32 For 2010: France

From the outside looking in, France appear to be in an enviable position. So many talented players, so much potential and yet led by such a volatile coach. One wonders quite what the fates have in store for France in South Africa this summer.

Like King Canute denying the force of the tide, Raymond Domenech has resolutely proclaimed he and his team are just fine, thank you very much, away from the continual barracking they get from the press and public alike. Truth be known, however, it’s Domenech they have a problem with rather than the players.

Going into the 2010 World Cup, there has been much outcry about the absence of such notables as Patrick Vieira, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri in the squad, but Domenech has dropped them all for his own personal reasons. In the case of Benzema, team spirit in the French squad at Euro 2008 was disrupted when he and several others formed cliques as a way harbouring their distrust of the coach, so this time the coach has left them behind. Such actions will be seen either as a show of force or a gunshot to his own foot.

Even without the above mentioned stars, Domenech does still have much talent at his disposal. In every area of the pitch there are world class players to choose from including Franck Ribery, Nicolas Anelka, Yoann Gourcuff and many more. The problem Domenech has had is finding the right blend of fitness, good form and technical ability among them to create a winning combination. Recent friendly matches such as last Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to China 1-0 suggest he’s cutting it a bit fine to arrive at the answer.

And finding the answer was something France failed to do beyond doubt in Euro 2008. Having reached the 2006 World Cup final where they were outclassed by Italy, they couldn’t even register a single win in their first round group in Switzerland two years later. The 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Dutch all but sealed their early exit from the tournament, and ever since Domenech has struggled to hang onto any credibility.

Adding to the sense of doubt that’s been creeping into the collective mind of Les Francaise was their country’s lucky qualification for World Cup 2010. Were it not for Thierry Henry’s twitchy left hand, it might have been Ireland waiting patiently to play Uruguay in their first finals match, and the French are neither happy or proud of the fact. Finishing second in their group behind Serbia, they began their campaign with only one win in their first three games. They then had to rely on a few 1-0 wins over Lithuania and the Faroe Islands to get some points on the board before a resurgent finish got them to the play-offs.

So will France have nothing but doom and gloom to look forward to in South Africa?  Actually no, for this is a team that has had a strong pedigree for success going back over many years now. In a first round group containing Mexico, Uruguay and the hosts South Africa, they have no excuses for not getting through to the knock-out stages, but the memory of their shock early exit in 2002 still comes all too clearly to mind.

Surely it couldn’t happen again, could it? With this French team - and more specifically its quirky, belligerent manager – the feeling amongst most people is that you can’t quite discount every possibility.

Jeu Du Jour Week 6: Montpellier's bubble bursts

After a sensational run of five league games unbeaten, newly-promoted Montpellier were finally put to the sword in a comprehensive 4-2 defeat away to a virtually full-strength Marseille side on Saturday.

And the good news for Didier Deschamps was that he finally got to see a return on the €18 million invested in Argentinean playmaker Lucho Gonzalez. The former Porto man has been absent for much of the season with a collar bone injury since joining Marseille in the summer but was on hand with the first goal in an eight-minute spell just after the half-hour mark. Mamadou Niang and Edouard Cisse joined him on the teamsheet, and when Souleymane Diawara did the same after 51 minutes, Montpellier looked dead and buried.

René Girard's men did finally rally, pulling two goals back in the last fifteen minutes, but by then the damage had been well and truly done. That result means a first defeat of the season for Montpellier who slip to sixth while Marseille keep the pressure on leaders Bordeaux who did their own demolition job on one of Ligue 1's newcomers.

Boulogne were the hosts as Laurent Blanc and his team returned from an admirable draw against Juventus last week in the Champions League. The difference in quality was very apparent at the Stade de la Libération as Bordeaux dominated much of the game, and indeed they could have won by a greater margin. In the end, they had to settle for two thanks to Yoan Gouffran who picked up his second goal in two matches and an own goal by Boulogne's Yoann Lachor.

