French comeback
June 20, 2014
France's demolition of dark horse Switzerland was the sort of result that fans of "Les Bleus" hadn't seen since the days of midfield genius Zinedine Zidane. But the way the French have racked up their two wins at the World Cup suggests that they may finally have forged a post-Zizou identity.
The équipe tricolore's midfield against the Swiss was made up of the hardly household names of Cabaye, Sissoko, Matuidi and Valbuena - who play for Newcastle, PSG and Olympique Marseilles. It's no insult to say none of that quartet have anything approaching the out-of-this-world skills of the polymath field general who led France to the 1998 World Cup, the 2000 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup final.
At the center of the win against Switzerland were Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud, two classic center forwards who in theory should not have been on the pitch at the same time. But the Real Madrid and Arsenal strikers harmonized quite nicely, swapping back and forth between the number 9 and number 10 positions.
Giroud scored France's first and assisted on their third. Benzema assisted on the second and fifth goals, scored France's fourth and was unquestionably Les Bleus' man of the match.
To appreciate how far France have come, it's worth recalling the wilderness in which they wandered after Zidane's retirement in 2006
Une résurrection avec Deschamps
France performed dismally at the past three big tournaments, exiting in the group stage of Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup and having no chance against Spain at Euro 2012. The low point came four years ago in South Africa, with an open rebellion by players such as Nicolas Anelka and Samir Nasri against then coach Raymond Domenech.
Current France coach Didier Deschamps has no time for malcontents, bravely omitting Nasri from the squad despite the midfielder's title-winning season with Manchester City. Deschamps is no stranger to resurrections. The hard-nosed defensive midfielder was one of the few veteran players kept on in the transition from the Eric Cantona-led sides of the early 1990s to the golden generation of 1998-2006.
Deschamps has restored fight to the French squad. Having finished second in their World Cup qualification group, France had to overcome a 2-0 deficit in their home-and-away playoff with Ukraine to punch their ticket to Brazil. The équipe tricolore became the first national side ever to pull off that trick, and that seems to have given them momentum and energy in South America.
Vive l'esprit de corps encore!
In years past, when the going got tough for France, Zinedane would simply load the team onto his back. Who can forget how Zizou almost single-handedly got them to the 2006 World Cup finals with wins over Spain, Brazil and Portugal?
This edition of Les Bleus is more balanced as a team. Six players were involved in France's five goals against Switzerland. And fifteen different players featured in the team's two World Cup matches thus far. A number of other teams have wilted in the Brazilian heat. France looked fresh and sharp against Switzerland, repeatedly getting the ball behind their opponents' back four on the wings and outhustling and outmuscling them on crosses.
No one particularly fancied France at the start of the tournament, and Deschamps, Benzema and Co. have a long way to go if they are to replicate the heroics of the past. But with many of the other favorites struggling, or crashing out altogether in Spain's case, these new Blues are certainly in it with a shout.