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Euro 2012: French Players Sound off on Their 1-1 Draw with England
Published: June 12, 2012
Back in South Africa, Les Bleus had been considered locks to emerge from Group A, considered among the "weaker" groups in the competition and comprising of Uruguay, Mexico and the host, Bafana Bafana.
But as the great poet Robert Burns once wrote, the "best laid plans of mice and men" tend to go awry. France took that adage one step further; they sent their World Cup campaign careening off its tracks into the Indian Ocean.
It was to manager Laurent Blanc's credit, then, that he took over from Raymond Domenech in July 2010—just weeks following that implosion, where France had managed just one goal and earned just one point while boring spectators to death with their listless play and soporific effort.
Their most memorable contribution to the competition was a training strike in Knysna.
Suffice to say, the side that enters Poland and Ukraine two years later as a trendy dark horse pick, not just to emerge from Group D, but to make a serious run in the knockout stages of the competition, had a burden of expectations on their shoulders as well.
They were here to restore French honor and glory, and they appear up to the task.
A 21-match unbeaten run, embarked upon after Blanc opened his tenure with two consecutive losses (a 2-1 defeat in a friendly to Norway and a thoroughly embarrassing 1-0 reverse to Belarus to begin European qualifying), had many believing that a return to the dominance seen in that wondrous two-year spell from 1998 to 2000, when Les Bleus captured the World Cup and European crowns, was in the cards.
But, as was the case with Rome, this new French footballing dynasty, while promising, will take some time to build.
They drew 1-1 with England on Monday in Donetsk, a match they la...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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