With that, Bordeaux extended their lead at the top to two points after Lyon lost ground with a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Paris Saint-Germain. Three former Lyon players were on show for the hosts including goalkeeper Gregory Coupet who valiantly stopped his previous employers from getting on the scoresheet for much of the game.

Another former Lyon man, Ludovic Giuly, gave PSG the lead on 29 minutes having breached a shaky-looking Lyon defence and his side looked likely to hold out for all three points until Bafetimbi Gomis grabbed an equaliser five minutes from time.

Lyon therefore hold onto their run of nine games unbeaten in all competitions and stay second in the table as Rennes now join them in the top four. Outside of the 'Big Three', they're the only other unbeaten team in the league following a 4-0 demolition away to sorry Grenoble.

Grenoble, without a win in all six Ligue 1 matches, were 1-0 down within 19 seconds thanks to Asamoah Gyan, and it was he who popped up with the last goal from a penalty just after an hour of play. Sadly, the match was overshadowed by violence on the terraces as Grenoble's frustrated fans threw objects including smoke bombs onto the pitch, causing the match to be stopped twice by the referee. Matters weren't helped by the coinciding 15th anniversary of the creation of Red Kaos 94, the ultra wing of Grenoble's fanbase. Troubled times look set to continue for the alpine club.

Elsewhere, Valenciennes enjoyed their first win at Sochaux for thirty years after an entertaining 5-2 victory at the Stade Bonal. Valenciennes were twice behind in the match but an impressive second half performance brought about four goals, two of which came from Gregory Pujol, to maintain their push up towards mid-table safety.

At the bottom, however, the misery continues for Saint Etienne who could only draw 1-1 against fellow strugglers Auxerre. Both teams have won just one game so far this season and remain in the bottom five while another team languishing at the wrong end are Nice who lost 3-1 at home to Monaco. Nice were another team to witness crowd trouble after their fans barracked club officials inside the VIP area of the stadium. A fourth straight defeat means they now lie 19th in the table.

Dropping like a stone are Nancy whose last win in the league was on August 15th. Their 3-1 defeat away to Lorient sees them drop to 12th while Toulouse finally appear to have replicated their decent European form with a 2-0 win at home to Le Mans. The visitors notched up their 12th straight match without a clean sheet after goals from Etienne Didot and Moussa Sissoko earned Toulouse only their second win of the season.

The Derby du Nord finished all square at 1-1 but only thanks to a goal three minutes into stoppage time for Adil Rami. Razak Boukari gave Lens the lead after 58 minutes in an even contest, but Lille had to wait until the bitter end for their equaliser to grab a vital point as they attempt to pull away from the stragglers at the bottom of the table.

And that's just about all for this week. Results and tables here. Until next time, it's à bientôt!

Jeu du Jour: Ligue 1 Season Preview 2009/10

Never say we don't keep you up-to-date with football news from around the world... Here's another new feature for SPAOTP - Jeu du Jour, a weekly round-up of all that's happening in French football. The new season starts this Saturday, so here's our preview of what to expect from each of the twenty participating clubs in 2009/10.

Auxerre
The only top-flight team in France never to have been relegated, AJA (as they’re known to their fans) typically struggle against the best teams in Ligue 1 but generally give everyone else a run for their money. If their Player of the Season for 2008/09, Ireneusz Jeleń, can avoid injury this season, they’ll get plenty of goals and should be good for a Europa League spot come May 2010.

Bordeaux
Worthy winners of last season’s Ligue 1 championship ending Lyon’s seven-year domination thanks to a run of eleven straight victories from mid-March to the end of the season. Much of Bordeaux’s success in the last campaign was put down to Ligue 1 Player of the Year Yoann Gourcuff who scored 12 times from midfield in 37 appearances. His loan spell from Milan has now been made permanent for around £12 million which should see him at the Stade Chaban Delmas for four more years. He’s also the son of Lorient coach Christian Gourcuff, should you be that interested.

