Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:49 pm Post subject: France v Sweden
Sweden have been horrific with dealing from crosses, I heard on the radio, going into the England game, that 7 of their last 8 goals conceded had been from headers. France don't look like a team that is likely to score too many headers as they like to play through the middle and that means they might not score that many goals. I fancy either 1-0 or 2-1 to France.
Anyone know who France's main threat from set pieces is likely to be? Rami (the centre half) is good in the air isn't he?
According to Wiki, these are the players who are above 6 ft in the French team, you could scratch Giroud, and Koscienly from this as they probably wont play. I wouldn't be to confident on Diarra playing either, as M'Vila could come back in
Adil Rami 6"3
Alou Diarra is 6"3
Olivier Giroud is 6"3.5
Phillipe Mexes 6"1.5
Laurent Koscienly 6"1
Karim Benzema 6"0
France haven't scored on a set piece since the 2006 World Cup quarter final against Brazil (no joke). Therefore I can't see how they'll score that way considering how tall the swedish defenders are. Now if you really want to bet on a french player scoring on a set piece, the only two I can see scoring that way are Diarra and Mexes.
France should win this one as they have everything to play for and will want to finish first as to avoid Spain while sweden are already out of it and the players will be thinking more about their holidays than the game at hand. The swedish coach should also be playing with his subs and therefore I doubt a player like Ibrahimovitch will want to take risks for a game they have nothing to play for anymore. Ukraine beat sweden, france beat ukraine, so it should end with France scoring a few. The swedes won't play defensively either which will suit France down to the ground like the game against Ukraine. Can see a 2-0 or 3-0 scoreline with a goal from Menez.
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 9294
Location: Leicestershire
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:20 am Post subject:
I love the bloke to bits and he certainly owes me nothing as his goals have made me a happy bunny many times over, he is a true warrior for his Country and plays more of an attacking role than most centre forwards do, he is 35 now so may or may not play in the World Cup 2014 but I am backing him to go out of this tournament in style by bagging a goal against the French we are of course talking about the Villa legend that is Olaf Mellberg
Any player that comes out with this will always be liked by me
Quote:
Mellberg is known for his dislike of Aston Villa's arch rivals Birmingham City, stating before a local derby game "I could never think about playing for Birmingham City. That’s not an option, I dont like Birmingham City at all"
Sweden won't be defending a lot so the french strikers should have quite a lot of space upfront. My opinion is Karim Benzema should relish the fact he won't have as many defenders on his backside so my bet will go on him to score first.
They'll be a minute of silence for the french football commentator Thierry Roland who died on saturday at the age of 74.
Here is the New York Times article on him...
You probably don’t know him, but he was a legendary TV sportscaster who lived his dream and passion until the end. He died at age 74 , in the early morning of June 16.
Thierry Roland had an incredible career with perhaps no equal in the history of sports journalism. He was for 59 years the one and only voice of soccer in France.
He started at 16 as a radio journalist for the ORTF and became a TV commentator at 20. Since then, he had commented on 13 World Cups and 9 European Championships. Almost 10.
More than 1,000 games! His first World Cup was in 1962 in Chile. The last one was in South Africa in 2010. He was the living memory of this competition mostly because no one had experienced it as intimately as he had. He saw them all: Koppa, Fontaine, Pelé, Charlton, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maradona, Platini, Zidane. Yet his favorite team was the great Hungary team of the ’50s, the Magnificent Magyars.
Beyond soccer, he also worked several Olympics. He was the ultimate sports fan, from rugby to horse racing to cycling, reading every single bit of the French sports bible, L’Équipe. He was also a huge N.B.A. fan and, more particularly, a fan of the San Antonio Spurs and their French star Tony Parker. He would wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. to watch games live.
He loved the United States, where he often vacationed. He loved its fighting spirit and open-minded mentality, as well as its greatest entertainers, like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. I remember, a few years back, when he asked me to call a 1-800 number to order the ultimate Dean Martin DVD collection. I shipped more than 50 DVDs to him every month. He was also collecting all sorts of memorabilia, from letters of all the United States presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt to Michael Jordan’s jersey, mostly from dealers in Manhattan.
Thierry Roland lived his life fully. He was ready to travel to Euro 2012 when he had to forgo his trip after experiencing abdominal pain on his way to the airport 10 days ago. It is a sad coincidence that he died only a few hours after watching one of the best games France has played since the 2006 World Cup, a 2-0 win against co-host Ukraine.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a minute of silence in his memory will be observed before France plays Sweden on Tuesday, or if Les Bleus wear a black armband in his honor. That’s how popular and respected he was. Even Sepp Blatter wrote on Twitter about it: “Deeply touched by the loss of a friend, french commentator Thierry Roland, who has contributed to the promotion of Football. Sincere thoughts to his loved ones.”
On July 12, 1998, minutes after France won the World Cup by beating Brazil, 3-0, he said: “I believe that after witnessing that, one can die happily … as late as possible, but we can!” While the first part makes me smile, the second part makes me think it wasn’t late enough.
Thierry was a friend, and he will be tremendously missed in France, where his voice will remain eternal.
Thierry Roland was a simple, generous and passionate man. Someone who may not have lasted long had he been commentating in the United States considering his straight-forwardness in his live commentaries. He was like a kid, saying out loud what everyone was thinking. One of his most famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) comments was in 1976 while calling the France-Bulgaria match, after the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Bulgarians: “Mr. Foote, you are a bastard!” he said. Although his then-employer wanted to suspend him, it couldn’t because of the support of tens of thousands of French fans. That’s how much he was loved.
For French people, across generations, he was a member of everyone’s family. Many French people, living in the United States or abroad, would tell you that following a France national team game without Roland’s voice was not the same. Something was missing.
Joined: 08 Apr 2005
Posts: 6408
Location: Dublin, via tipperary and galway
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 6:21 pm Post subject:
lads ben arfa starts tonight for menez, i did this last game going ith value of the 3 front men hes 14/1 first goal with BetVictor and StanJames worth chancing.
Sweden vs France - SWEDEN +0.75 (AH)
"I cant see this being easy for France. Sweden might be out but they wont want to end on 0 points. They gave England a fright were done by englands pace brought off the bench. They dont have to worry about france bringing on any talent off the banch as they have non. Nasri, Ribery and Benzema are their main men and they start. They were frusrated against ukraine for the first half and although they won that game with some comfort in the end, they might find sweden tougher to beat. Sweden have nothing but pride to play for just as ireland did last night. Differance is that Sweden will be more dangerous than ireland was and they will be looking to give france a problem. 1-1"
Yep France have been about as treatening in the Final Third at the Euros as Wigan were at the start of the last Premier League Season.
I would bet on a Spain Win to Nil in the QFs. But I am afraid to put any more money down on this competition. Everything has gone against me similar to the 2010 World Cup. Safe to say I won't be betting in the 2014 World Cup lol.
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