"LES WOES" FOR LES BLEUS
By Bruce Marshall
It's time for Les Bleus to sing the blues.
Thursday's latest disappointment against a better-than-advertised Mexico was merely the latest disappointment for a France side that bears resemblance to its great generation of footballers only by the familiar blue, white, and red kits. There is little else to suggest anything is left of the Zinedine Zidane-led sides that were pre-eminent in world football from the late '90s through the 2006 World Cup.
And how bad was France vs. Mexico? Consider that of the 18 crossing passes attempted by Les Bleus in open play, only one was completed, a horrific 5.6% accuracy rate that was France's worst in World Cup play since the stat was first kept way back in 1966 at England.
There is still a mathematical chance Les Bleus can advance from Group A, but it's asking a lot of a side to win by either three or foul goals, even against struggling South Africa, after failing to shake the onion bag even once in the first two matches vs. Uruguay and Mexico. More and more, this France World Cup adventure in resembling 2002, when Les Bleus didn't win a match and didn't score a goal in the process, although Zidane's thigh injury was a legitimate excuse in Asia eight years ago. No such scapegoat exists for France in 2010.
Some believe that help is on the way, as former international Laurent Blanc, recently hired from surprise package Bordeaux, will be taking over for the uninspiring Raymond Domenech as manager after Copa Mundial. Sources believe that Blanc will be a better fit for the national team simply because the troops will have to respect his accomplishments as a player, not to mention his growing reputation as a coach. And it was Blanc, along with other on-field leaders such as Manu Petit, Didier Dechamps, Patrick Vieira, Marcel Desailly, and Zidane who were able to literally will the "old France" to glory. Sadly, the new generation of French stars apparently have no such born leader in their ranks, instead a group of individuals whose parts remain far greater than their sum.
It is an indictment of Domenech that his roster includes more players who participated in the quarterfinals of the recent Champions League than any other country, yet struggled badly through the qualifiers and has looked even worse in South Africa. Quality is not the problem with France; rather, we suspect Domenech, in the post-Zidane era, simply has no clue how to amalgamate the diverse components within the squad. Although veteran Barcelona striker Thierry Henry is past his prime, we wonder why Domenech, desperate for goals, has only given him a brief look in the opener vs. Uruguay. Henry didn't even get on the pitch in the 2-0 loss to Mexico at Polokwane on a night in which Les Bleus desperately needed some offense. With the goals having dried up, we also wonder why Domenech has been reluctant to team a pair of strikers; perhaps fielding Henry along with Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka could have jump-started an attack that has lacked a finishing touch. He did field them both on occasion during the qualifiers, including that controversial second-leg playoff vs. Ireland.
Why Domenech also did not feature Anelka's teammate at Stamford Bridge, winger Flourent Maluda, in the starting lineup for the Uruguay opener still puzzles as well. Malouda eventually came on late as a sub vs. Uruguay, and was featured in the starting lineup vs. Mexico, but again we believe Domenech had the plot all wrong, moving Bayern Munich's livewire Franck Ribery to a central playmaking position instead of his more-lethal slot as a left wing, while benching Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcoff, who admittedly did not have a stellar opener vs. Uruguay but remains Domenech's best playmaking force while sometimes (perhaps generously) being compared to a young Zidane. Lining up Ribery-Gourcoff-Malouda in their proper slots could perhaps have ignited the offense, which instead continued to misfire vs. Mexico. Meanwhile, Domenech look disinterested and uninvolved in the proceedings, with cameras catching him in a leaning position against a pole, expressionless, the entire Mexico match.
French fans who view their glasses as half-full will look upon the final group match vs. South Africa with some excitement, however; it will almost assuredly be the uninspiring Domenech's last game in charge. Whether Blanc does any better remains to be seen, but regardless, it's time for a change.
VIVA MEXICO!
Give Mexico's manager Javier Aguirre plenty of credit for molding the Tricolores into a dangerous force. Mexico had the better of the opening match vs. South Africa, even though Aguirre's men had to rally for a 1-1 draw, but the improvement between the first and second matches was palpable. Although the pair of goals vs. France (one on a penalty, and one burning a faulty French offside trap) were a bit fortunate, there was nothing fluky about the 2-0 result. Mexico was well worth the three points earned in Polokwane.
Mexico's improvement from the first match to the second match is also likely a result of the enhanced familiarity within the team, thanks mainly to Aguirre's aggressive schedule of exhibition matches, of which Mexico utilized more than any other World Cup entry. With components of the team far-flung around the globe, Aguirre was not shy about scheduling extra matches and going wherever needed to play them, including Europe, where some of his charges are based. The strategy seems to be paying off as the Mexican team appears to be coming more familiar with one another. There was an understanding of movement on the pitch in the France match, which stood in stark comparison to the disorganized Les Bleus.