Boulogne
or Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale, to give them their full name. Boulogne have finally arrived in the top flight of French football after 101 years of unrelenting anonymity. Whether this will be a short stay remains to be seen following the departure of coach Philippe Montanier who at the end of last season took over the reins at Valenciennes. Incoming replacement Laurent Guyot (previously a member of Nantes’ 1995 championship-winning side) will surely settle for 17th spot when the new campaign draws to a close.

Grenoble
The team from the Alps were languishing in the fourth tier of French football ten years ago but finally reached Ligue 1 last season where they finished a commendable 13th. The trouble is all their victories came against lower-half-of-the-table teams and this time they won't be an unknown quantity either. Grenoble were formerly managed in the early 80's by Jean Djorkaeff, father of Youri. There… bet you didn't know that.

Le Mans
Putting aside its connections with 24-hour motor racing, Le Mans are another team that have only recently reached the top flight after years of struggling. Their best ever finish was 9th the season before last but 2008/09 saw them flirting with relegation after a poor finish in which they failed to win any of their last six games. Much hope will be pinned on star striker and Emmanuel Petit-lookalike Thorstein Helstad who stumped up ten goals last season.

Lens
Last year's Ligue 2 champions return to the top table following their shock relegation in 2007/08 under the guidance of Jean-Pierre Papin, no less. It was a shock in the sense that they were Ligue 1 runners-up in 2002 and won it outright in 1998, yet for all that 'The Blood and Gold' have been reborn under the guidance of little-known coach Jean-Guy Wallemme. Missing all the fun was former Liverpool defender Grégory Vignal who signed for Lens in 2006 but has since been on loan at Kaiserslautern, Southampton and currently QPR. We'll leave it up to you to decide whether that's a good thing or not.

Lille
The local rivals to Lens, Lille have been dark horses in recent years, putting in at worst a top ten finish or at best (as in 2005) getting as high as second. Lille have already started their 2009/10 campaign with a 2-0 away win against Serbian team Sevojno in the first leg of the Europa League Third Qualifying Round, and if they get a draw at home this Thursday, they'll be through to the group stage where glory and Aston Villa await (possibly).

Lorient
They play in orange shirts, they're Ligue 1's most westerly-located team and their nickname is The Haddocks. What's not to like? Jeez, even their club badge has a football-playing fish on it. If anyone from Grimsby Town are reading this - THAT'S how to market yourself. Another mid-table finish looks on the cards for the men led by Christian Gourcuff who, incidentally, is the father of... oh, I see.

Lyon
Claude Puel's first season in charge of OL happened to be their first since 2000/01 where they didn't win the league title. *Slightly* embarrassing. Still, it wasn't for the want of trying as Lyon had a seven-point lead over Marseille back in late-February and weren't knocked off the top until April 12th. Lyon's wake-up call was made worse by Karim Benzema's £30 million move to Real Madrid in the summer, but he's been replaced by Argentinean striker Lisandro Lopez who's been banging goals in left, right and centre for Porto of late. Could be an expensive gamble, but we think he'll be one of the big name stars this season, just you see.

Marseille
Close but no cigar - that was the summary of Marseille's season just ended. Having put in a finishing run that almost matched that of record-breakers Bordeaux, they had to settle for second place, just three points short of winning the title. With that, coach Eric Gerets made his excuses and left, only to be replaced by Didier Deschamps who's had a two-year break from coaching since resigning from Juventus. Still yet to convince many fans of his managerial skills, he did take Monaco to the 2004 Champions League Final so we'll wait and see what happens this season. As for their transfer activity, here's a summary: IN - Heinze and Morientes, OUT - Mears, Wiltord and Zenden.

Monaco
Once upon a time not so long ago, Monaco were a member of French football's elite - and we're not just talking about the time Glenn Hoddle played there. Nowadays, however, they've settled for mid-table mediocrity and have a tendency to change their coach more times than a National Express driver. This season's new arrival is Guy Lacombe who did a good job in guiding Rennes to a couple of top-7 finishes over the last couple of seasons. He also has Portsmouth's Djimi Traore for company who, ironically, played under Lacombe while on loan at Rennes in 2008. Which was nice.

