goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. He has kept 12 clean sheets for Olympique Lyon this season as well as 6 for the French national side during qualifying. His quick reflexes and command of the box make him a dependable player. Further up the pitch, Blanc favours two defensive midfielders, with three more advanced players behind the one focal attacker. The French certainly have the players to utilise this formation. Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery will use his trickery on the left wing whilst Florent Malouda will scamper down the right. Samir Nasri will play in the hole just off Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. Yoann Gourcuff scored 3 goals in his 3 qualifying appearances before injuring his ankle. The Lyon creative midfielder could provide another exciting spark to the French side. If fit, expect to see him pulling the strings and provide skills that have made some liken him to Zidane. He is yet to live up to this high expectation mind. The two defensive players in the heart of the French team are Rennes Yann M’Vila and Newcastle United’s superb midfielder Yohan Cabaye. M’Vila is a natural powerful defensive player whereas Cabaye runs box-to-box. Cabaye has excelled beyond all imagination at Newcastle with his vision, technical skill and final ball helping the northeast side to an impressive season that could saw them finish within touching distance of a Champions League spot. Their group in Euro 2012 include hosts Ukraine, Sweden and, the old enemy, England. With their exceptional attacking ability throughout the team coupled with a solid goalkeeper, France just need to keep their emotions under control to progress through to the knockout phrase. From there this French side could go all the way.