France
Wednesday, 04 Jun 2008 00:00
France looking to erase memory of World Cup final defeat
World Cup finalists France grabbed second place in a tense qualification group, bouncing back from a seemingly campaign-ending defeat to Scotland to go into the finals alongside Italy.
Group C fixtures
Romania v
France
Zurich, June 9th 17:00 BST
Live on BBC1
Netherlands v
France
Zurich, June 13th 17:00 BST
Live on BBC1
France v Italy
Zurich, June 17th 19:45 BST
Live on BBC1
European Championship history
Les Bleus are two-time European Championship winners, having taken the trophy thanks to the mercurial Michel Platini in 1984 before following their 1998 World Cup win by triumphing in Euro 2000 in Belgium and Holland, thanks to David Trezeguet's golden goal against this year's group rivals Italy.
The man in charge
Raymond Domenech was named as the successor to Jacques Santini after France's quarter-final exit to Greece in Euro 2004 and exceeded the Federation Francaise de Football's requirement of a semi-final finish in the 2006 World Cup by reaching the final, only for Zinedine Zidane's moment of madness to help Italy claim their fourth world crown.
Though he has been criticised for his selection of the ancient Claude Makelele, Domenech guided France to second spot in their qualification group, despite home and away defeats to Scotland.
His fears of the flaws of the seeding system for Euro 2008 were confirmed when his side were drawn in the 'group of death' alongside the Netherlands, Italy and Romania.
Team forte
The presence of the likes of Makelele, Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram and Thierry Henry gives the French squad vast experience of the goldfish bowl atmosphere of big tournaments. And reaching the final of three of the last five major tournaments is an enviable record.
Achilles heel
With such experience in the squad, it's unlikely France will have the greatest physical conditioning in the tournament and Premier League viewers will be well aware of the defensive frailties of former Newcastle United centre-back Jean-Alain Boumsong. And woe betide Domenech should France face a penalty shootout, with the petulant Nicolas Anelka hardly bringing the best track record to Austria and Switzerland.
Player to watch
Lassana Diarra's imposing performance in Portsmouth's FA Cup final served to show the mistakes made by Chelsea and Arsenal in withholding first-team appearances from the Makelele lookalike. Armed with fleet-footed pace, superb control and a strength that belies his size, he could be the joker in the French pack.
Chances of victory
It's that shocking group draw that's going to be the biggest hurdle to Domenech's men claiming a third European Championship title. The challenge posed by a seasoned Italian team and a Dutch side buoyed by a returning Robin van Persie could potentially be an insurmountable obstacle.
Winning the group could present a quarter-final clash with Russia or Sweden but any slip-ups and even second place might not be enough, with likely group D winners Spain the probable opposition in the knockout stage.
If Les Bleus are to reach the final in Vienna, it will have been through a combination of the old heads of Thuram, Makelele and Vieira and the effervescence of Diarra, Samir Nasri and Karim Benzema seeing them through.
Squad
Goalkeepers
1 Steve Mandada
16 Sebastien Frey
23 Gregory Coupet
Defenders
2 Jean-Alain Boumsong
3 Eric Abidal
5 William Gallas
13 Patrice Evra
14 Francois Clerc
15 Lilian Thuram
17 Sebastien Squillaci
19 Willy Sagnol
Midfielders
4 Patrick Vieira
6 Claude Makelele
7 Florent Malouda
11 Samir Nasri
20 Jeremy Toulalan
21 Lassana Diarra
22 Franck Ribery
Forwards
8 Nicolas Anelka
9 Karim Benzema
10 Sidney Govou
12 Thierry Henry
18 Bafetimbi Gomis