Montpellier
It's been five long seasons, but Montpellier's banishment to Ligue 2 is finally over. Yet as elsewhere, the man that led the team to promotion (Rolland Courbis) has been ushered out in favour of a new man, namely the French Under-21 coach Rene Girard. All very well, except the team didn't achieve a great deal under his leadership which may mean a tough season ahead for Montpellier.

Nancy
The north-easterners can owe their recent (comparative) success to Uruguayan coach Pablo Correa. He joined Nancy as a striker in 1995 and at one time played alongside Tony Cascarino before retiring in 2000 (the two events being largely unconnected, we think.) In 2002, he rocked up to the Stade Marcel Picot and a few years later secured promotion to Ligue 1 where they've been ever since. They even finished fourth in 2007/08, but they tend to be a bottom-half-of-the-table club if truth be known. Curiously, they've offloaded two of their best players - Marc-Antoine Fortuné and Landry N'Guémo - to Celtic this season, but they've bought a shed-load from elsewhere so they shouldn't be too affected.

Nice
Monaco's near neighbours have carved out a reputation as an above-average team since gaining promotion in 2002. The next step is for them to push on and seek a Europa League place, but it may prove a little out of their reach as new coach Didier Ollé-Nicolle only has experience with sub-Ligue 1 clubs. Also if talented striker Loïc Rémy gets snapped up by Galatasaray as is feared, there could be worrying times ahead. At least they'll always have the biscuit-making business to fall back on.

Paris Saint-Germain
PSG appear to have turned a corner last season, putting in a decent showing to finish sixth. They have bags of talent in the squad including new purchase Grégory Coupet (second-choice 'keeper for the national team), captain Claude Makélélé and Guillaume Hoarau, second-highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 during 2008/09. They also, like virtually every other Ligue 1 club this season, have a new coach in the form of Antoine Kombouaré who knows that feeling of being up against it - he spent two seasons playing for Aberdeen in the late-1990's. Could go one better and reach Europe next season.

Rennes
Stade Rennais, as they're properly known, are one of Ligue 1's great teams that always put up a decent fight. They haven't finished any lower than 7th in the last five seasons and if they can just convert some of their many draws into wins, European competition shouldn't be far away. This season they welcome a new coach (naturally) - Frédéric Antonetti from Nice - and Junichi Inamoto from Eintracht Frankfurt. Elsewhere in the squad you'll find Carlos Bocanegra in defence alongside the improbably named Rod Fanni and the not-at-all-Waltons-related John Boye. One of the more interesting teams to follow, as a result of the above.

Saint-Etienne
Les Verts had to suffer a nail-biting end to last season, avoiding the relegation trapdoor only on the last day with a 4-0 trouncing of Valenciennes. This time around they'll be hoping their players aren't so racked with injuries as they strive to repeat their fifth-place finish of 2007/08. Alain Perrin's the man in charge and as a title winner with Lyon in the same season, he knows what it takes to get the best out of his squad. He's also a former manager of Portsmouth which explained what happened last season pretty well. Expect an improvement this season, but not much of one.

Sochaux
A club that relies heavily on developing their young players, Sochaux are sadly well shot of their heyday in the 1930's when they were a force to be reckoned with. Nowadays The Lion Cubs have little money with which to buy new players although US striker Charlie Davies arrived from Hammarby in the summer. More water-treading looks set to be on the cards and now their best player, Mevlüt Erdin, has gone to PSG, a fight to avoid relegation can't be ruled out either.

Toulouse
Our Team of the Season last season, Toulouse finished fourth after battling against relegation the campaign before. A team that's historically struggled to keep its footing in the top flight, Toulouse deservedly take their place in the Europa League where last season's top scorer André-Pierre Gignac (24 goals) should give opposition defences plenty to worry about. Only a few minor tweaks have been made to the squad during the summer and more importantly they've retained the services of their coach, Alain Casanova, all of which should make for further success this time around.

