Ribery feels confidence is back with les Bleus
Latest update : 2008-11-18
After a disastrous Euro and a difficult start in the World cup qualifiers, France play Uruguay on Wednesday in a friendly game. Coach Raymond Domenech hopes things will move forward for les Bleus, despite a surplus of attacking players.
The
Anelka also played a crucial role as a half-time substitute when
Domenech is a big fan of Thierry Henry and
That makes the competition even stiffer for other attacking players such as Anelka, Ligue 1 top scorer Karim Benzema or playmakers Yoann Gourcuff, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa, who has not even been called up this time.
There is also 30-year-old newcomer Steve Savidan from low-key
"He is one of the players we want to see at the highest level. You never know until you try. We want to see what he can do, it's up to him to show us something," Domenech told reporters last week.
INJURY-PLAGUED DEFENCE
Two years after Zinedine Zidane retired, Domenech has still to find the right balance in a squad with plenty of top-level forwards but few first class defenders.
Julien Escude and Bakary Sagna pulled out on Monday while Eric Abidal, Willy Sagnol and Francois Clerc are also injured.
However, captain Patrick Vieira should return in midfield for the first time since a friendly in
Domenech narrowly escaped the axe after
He said Wednesday's friendly, his first game in charge since being reconfirmed as coach last month, and another against
"We must use this game to carry on building a new team to qualify for the World Cup and to prepare for our two games against
"The fans see, just like I do, that something is starting to come up from this team, that something is being built," he added on the French federation website.
Third-placed
Date created : 2008-11-18