Posts Tagged France
1984 Euro Semi-Final ~ France vs Portugal (10 min. Highlights)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Highlights on May 10, 2012
Among all the great Euro matches played since the tournament’s inception in 1960, this game between France and Portugal might very well take the crown for sheer drama and entertainment value.
Portugal had certainly been impressive in the group phase. They had remained unbeaten, conceding only one goal after 270 minutes of play against West-Germany, Spain and Romania.
But could they now also stop Platini’s rampant France? Unquestionably the best European football nation in those days, France had won all its group matches, with Platini scoring an incredible number of six goals in three games. Could he and his fellow members of Le Carré Magique (Tigana, Fernandez, Giresse, Platini) destroy Portugal’s defense?
France All-Time Team
Posted by 4Dfoot in Best of All Time on May 4, 2012
Football, in France, for a long time wasn’t all that popular – at least compared to the sport’s overwhelming popularity in many other European nations. The French traditionally cherished the finer arts more than less cultured activities such as kicking against a ball.
All that changed in summer of 1998. In June and July of that year, the French won the World Cup. On home soil. Football’s status in France received a major boost.
It’s only logical then that much of 1998′s team will feature in a France All-Time Best XI. But there have been two other excellent French generations. The one from the 50′s with Kopa and Fontaine, for instance. And, of course, the one in the 80′s with the Carré Magicque starring Platini. And we shouldn’t forget players from other era’s: Cantona, Ginola, Papin, Pires, Ribery, Makelele and others – all of whom were genuine world class.
The formation chosen is a 4-2-3-1 to suit France’s best three players of all time. Click the link to see the team.
2006 World Cup Quarter-Final ~ France vs Brazil (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on March 24, 2012
Rarely, if ever, have a team been as big favourites to win the World Cup as Brazil in 2006. The Canaries stole the show in the 2005 Confederation Cup, and with their Magic Square of Ronaldinho, Kaká, Adriano and Ronaldo, they seemed to belong in another league than all other nations.
Once the tournament began, however, some of Brazil’s shortcomings were exposed. Ronaldo and Adriano looked stale and overweight. Roberto Carlos and Cafu were no longer the dynamo’s on the flanks they once had been. Brazil as a whole were quite a bit more sluggish than all the Joga Bonito adverts had promised. But they did, at least, win their games. The same couldn’t be said of France, which had played poor football in the groups, and who were lucky to even be in the KO stages.
But for all that, France still had Henry, Vieira. And Zidane. The one who slaughtered Brazil in 1998. Could he rise to the occassion and do it again?
Line-Ups:
Brazil
Dida – Cafu, Lucio, Juan, Roberto Carlos – Juninho, Gilberto Silva, Ze Roberto, Kaka, Ronaldinho – Ronaldo
Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira
France
Barthez – Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal – Ribery, Makelele, Vieira, Zidane, Malouda – Henry
Coach: Raymond Domenech
Download Links
First half
Second half
2008 Euro Group Match ~ Holland vs France (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on February 7, 2012
What a difference two years can make.
Holland had been disappointing in the 2006 World Cup. They had played stale football. Not that anyone remembers their football. Their only noteworthy contribution to the tournament, was, after all, that notorious ultra-violent KO match against Portugal.
France in contrast had come inch close to actually winning the 2006 World Cup. Inspired by Zidane, they knocked out Brazil, Spain and Portugal, only losing out on penalties to Italy in the final.
Two years later, Holland opened Euro 2008 by comfortably beating World Champions Italy 3-1, thanks to lightning quick counter-attacks. France meanwhile couldn’t get more than a draw against Romania. Zidane was gone, and despite the presence of his spiritual successor Ribery, the French made a sluggish, uninspired impression.
Had the roles really reversed in only two years time? Had France, without Zidane, become a weak team that was going to be slaughtered by a rampant Holland? Or had the Dutch merely been lucky in their win over Italy?
Read the rest of this entry »
1986 World Cup Quarter-final ~ France vs Brazil (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on December 5, 2011
This, perhaps, is the most beautiful World Cup match in history.
The stars of the early 80′s were well into their 30′s now - Socrates, Platini, Junior, Giresse, Zico, Tigana – and approaching the end of their international careers. But they gave it one final try. One last attempt to conquer the World Cup with their artful approach to football.
The result was a game of football as pleasing to the eye as it was dramatic. If you’re going to watch one classic match, make it this one.
1984 Euro Group 1 ~ France vs Denmark (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on November 2, 2011
The opening game of Euro 1984 was a classic match between two excellent teams. It’s not a lie to state that in 1984 both France and Denmark could field the greatest team they’d ever had in their history up till that point.
The French, playing on home soil, featured Platini in his peak, assisted on midfield by fellow greats such as Giresse, Tigana and Fernandez. After their great showing in the 1982 World Cup, they were the favourites to win Euro 1984.
For the Danes, this was only their first international tournament. But with excellent players like Morten Olsen, Soren Lerby, Preben Elkjaer and a 19 year old Michael Laudrup, they felt confident they could take on the very best. In fact they had knocked out England in qualification by beating them on Wembley itself. So why not try to beat France in Paris’ Parc des Princes as well?
Eric Cantona ~ The King of Old Trafford (Player Video)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Player Compilations on October 27, 2011
Interesting video on Eric Cantona by ‘Bentex’. Mixes poetry, music and footage of Cantona in action into a unique compilation that reminds us of Cantona’s Jekyll & Hyde character: the artistic genius who acts like a hooligan.
2000 Euro Semi-Final ~ France vs Portugal (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on October 24, 2011
Euro 2000 is the greatest Euro tournament in history, and this match is one of the reasons why.
Portugal had spent decades in the shadow of more talented teams, but now that the Golden Generation of Figo and Rui Costa had come to age, they had become a force to be reckoned with. In the group stage Portugal had surprised the world by beating both Germany and England. Turkey had been knocked out in the quarter-finals, and now World Champion France awaited them in the semi’s.
1958 World Cup Semi-Final ~ Brazil vs France (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on October 21, 2011
If you want to know how football was played in the 50′s, this game is the perfect place to start. Super talented players dribbling from every position on the field, a complete absence of organisation on midfield, and oceans of space for attack after attack. A thrilling encounter played at a pace impossible in today’s world.
This game is also a great chance to see the legendary Garrincha in action. And a 17 year-old Pele. And the masterful Didi. and the French genius Raymond Kopa. Quite simply, this is a must-watch.
1978 World Cup Group 1 ~ Argentina vs France (Full Classic Match)
Posted by 4Dfoot in Full Classic Matches on October 19, 2011
Cesar Luis Menotti knew that his mission as manager of Argentina – the home nation in the 1978 World Cup – had only one acceptable outcome: winning the World Cup. Already in the groups, however, Argentina was faced with tough opposition: Hungary, Italy and a French side featuring the rising star of Michel Platini.
It was after this decisive confrontation between Argentina and France that the Swiss referee declared ‘”If i had seen the incident on TV, i wouldn’t have given a penalty…”.
All-Time Best XI’s
Quotations
Pictures
Forgotten Footballers
Most Popular
Tactical Analysis (Video + Text)
1974 World Cup ~ Holland vs Brazil
Full Classic Match
2005 CL Final ~ AC Milan vs Liverpool
Player Compilation
Dennis Bergkamp
Highlights
1994 La Liga - Barcelona vs Atletico