Valenciennes
A relative newcomer to Ligue 1, survival is still the name of the game - none more so than this season which brings in Boulogne's promotion-winning coach Philippe Montanier. His first target will be to improve the team's performance away from home after Valenciennes failed to pick up a win on their travels in 2008/09. It shouldn't be too difficult for a man of his calibre to achieve, and this season he'll be able to call on the services of former Reading midfielder Tae-Hee Nam among others.

Euro 2008 - Guide to Group C

Group C
The Official Group of Death for Euro 2008. There must have been dozens of Groups of Death down the years… I wonder how this one ranks against the others? (Mental note to self: look into this for a future article on SPAOTP…)

France

Qualifying
France were pitted up against Italy in Group B of the qualifiers and lived to tell the tale. Though Italy won the group overall, France beat the Italians 3-1 before a 0-0 draw ensued in the return match, plus they finished as top scorers in the group, largely down to the goals of Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka.

Players you might have heard of
Second only to the Dutch, France ooze household names of some quality throughout their ranks, many of which will be all too familiar to the British. There's Chelsea's triumvirate of Makelele, Malouda and Anelka, former Arsenal stars Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, Man United defender Patrice Evra and Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra. If you're still not satisfied with that, the names Thuram, Ribery and Benzema should leave you in no doubt as to the strength of the squad.

Players you won't be seeing
One Zinedine Zidane, for a kick off. The mercurial captain of the side and Headbutter Supreme has now retired leaving Patrick Vieira to run the ship. Without his skill and all-seeing vision, some say France lack that bit of sparkle they once had and those self-same people are predicting a decidedly normal-looking team will be there for all to see this summer. One way or another, he'll be much missed - except possibly by Marco Materazzi, but that's understandable.

Recent friendlies
May 27: France 2 Ecudaor 0
May 31: France 0 Paraguay 0
June 3: France 1 Colombia 0

Stingy…
Whether France reproduce their halcyon days of the late 90's remains to be seen, but one thing remains certain - it won't be easy to score against them. Since the summer of 2004, they've conceded on average 0.48 goals per game.

Further proof of their resilient defence is that they've only conceded one goal in their last five matches (in their 1-0 defeat to Spain in February) and the only two teams to score more than one goal against them since the middle of March 2006 are Morocco and Ukraine, the latter being France's last Euro 2008 qualifier.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Franck Ribery. He's just had the season of his life with Bayern Munich and is arguably the brightest star of all those in the French team. As chief playmaker, you can expect him to run at opposition defences with great gusto whenever he isn't inviting others to do the same. Expect this tournament to be his making on the world stage.

Italy

Qualifying
After a shaky start that saw them lose to France in Group B, they strode on confidently with all the hallmarks of a team that called themselves world champions. Unlike France, Italy also managed to beat the Scots in both matches which, as far as we’re concerned, is good enough to qualify for any tournament these days on its own.

Current Form
On the whole, pretty good. They've not played many friendlies since the end of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, but they can include victories over Belgium and Portugal among them. The only fly in the ointment was a 1-0 defeat to Spain at the end of March, but if it's any consolation, that's their only defeat in nine games.

That coach looks familiar…
When Marcello Lippi having steered Italy to their first world championship for 24 years, the man selected to take over was former Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni. A surprise choice for some as he was still considered to be going through his managerial apprenticeship with Livorno, but having got them up to sixth place in Serie A, he was deemed the ideal choice by the Italian FA.

For all that, we still remember him as the nippy winger that won titles galore with Milan over a 10 year period and helped Italy to third and second place respectively at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. With a career like that behind him, he must stand at least half a chance of achieving something as a manager. Watch this space...

