#11-France

#11-France
Nickname-Les Bleus (The Blues)
UEFA
FIFA Ranking-#19
Group E (France, Switzerland, Ecuador, Honduras)
Projected Results...
Tie to Switzerland
Win to Ecuador
Win to Honduras
Manager-Didier Deschamps
Qualified through UEFA WC Qualification playoff victory on aggregate over Ukraine 3-2
14th World Cup Appearance (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)

This is a team that is dangerous, and has won the World Cup as recently as 1994. They have quality at all positions in the field. Their goal is occupied by a world class goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris. Their defense is full of top class talent, with many of the players in the Premier League. Their midfield is bossed by two world class players in Franck Ribery and Yohan Cabaye, but after that, there's a bit of a drop-off. At striker, the three strikers they have are fantastic, in Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), and Loic Remy (Newcastle United). The French are a team who just imploded last world cup, with some players being sent home mid-tournament from the team's training facility after infighting and disagreements with the coach, Raymond Domenech. There won't be a repeat of last World Cup, as France will benefit greatly from being drawn in this group. France will advance out of the group, but they haven't done enough to show me that they are a top contender. They really struggled to make the tournament, as France needed to win 3-0 at home against Ukraine to overcome a 2-0 deficit after the first leg of the two leg playoff. Ukraine isn't very good, so the French need to be better, and I think they will be. Here are their three biggest weapons.

Franck Ribery-Absolute top class midfielder. Not a nice guy, but that doesn't matter on the pitch. He usually drifts out wide onto the wing, and is good for netting goals as well as setting up his teammates. He's probably Bayern Munich's best player, which is a big deal. At age 31, this may be his best chance to win the cup. 81 appearances, 16 goals. Check out these highlights.

Karim Benzema-The starting striker for Real Madrid, this guy is a stud. Can be wasteful at times, but mostly incredibly reliable. Can score the spectacular goal, but also can hold up play and score scrappy goals as well. 26 years old, 65 appearances, 19 goals.

Yohan Cabaye-They need him to help the midfield out. After Ribery, there's a drop-off in talent (which is expected, since Ribery is so great). However, Cabaye is still fantastic. Not so much of a goalscorer, with 27 appearances and 2 goals for France. He plays for Paris St.-Germain in France, so he plays top class soccer. He's the catalyst for this team in my opinion.

Attacking players galore, solid defending, but the midfield could be suspect. Let's see what they can do. The final 8 is definitely attainable. I have them out probably in the quarters.