France

The really stupid thing is that we have tons of it at La Ferte as we used the same oil as I use in the Rearwin in our Flamant and that ain’t going anywhere soon!

Very claggy leaving La Ferte but once past the Seine going north it was lovely.

Ah, I’m jaleous Melv! I have still to make this flight across the Channel.

But promise, when I go back home for good (October this year), I shall try to spread the message that oil should be readily available on our French airfields, especially for fellow aviators from the UK 😉

Cheers,
Steph

Abbeville for fuel but no oil or food!

Yup. Always seems a struggle to get oil in France. Generally take a few cans with me.

Moggy

RE: France

bon voyage

rabie :9

RE: France

Yep, there’s enough dutch people around here 😉

RE: France

Actually, part of the Ardennes area IS in France, mon cher Ben.

RE: France

Ohh my god, France is overrun again by the Dutch. well rather France than the peacefull ardennes. 😀

RE: C’est fini

Oh well, there is always Germany in 2006. Closer to home and all. The commentators have said that they see this as one of the most open world cups ever.

RE: C’est fini

Thanks Jonesy,

It’s a strange atmosphere here today.
From my point of view it’s not a big surprise if one watched the games played by this team before the wc.

Anyway , there is a lot of new players ( the – 21 went in final of there championship 1 month ago).

You liked Cisse , there is a bunch like him on their way.
You know , the british teams are doing their shopping on the French market , they have a good reason for that.

France has developped a good education program for young players for decades . Now we are harvesting …..

Anyway it’s just a game …. 🙁

Manners that maketh man

Thanks Steve. Spoken like a true gent, which you undoubtedly are!

We were just too poor overall to deserve anything. We cannot hope to go very far if we rely purely on luck and on one player. I think life is full of cycles and after being so successful (and to be fair, favoured by luck) the time has come to fall back to earth.

I must admit I have been quite disappointed at some of the reactions from some English quarters after the dismal start to our World Cup campaign. I ought to know better than to be surprised by now, having lived here for almost 8 years and having tried very hard to fit in and to out-English the English. It still rankles a bit though when it happens. Thanks God for educated and civilised people such as yourself!

The next generation has indeed some promising players in the wings. Cissé should have played from the start because he cleary was up for it and in contrast to some of his team mates, he had the “eye of tiger” rather than the look of a beaten man about him. Shame about Zidane reaching the end of his playing years. I can’t quite see how anyone could replace a player of his calibre.

And best of British for tomorrow!!

RE: C’est fini

Oh come on Jonesy, I am delighted the French are out!

As far as I know, the last time the champions were eliminated was in 1966 when the Brazilians were sent home. Could this be a repeat of 1966?

RE: C’est fini

My, sincerest, commiserations to you and your countrymen Snowman.

Its disheartened me greatly hearing of England fans jeering the French for theyre early departure. As if we dont know what it feels like to have high expectations dashed!. That we would revel in others experiencing the same is frankly unfathomable.

Anyway it seems like you may have some consolation in the rich vein of young talent that this should bring into the French team from now. That Cisse chap looked dynamite!.

C’est fini

Ah well,
only the 3rd time in history that a team which won the first edition didn’t make it to the secound round.

I can say that we haven’t lost a match in Japan or South Korea :-)didn’t even get socered a goal against us.

regards,

jw

C’est fini

What can I say… Seeing the way they played, France deserved to be eliminated. A half fit Zidane showed his true class but it was not enough. I’d have liked to see Cissé play from the start, he is one for the future and what a difference he made when he came on.

End of an era for France.

RE: First points..

I think that without Zidane, the team goes from a world beater to an fairly good team. I disagree that Frank Leboeuf (FL) is a liability, but it seems I am in a minority of one, even among French supporters who are lashing out at Leboeuf at every opportunity. There might be some slight bias because he is captain of the club I support, but I do not agree he is that bad. Against Senegal, he mistimed his tacle on the Senegal goal, but why was the ball lost in the first place? Why was Leboeuf on his own on the left flank? Why did Petit not boot the cross in the stand? Why did Barthez fumble helplessly at the ball?

The fact is that FL made some crucial interventions on passes which could have been extremely dangerous. He has never been blessed with scorching pace, but has good positional sense usually and is always up for it. He is universally disliked though, in England as well as France, but that won’t make me alter my views; only his performances will. He is on the way out though, no doubt about it.

Lemerre seems to favour older and more experienced players over young ones though there are quite a few promissing talents coming through.
I thought Thuram did very well yesterday, but I absolutely hate Candela’s style of play. He is a nice bloke, but he is diabolical in defense, always running off to attack, not tracking back enough and not good enough in my view as a defender. A bit like Roberto Carlos minus the talent…Petit impressed me with his running, challenges and efforts.
The ref was in my view very poor.

The thing which shocked me on my last holiday in France was the sense that a lot of people thought it was in the bag. They’d forgotten about the lean years which followed the Platini era.

Zidane is absolutely crucial to France, sadly. Without him, the team struggles.
Apparently we need to beat Denmark by 2 goals to qualify. It will be tough… Fingers crossed – and to all England supporters out there reading this before the Argies game, COME ON ENGLAND!!

RE: First points..

France are in trouble.

IF they get 3 points against the Danes, that only puts them on 4 points. Senegal have that much already!

In my opinion, it will all come down to goal difference. Which means France will need to score a hatfull. Denmark are no pushover, and you can effectively rule out Zidane – even if he plays, he will be short of match fitness.

France have 2 big, big weaknesses. Lebouef is an absolute liability and France will only get away with his defending if Desailly plays well, which he hasn’t been.

The other problem is central midfield. Vieira looks to be imporving, but Petit has been mediocre to say the least. Micoud looks a useful replacement for Zidane, but I don’t think he’s quite good enough to make up for it if the rest of the team plays badly!

Does anyone else find the whole thing really surreal?

In 1998, everyone was saying that France were a really good team apart from not having any good strikers.

In 2002, everyone is saying that France are a really good team apart from their defence!

RE: First points..

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 06-06-02 AT 03:22 PM (GMT)]First POINT (singular) alas…

Apparently France can qualify by beating Denmark by two goals. If Zidane returns, it might be feasible.

The game was quite a disapointment. Without wishing to sound too clichéd, I think the attitude of some of the Uruguyan players does little credit to their team. See for instance the forward who stood next to Barthez and argued with him, and then turned and signalled to the ref that the 6 seconds before which Barthez was supposed to relinquish the ball had elapsed.

They didn’t really do much, apart from trying to hit France on the break and defend in numbers.
The ref was inconsistent and I think fairly dispointing.

First points..

For France in a 0-0 draw with Uraguay. French had a man sent off after just 26 minutes!

RE: Portugal

They gave a goal away, not points. And the Portuguese did the same. The three points are the USA’s.

RE: Portugal

Yeah saw that match too. Damned, those Yanks … anyway, they were so good, they even gave points away to the Portuguese 🙂