Recent friendlies
February 6: Italy 3 Portugal 1
March 26: Spain 1 Italy 0
May 30: Italy 3 Belgium 1

Playing style
When possible, the Italians are encouraged to attack in big numbers to flood their opponents half of the field. While all that's going on, one midfielder usually stays back to mop up any counter-attacks, but this mob mentality to looking for goals has proven highly effective, largely due the quality of players that can make it happen in all parts of the pitch.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Luca Toni, Bayern Munich's free-scoring attacker who continues to net goals in Germany just as he did at Palermo and Fiorentina prior to his 2007 transfer. A man for the big occasion, he scored twice in Italy's 3-0 quarter-final victory over Ukraine and hit the crossbar with a header in the Final against France. Expect more fireworks again - and then some.

Netherlands

Qualifying
The Dutch didn't have it all their own way during qualifying. Playing in Group G, they went about the business of picking up points in a modest, business-like manner, but so did a resurgent Romania and an awkward Bulgarian team too.

The end result was that the Dutch qualified as runners-up but the fans weren't entirely happy with the manner of their doing so. The Netherlands laboured to dual 1-0 victories over Luxembourg, were unable to beat group winners Romania and ended the campaign losing 2-1 away to Belarus. Had they scored one point fewer, we'd be talking about Bulgaria now, not the Dutch.

Tactical switch
Marco van Basten had to swallow something hard and jagged not so long ago. Having settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation that initially brought the Dutch team many a decent result, things soon started to go wrong. Going in at half time 3-1 down against the Austrians was a key moment when Van Basten knew his tactical astuteness didn't have the depth it needed, but he sought advice from some of his own players and the boat was soon steadied again.

The likes of van Der Sar, van Nistelrooy and Seedorf were all quick to point out that perhaps the team might be better off playing a traditional 4-3-3 system instead, and they were right. They've not lost since and the players seem a lot happier knowing they're playing to a more appropriate system.

Recent friendlies
May 24: Netherlands 3 Ukraine 0
May 29: Netherlands 1 Denmark 1
June 1: Netherlands 2 Wales 0

Players you might have heard of
Er, how long have you got? There's almost as many players affiliated with British clubs just now as there are Dutch ones in the current squad. In goal, there's Van Der Sar of Man United and in defence we have Aston Villa's Wilfred Bouma, Wigan's Mario Melchiot and Blackburn's Andre Ooijer. Up front, take your pick from Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool) and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic) and that's without the likes of van Bronckhorst and van Nistelrooy who used to play in the Premier League.

Players you won't be seeing
Mark van Bommel. He's had an on-off involvement with the national team over the last few years thanks to van Basten's critical view of the midfielder. The coach has even gone out of his way to criticise van Bommel's poor performances at times, all of which led him to announce he no longer wanted to be picked while van Basten was in charge of the side.

Oh, and there's also Edgar Davids. The Ajax star broke his leg in a pre-season friendly which kept him out of the game for three months. A lack of match fitness reduced his likelihood of being chosen by the coach for the national team with other younger, fitter players available, all of which means we may have seen the last of the begoggled one on the international stage.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Rafael van Der Vaart. Despite suffering numerous niggling injuries, he's come through this season at Hamburg with 21 goals from 44 appearances (including those for the Netherlands) so this could finally be his chance to shine in the spotlight - as long as he stays fit.

Romania

Qualifying
In the end, Romania qualified at a canter in Group G along with the Netherlands and Bulgaria (as we've just heard). They were a lot more convincing than the Dutch, losing just one of their twelve games - to Bulgaria, strangely - and they scored an admirable 26 goals along the way too. The Dutch could only manage 15 and the Bulgarians only did slightly better with 18.

Top scorer for the Romanians was the former Chelsea attacker Adrian Mutu with six goals. Stuttgart's Ciprian Marica was one behind on five.

Current form
Apart from a 1-0 slip-up away to Israel back in February, they've looked quite accomplished. A 3-0 win over Russia and a 4-0 win over Montenegro have given them the perfect boost going into their first Euro 2008 game against France on Monday.

