France must ignore vuvuzelas and battle
OUR beloved vuvuzela is under fire. And most notably French captain Patrice Evra has become its most recent ‘critic’, adding to the growing number of voices appealing for its ban ahead of today’s make-or-break fixture against Mexico.
By Fred Kaweesi
in Pretoria
OUR beloved vuvuzela is under fire. And most notably French captain Patrice Evra has become its most recent ‘critic’, adding to the growing number of voices appealing for its ban ahead of today’s make-or-break fixture against Mexico.
In an interview with The New Vision here, Evra even went as far as blaming the vuvu for France’s poor performance in their 0-0 draw with Uruguay, claiming the players could not hear each other over the deafening drones of the soccer horn.
As a French sympathiser, I would like to have believed him.
But if Evra and teammates are to win France their second World Cup title, they had better get used to them.
At the moment, France’s stars are struggling to contend with it (vuvuzela) and the criticism they received since their dull display against Uruguay.
Former France greats Zinedine Zidane and Marcel Desailly are among the biggest critics of Raymond Domenech’s current team, and junior sports minister Rama Yade was recently publicly critical of them staying in the expensive Pezura Resort hotel at a time of economic crisis.
Among the controversial issues that dominated their first outing was the shocking exclusion of Thierry Henry.
The Barcelona striker was restricted to the bench then, but following unprecedented pressure for him to be fielded, a return to the starting line-up is on the cards.
“Henry has proved a lot in the French team,†left-back Eric Abidal stated.
Malouda, who was also dropped on the day of the game against Uruguay, has pushed for a return.
Just like Henry, Malouda’s omission coincided with reports that he had argued with Domenech in training the day before.
Whatever system Domenech decides on 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, it had better work as defeat or a second consecutive draw will virtually seal their exit.
in Pretoria
OUR beloved vuvuzela is under fire. And most notably French captain Patrice Evra has become its most recent ‘critic’, adding to the growing number of voices appealing for its ban ahead of today’s make-or-break fixture against Mexico.
In an interview with The New Vision here, Evra even went as far as blaming the vuvu for France’s poor performance in their 0-0 draw with Uruguay, claiming the players could not hear each other over the deafening drones of the soccer horn.
As a French sympathiser, I would like to have believed him.
But if Evra and teammates are to win France their second World Cup title, they had better get used to them.
At the moment, France’s stars are struggling to contend with it (vuvuzela) and the criticism they received since their dull display against Uruguay.
Former France greats Zinedine Zidane and Marcel Desailly are among the biggest critics of Raymond Domenech’s current team, and junior sports minister Rama Yade was recently publicly critical of them staying in the expensive Pezura Resort hotel at a time of economic crisis.
Among the controversial issues that dominated their first outing was the shocking exclusion of Thierry Henry.
The Barcelona striker was restricted to the bench then, but following unprecedented pressure for him to be fielded, a return to the starting line-up is on the cards.
“Henry has proved a lot in the French team,†left-back Eric Abidal stated.
Malouda, who was also dropped on the day of the game against Uruguay, has pushed for a return.
Just like Henry, Malouda’s omission coincided with reports that he had argued with Domenech in training the day before.
Whatever system Domenech decides on 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, it had better work as defeat or a second consecutive draw will virtually seal their exit.