The Return of El Diego

[jerry1994]

January 7th, 2011
LAURENT BLANC LEAVES FRANCE HOT SEAT

The French Football Federation today confirmed that incumbent manager Laurent Blanc has left the national team's football management seat in order to tend to his wife's ill health.

In a short statement jointly issued by FFF and Blanc, the manager wished the national team all the best in it's future endeavours. FFF chairman Fernand Duchaussoy said that an interim replacement had already been identified and it would be announced to the world once the person had confirmed the job.

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ONE DAY LATER
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DIEGO MARADONA CONFIRMED AS INTERIM FRANCE MANAGER

The FFF today confirmed that former Argentina manager, Diego Maradona would take over from Laurent Blanc as the interim manager of the national team until a more permanent replacement can be identified. Maradona's contract is expected to run till the European Qualifier match against Luxembourg in March.

Out of job for a while, El Diego is said to be delighted at being able to manage France and said that he hopes to make the job permanent.

Meanwhile, many French players, most prominently Manchester United's defender Patrice Evra and Chelsea's Florent Malouda have expressed delight at the appointment.

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FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM RESULTS SO FAR (Under Blanc)
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS 2012

France 3-1 Belarus
(Jeremy Menez, Samir Nasri X2)

Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-5 France
(Samir Nasri, Karim Benzema, Jimmy Briand X3)

France 0-1 Romania

France 3-0 Luxembourg
(Karim Benzema X2, Samir Nasri)

Currently, Les Bleus are second in Group D with 9 points behind leaders Romania who also have a game in hand. Bosnia are three points behind at third but a goal difference of +7 for France means they can sit safely in 2nd spot for now unless Bosnia can pull of a mammoth six-goal victory over Romania in their next game.

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NEXT FIXTURE

FRANCE VS. BRAZIL

Stade De France, Saint-Denis

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Anyone following?
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[santiago_hortez]

Nice OP. Following mate.

 

[AldoKemp-1]

Nice start mate. Can't believe after your first op your asking if anyones following already but keep it up and i'm sure people will follow. you will need to do a really good job though as many people find international stories boring, just a warning But Good luck. i'll check in on your story from time to time between checking others and doing my own

 

[jerry1994]

Nice start mate. Can't believe after your first op your asking if anyones following already but keep it up and i'm sure people will follow. you will need to do a really good job though as many people find international stories boring, just a warning But Good luck. i'll check in on your story from time to time between checking others and doing my own

Thanks. I'll stay with this story till the Euro 2012/WC 2014 and then we can talk of me starting with clubs-I tend to dislike all the bargaining and noise in club football.

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FRENCH SQUAD FOR BRAZIL FRIENDLY ANNOUNCED

France manager Diego Maradona has today announced the French squad that will take on Brazil on the 9th of February. It includes mostly international players but some domestic players have found their way too. Notable absentees include Franck Ribery(injury) and Patrice Evra (suspension).

Squad:

Goalkeepers

Sebastian Frey
Hugo Lloris
Steve Mandanda

Defenders

Eric Abidal
Rod Fanni
Gael Clichy
Laurent Koscielny
Philippe Mexes (C)
Bakary Sagna
Sebastien Squillaci

Midfielders

Hatem Ben Arfa
Jonathan Biabiany
Benoit Cheyrou
Abou Diaby
Lassana Diarra
Mathieu Flamini
Yoann Gourcuff
Florent Malouda
Jeremy Menez
Samir Nasri
Jeremy Toulalan

Strikers

Karim Benzema
Andre Pierre Gignac
Loic Remy
Bafetimbi Gomis

Ben Arfa has been included in the squad despite not being declared fully fit. Maradona said that he is "confident that the side will bring home a great win over Brazil". He has also replaced Florent Malouda with Philippe Mexes for the captaincy, a move that is said to have deeply moved the Roma defender.
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FRIENDLY FIXTURE

Date: 9 February 2011
Kick off: 1930 hrs Paris Time
Venue: Stade De France, Saint-Denis

FRANCE 0 -0 BRAZIL

Lineups

France: Lloris, Sagna, Mexes, Gallas, Clichy, Flamini, Gourcuff, Nasri, Malouda, Benzema, Remy.

Brazil: Cesar, Maicon, Thiago Silva, Lucio, Marcelo, Jucilei, Lucas, Mancini, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Adriano

The match began quite cautiously with both sides playing the ball mostly in the middle of the park. The first major chance of the match came for the visitors when Adriano set up Lucas inside the box, whose swerving shot went wildly off the mark. Thereafter, France started to dominate possession and managed to create three chances, with Loic Remy almost putting the home side in front. After a brief lull in play, the 33rd minute saw Malouda and Nasri combine brilliantly near the penalty area before Nasri played a through ball to Benzema who smashed it low into the net past Julio Cesar, only for it to be disallowed due to him being offside. Towards the end of the first half, Gourcuff almost put the French ahead with a curling shot which clipped the post and went out of play.

Halftime saw Jeremy Menez come on for Loic Remy and the Roma striker saw two shots of his blocked in rapid succession by Cesar. Brazil too created openings but they failed to test Lloris at the other end. The 67th minute saw Karim Benzema make way for Jonathan Biabiany and Yoann Gourcuff come off for Abou Diaby. In the 74th minute, a brilliant solo run from Malouda and his shot cannoned back off the post. Nothing major happened since then and the match ended 0-0.
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