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The Henry Bench And Misunderstanding Factor

Whereas fans of Les Bleus are looking forward to unite in the spirit of support come Friday evening, the French national football team is once again suffering from dressing room problems. This time, it’s about the players rebelling against the country’s most hated sports personality, Coach Raymond Domenech.

Les Bleus captain, Thierry Henry, will only make the bench, not the First XI sheet – that’s according to the controversial manager. Meanwhile, the players are rather keen to seeing the veteran starting alongside Abou Diaby instead of the Yoann Gourcuff-Sidney Govou match up which looks to be Raymond Domenech’s choice. Hitting this issue, Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna complained to the media:

“We can maybe give him [Raymond Domenech] some advice, or some help. But even if we were to offer it, I don’t think he would listen. The most important thing is the team.”

But the team doesn’t look all right with kick off time against Uruguay being so near. At least, that’s what the situation during France’s recent training session revealed. There is certainly misunderstanding between some of the players; reports indicated that Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka refused to pass the ball to Yoann Gourcuff. Meanwhile, Franck Ribery also stole the ball from Anelka who was then about to take a free-kick. These issues that are happening in France’s camp and which the coach is trying to hide when speaking in public, have let Florent Malouda make a loud call for unity. In a statement, the influential winger declared:

“We have to create links between players. We can’t just think, ‘I’m not interested in what others do’. We’re going to look ridiculous if, as we did at Euro 2008, each player stays in his comfort zone, looking only for good marks from the media to the detriment of the team.”

To confirm how bad things are within the French squad, midfielder Alou Diarra avowed:

“We cannot really say we have improved during the warm-up games. We still need time to adapt, but we don’t have much time left.”

Actually, France just suffered a real shock on June 4 as they were beating 1-0 in their last friendly match against China whom they dominated with almost 70% of ball possession. Friday’s match against Uruguay is a game that the French cannot afford to lose or to even draw.

Raymond Domenech’s side need to prove to their supporters that they have what it takes to go one better than they did during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The fact is that Uruguay will surely make things difficult for Les Bleus who will be fighting with a broken spirit affected with lack of unity.

Uruguay vs France – Match Facts

Some match facts between France and Uruguay don’t favor the 1998 World Cup champions too much by the way. France could only win one of their five games against the Uruguayans, with two of those ending in defeats. The last time France and Uruguay played, the game ended in a goalless draw; the French know that a repeat of this result will drive many of their supporters to criticize and boo them off.

However, if Uruguay are looking to take advantage of France’s misunderstanding issues, they may also have to think about their own statistics related to Friday’s fixture. The most important of those is the fact that the Uruguayans have not won any of their last twelve matches against European teams. But now, Diego Forlan is a Europa League winner and his experience has turned him into a true leader in attack for Uruguay.

Having clinched seven goals in only thirteen appearances for his side during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Diego Forlan is poised to make an impact in Cape Town against France. Can the veteran forward shake Les Bleus’ defensive lines that can boast of a few facts like these ones:

Fact 1: Four consecutive clean sheets in France's last four matches against South American teams in a World Cup.

Fact 2: Three wins and a draw in France's last four matches against South American teams in a World Cup.

Fact 3: Only one goal conceded in their last four World Cup opening games.

Well, perhaps La Celeste Olimpica will find luck from above. Something similar to Thierry Henri’s sending off the last time both sides met (2002 World Cup) might benefit Oscar Tabarez’s men.

Likewise, France could also benefit from the influence of Franck Ribery who will be featuring in his first competitive fixture since sustaining a red card in Bayern Munich's UEFA Champions League semi-final fixture against Lyon in May.

Uruguay vs France Match Statistics

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