Players you might have heard of
Apart from Adrian Mutu, there's just the one for all British football fans to spot. It's Marius Niculae of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Don't laugh - he's scored 13 goals in his 30 appearances for Romania and scores on average once every three games for the Scottish club too.

Recent friendlies
February 6: Israel 1 Romania 0
March 26: Romania 3 Russia 0
May 31: Romania 4 Montenegro 0

Not just making up the numbers
As mentioned earlier, Romania are quite happy to score goals for fun and love to play attacking football, but they can also defend as well. Fans of the Netherlands will tell you their team found it frustrating getting through the Romanian back line, failing to score in the two games they played against them.

Though Romania have been absent from the last three major tournaments, it's very likely they'll make up for that at Euro 2008 despite their label of 'outsiders'. Expect the other teams in their group to treat them with great respect on match days accordingly.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Adrian Mutu. After leaving Chelsea under a cloud due to that cocaine issue we don't talk about anymore, his career has been given a much needed shot in the arm at Fiorentina. Forming a formidable partnership with Luca Toni, he's reminded everyone just how versatile he is by not just scoring goals regularly but providing assists for others too.

Oh and a quick factoid for all of you out there: Romania have only lost once in games when Adrian Mutu has scored. They'll be hoping he's got his shooting boots on during Euro 2008, we're sure.

Euro 2008: 19 days to go...

Time for another Euro 2008 update now and today we're looking at some of the announcements made recently detailing the squads playing in Austria and Switzerland.

Just yesterday, Spain coach Luis Aragones gave us his final 23-man squad for the finals and there were one or two notable absences - the main one being Real Madrid striker Raul.

He's been a key man in Real's title-winning campaign this season, scoring 18 goals, and is still Spain's leading goalscorer of all time with 44, but Aragones was insistent that Raul wasn't the only decent player he decided to leave out regardless of their current form. Sure enough, David Albelda and Joaquín Sánchez from Valencia have also been left out from the final Spanish squad.

Someone who has made the final cut, though, is Real Zaragoza striker Sergio Garcia. With only four goals to his name this season, Aragones was keen to note the quality of Garcia's recent individual performances as well as those of another surprise inclusion, the uncapped attacking midfielder from Villareal, Santiago Cazorla.

Spain squad for Euro 2008 (final):

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Andres Palop (Sevilla)

Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Juanito (Real Betis), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool), Fernando Navarro (Real Mallorca), Raul Albiol (Valencia), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona), David Silva (Valencia), Santiago Cazorla (Villarreal), Ruben de La Red (Getafe), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

Strikers: David Villa (Valencia), Sergio Garcia (Real Zaragoza), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Daniel Guiza (Real Mallorca)

On now to France where coach Raymond Domenech has named a provisional 30-man squad which will be trimmed to 23 on May 28th. Among the key ommissions here were David Trezeguet who appears to be a victim of the coach's intent to play in a way that Trezeguet doesn't suit.

His place appears to have been taken by Saint Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis who has 16 goals to his name this season, but that aside there are very few surprises in the French squad. Here's how it looks...

France squad for Euro 2008 (provisional):

Goalkeepers: Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais), Mickaël Landreau (Paris Saint-Germain), Sébastien Frey (Fiorentina), Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille).

Defenders: Willy Sagnol (Bayern München), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona), William Gallas (Arsenal), Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Olympique Lyonnais), François Clerc (Olympique Lyonnais), Julien Escudé (Sevilla), Philippe Mexès (Roma), Sébastien Squillaci (Olympique Lyonnais).

Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal), Patrick Vieira (Internazionale), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Jérémy Toulalan (Olympique Lyonnais), Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth).

Strikers: Franck Ribéry (Bayern München), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyonnais), Samir Nasri (Olympique de Marseille), Hatem Ben Arfa (Olympique Lyonnais), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais), Djibril Cissé (Olympique de Marseille), Bafétimbi Gomis (Saint Etienne).