Young 21-year-old Galatasaray winger Giovanni dos Santos continues to be a revelation for the Tricolores. His off-the-ball work is creating space for fellow midfielders, while his runs into the box are causing anxiety attacks for defenders, who can't play too far off of him due to his lethal long-range shots. He's been one of the first revelations of the tournament. Another young pup, 22-year-old Javier Hernandez, scored Mexico's first goal vs. France after burning the offside trap and coolly outmaneuvering GK Hugo Lloris, while the old man, 37-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco, scored the final goal on a PK after Eric Abidal was cited in the box for a foul on Pablo Barrera.
And talk about pushing the right buttons; Aguirre's subs Hernandez, Blanco, and Barrera were all involved in the Mexico goals. On the other hand, Domenech's subs had no impact. Again, advantage Aguirre, whose tam sits in swell shape to qualify for the knockout phase. A draw will send both Uruguay and Mexico into the second round regardless what happens in the France-South Africa match, but don't expect Aguirre's men to take it easy vs. the Uruguayans; a draw would almost assuredly send Mexico into a matchup vs. Argentina at the top of the second round (as in 2006), whereas a win vs. Uruguay would likely put Mexico vs. South Korea or Greece. We'd say that is motivation enough for a big effort vs. Uruguay.
DARK DAYS CONTINUE FOR DARK CONTINENT
After noting how the African entries were all struggling through the first cycle of games, South Africa and Nigeria have continued the football descent of the Dark Continent into their second matches. We commented upon South Africa's ineptness after Wednesday's 2-0 capitulation vs. Uruguay, but Nigeria's 2-1 loss vs. Greece might have been even more exasperating. The Super Eagles seemed to be in control of the match when leading 1-0 late in the first half, until, that is, midfielder Sami Kaita took a punch and a kick at Greece's Vasilis Torosidis and was immediately shown a red card.
The match changed almost immediately thereafter, with the Greeks leveling just before half when Dimitrios Salpingidis' shot was helped in by a deflection off Nigeria's Lukman Haruna. Give Greece coach Otto Rehhagel credit for quickly taking advantage of the Super Eagles' 10-man status, as Rehhagel quickly inserted another forward, Celtic's Giorgios Samaras, in place of defensive midfielder Sokratis Papastathopoulous, to amp up the attack. The Greeks also began to do a better job of stretching the pitch, both length and width-wise, trying to take advantage of the extra man, and completed 64% of its passes after the Kaita dismissal, as opposed to just 44% prior. Greece also managed 11 shots on goal, far bettering its previous World Cup high of 4, and took all three points after Torosidis poked home a loose ball in the 71st minute. It was the first time a Rehhagel-coached Greek team had even come from behind to post a win, as well as the first comeback win of the tournament (who would have ever thought it would be Greece?).
Kaita's moment of madness will likely cost Nigeria a chance to advance and continues the problems f the African sides, with just one win in eight tries through Thursday's matches. Has the pressure to perform on the home continent simply gotten to most of the African entries?
Meanwhile, Greece still has a shot at the knockout phase, though it will likely have to pull at least a point from the final group match vs. Argentina. A tall order, but nothing to fear for Rehhagel, who knows a thing or two about overcoming odds. Just remember Euro 2004.
OLE' HIGUAIN!
Looking for a new odds-on bet to win the Golden Boot? Try Real Madrid's Ginzala Higuain, who pumped home a hat trick for Argentina in Thursday's 4-1 romp past South Korea. With odds at around 16-1 before rhe tournament, Higuain has now emerged as a solid favorite to finish the top scorer in South Africa, with his Golden Boot odds now quoted as low as 6-5 at various sports books. Along the way, Higuain became the first to score a hat trick in a World Cup game since Portugal's Pauleta against Poland back in 2002.
As he does at Real Madrid, Higuain was again in the right place at the right time for the Argentines, never further than six or so yards from the goal when scoring all three of his chances. But that's Higuain's specialty as a poacher deluxe, able to find room enough for himself in the box to capitalize, whether it be after Kaka or Cristiano Roanaldo do the fancy work in Madrid or Lionel Messi for Argentina. And Higuain, the second leading scorer in La Liga this past season with 27 goals, knows how to finish.
Credit Diego Maradona (or whomever is responsible for Argentina's strategy) for a slight tactical adjustment for Argentina, allowing Messi to play in the middle and a bit further up the pitch, where his wizardry is able to create all sorts of chances for himself and his teammates. Messi, unlike poacher Higuain, is a maestro, and at his best with the ball at his feet. As expected, South Korea's central forward-and-backward moving defenders were going to be in trouble as soon as Messi could turn them around, which he did with regularity at Soccer City. Messi had 166 total touches vs. the South Koreans and completed a staggering 88.8% of his passes!
Before penciling Argentina into the finals, however, remember that the backline has yet to be seriously tested for extended periods vs. Nigeria or South Korea (which looked for a while as if it was ready to level the match at 2 until Higuain took over the match in the second half), and might not again in the final group match vs. Greece.