Finally for now, a look at Germany's squad and the only choices that might raise an eyebrow or two are uncapped teenage winger Marko Marin from Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler who replaces usual 2nd-choice keeper Timo Hildebrand of Valencia.

Also included from Borussia Mönchengladbach, in spite of the club's lowly position this season, is Oliver Neuville while another Bundesliga 2 player, Patrick Helmes, also gets the nod as a representative of FC Koln. Both teams have this season gained promotion back to Bundesliga 1.

Germany squad for Euro 2008 (provisional):

Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Robert Enke (Hannover 96), René Adler (Bayer Leverkusen).

Defenders: Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke 04), David Odonkor (Real Betis), Marko Marin (Borussia Mönchengladbach).

Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), Mario Gómez (VfB Stuttgart), Kevin Kuranyi (FC Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach), Patrick Helmes (FC Köln).

We'll have more news on the Euro 2008 squads, plus everything else you need to maximise your enjoyment of the competition later this week.

Obscure World Cup Kits From History #1

France (v Hungary, 1978)

A strange thing happened on June 10th 1978. The scene was Mar Del Plata in Argentina. The time: 2.30pm. Two teams lined up in the Parque Municipal stadium to play a first round match in the World Cup finals - France and Hungary.

It was any wonder the match came to be played at all. Argentina was a country still viewing television broadcasts in black and white back then, so all matches had to feature one team wearing a dark-coloured strip, the other a light-coloured strip. As France's blue shirts and Hungary's red ones were deemed to be of too similar a shade for monochrome TV, France were asked to wear a change strip. They didn't have one.

When it was looking like the match would have to be called off, someone had the bright idea of borrowing the shirts worn by the local team, Kimberley. So they did, which is why the French team on that day strode onto the field wearing green and white striped shirts, blue shorts and red socks.


Christian Lopez scores the first for France against Hungary

It didn't affect their play - as a matter of fact they went on to win 3-1, despite having a goalkeeper called Dominique Dropsy (but that's another story...)

World Cup Memories #1

Written by Smart

Welcome to the first in what could potentially be a series of just one.

Every four years, when the domestic season has finished, my focus of attention is diverted towards the World Cup finals. The anticipation. The drama. The smell(?). The World Cup Finals have it all, but we have to wait another month...

...and that’s when my mind takes a leisurely stroll down memory lane (although being an England supporter, misery lane may be more appropriate). Memories from my childhood come flooding back, and so I thought I would share some of them with you. The first one I have chosen is:

Spain 1982: Bryan Robson’s 27 second wonder

When Spain was chosen as the host nation for the 1982 World Cup the Spanish rejoiced. And so did the English. After years of bringing home 'Spanish donkeys' as gifts from holiday, it was time for the English to have their revenge – and take some donkeys to the Spanish.

It was Ron Greenwood who was given the task of picking the 22 donkeys that would be collectively known as 'The England Squad.' After several visits to Blackpool beach his squad was complete and amongst his selections were Graham 'Lock up yer Daughters' Rix, Bryan 'Bupa' Robson, Ray 'The Crab' Wilkins and Tony 'Woodcock' – which was a reflection on his performances in an England shirt, as well as his surname.

England's opening game of the '82 World Cup was against France. Platini. Tigana. Rocheteau. Such famous names were to face Englands might.

So as a boy of 11 years of age, I sat down to watch the game. With my Panini sticker album situated close by, and open on the French squad pages (mainly for reference purposes, but also to see if any of the player stickers that I had yet to collect were worth collecting) the game kicked off.

England were wearing a rather fetching red strip, which obviously dazzled the Frenchmen, as it was only a matter of seconds before England won a throw-in inside the French half. Steve Coppell took a long throw towards the penalty area and by a stroke of good fortune Terry Butcher a) heads it, and b) towards a team mate – an unmarked Bryan Robson - at the far post. With just the keeper to beat, Robson leaped athletically to volley the ball past the French keeper.

With just 27 seconds on the clock it is still one of the quickest ever goals at the World Cup finals, scored in a match that England went on to win 3-1.