Here is a look at the new France shirt for the 2010 World Cup. Les Bleus ( the likes of Anelka, Henry, Gourcuff and co.) will wear this jersey at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. France finished runners up at the 2006 World Cup, and qualified for the 2010 event in somewhat [...] Related posts:

1. Republic of Ireland vs France highlights goals- World Cup 2010 playoff This is the post for the first leg.

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First thing: If you're catching the game on delay on Setanta, DON'T read the comments. I broke down and forked over my $19.99 to Setanta to watch the game live, so I will be leaving updates there.

And if you have a working illicit stream, please leave that in the comments as well. It looks like there will be multiple options.

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France won the first leg of the World Cup playoff away to Ireland 1-0, but the tie is still up in the air.

France was the better team, but they weren't firing on all cylinders, and as a result, need to get a result in the second leg in Paris.

The formation didn't always hold it's shape, but it was something like this:

Gignac
Henry Gourcuff Anelka
A.

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So President Nicolas Sarkozy went on Facebook to wish les Bleus good luck.

Pretty sure that will be all it takes to push them over the top.

GFC over at The Beantown Frog is cautiously optimistic about this leg of the match, predicting a 1-0 win.

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Está claro. Dejando de lado el rocambolesco partido entre Manchester United y CSKA, donde los rusos estuvieron a minutos de ganar en un campo histórico, la nota de la jornada ha sido la victoria Burdeos en tierras bávaras. Y sinceramente no estoy sorprendido en lo absoluto por el marcador final de 0-2 y el liderazgo del conjunto de Blanc en el Grupo A. Click to continue reading...

The fourth round of group stage matches took place this week and a number of teams booked their places in the knockout stages. Although after this round of games there are no perfect sides left in the competition.

Bordeaux dominated Bayern Munich for a second time in a fortnight. They beat the Germans 2-0 with goals from Gourcuff and Chamakh which puts them in the knockout stages.

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Last week, I asked you to vote for you favourite 20 players of the decade, here in this very post, are the Top 100 players of the last 10 years, voted for by you, the readers and bloggers of the offside. First thing I want to say is thank you, everyone for the absolutely amazing response [...] Click to continue reading...

France's do-or-die match against Ireland is just around the corner, with the first match taking place on November 14th in Ireland and the second taking place on the 18th at the Stade de France (boo...). I don't know about you guys, but I'll be praying extra hard that France don't screw up against a tough Irish team.

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Group A
Bayern Munich 0-2 Bordeaux -- A frustrating home loss for the Germans will add some more heat to coach Louis Van Gaal's seat. Bayern will likely miss out of the round of 16 thanks to goals from Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh. The French team advanced.
Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Juventus -- The Italian side was riddled with injuries, but only needed a 45th minute goal from Camoranesi for the road win. Click to continue reading...

Bordeaux earned a 2-0 result at the Allianz Arena to cruise past Bayern Munich and ensure a place in the next round of the Champions League. The visitors' prowess at set-plays was evident throughout the game, as every time a decision went the French way, minor problems in the Bavarian box were never far away. Click to continue reading...

Die Bayern empfingen am heutigen Abend Girondins Bordeaux in der Münchner Allianz-Arena. Zeit, Wiedergutmachung zu betreiben, nach dem katastrophalen Hinspiel bei den Franzosen. Mit einem Sieg könnte man gleichziehen und die Chancen auf das Achtelfinale aufrechterhalten. Doch so sollte es nicht sein, Bordeaux gewinnt clever mit 2:0, die Bayern fangen auch noch solch einen blamablen Treffer wie den zum Schlussstand.

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Bordeaux vs. Bayern Munich

Group A leaders, Bordeaux will look to edge even closer to a place in the next round. To do so they will have to beat Munich at their home ground.

Bordeaux were clearly the better side a fortnight ago as they frustrated Munich players into getting two red cards.

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France are finding a bit of form.

And none too soon.

Domenech has pulled a rabbit out of the hat in Gignac.

Gignac put the match to rest with a sumptuous third.

Benzema got the start up front along with ever-presents Thierry Henry and Sidney Govou.

Stalwarts like Toulalan and L.

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Yoann Gourcuff visits a children's hospital in Ploemeur (good) but his leather jacket looks like pleather (bad). But he's hot. Thus, his placement within the good week section.

GOOD WEEK

Bitchfaces and cut-eyes
King of the side-eye, David Villa brought a new twist to his usual gaze of steel: the condescending shoulder tap.

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Yoann Gourcuff visits a children's hospital in Ploemeur (good) but his leather jacket looks like pleather (bad). But he's hot. Thus, his placement within the good week section.

GOOD WEEK

Bitchfaces and cut-eyes
King of the side-eye, David Villa brought a new twist to his usual gaze of steel: the condescending shoulder tap.

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As we've been reporting recently on Jeu Du Jour, each of the main contenders for the Ligue 1 title this season have been losing their unbeaten records one by one. Going into last weekend's games, only two were left and one of those, unsurprisingly, was the seemingly unbeatable Bordeaux. Unbeatable, that is, until Saturday when Saint Etienne, of all teams, handed out a 3-1 beating at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard knocking the French champions off the top spot. Click to continue reading...

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, I always say.

And thank goodness for Group 9, because the worst, if France can earn a point at home against the Faroe Islands, will be advancing to the playoffs.

Serbia's last two matches are against Romania and Lithuania, and there's certainly a possibility that they'll blow their chance of winning the group.

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Vive la Foot!

A belated Vive le Foot this week since I found myself flying to the land of Ligue 1 overnight...sadly enough I will not be able to attend the PSG -Nancy tie in Paris...but my SF correspondent will be at the Emirates scouting some Frenchies vs. Blackburn...

Boulogne lost the match of the promoted last weekend and will face a Lille side that destroyed Slavia Prague 5 - 1 in the last 15 minutes of their Europa League tie.

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Bayern Munich vs Juventus:

Definitely the most anticipated match of this week's Champions League play, this is a meeting that we have seen many times over the years. They do not usually live up to expectations as you can see from their previous score lines:

19.10.04 Juventus 1 Bayern 0

3.

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Were you tuned in to the last few days of Champions League group games? How were the results for your boys?

We know one thing: Yoann Gourcuff's eyelashes have already won. Everyone else can just take off their mascara and slink off back to Sephora. Go on.

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Were you tuned in to the last few days of Champions League group games? How were the results for your boys?

We know one thing: Yoann Gourcuff's eyelashes have already won. Everyone else can just take off their mascara and slink off back to Sephora. Go on.

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via Gettyimages

Ei Yoaan! Quoi de neuf?!! It looks like the rain really worked in Bordeaux's favour last night as they held Juventus to a 1-1 draw at home. Amauri's Robin Hood bro, Iaquinta gave Juventus the lead in the second half but the visitors fought back in the 75th minute and Plašil shot from point-blank range to earn the visitors one point.

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C'mon, Romania!!! Oh, and France, too.

If we can get a win today at Serbia, our fate is still in our own hands. Our guys can do that. Right?

According to Raymond when asked about the starting XI, « Tout est possible », but l'Equipe is expecting Domenech to go for continuity.

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France's lineup was something like this:

Gignac
Henry Gourcuff Anelka
Toulalan Diarra
Evra Escude Gallas Sagna
Lloris

With Henry and Anelka, it was a bit like a 4-2-1-3, but it was essentially the France formation (4-2-3-1).

And although it looks to me like Domenech is picking just about the right players, the team play is lacking fluidity.

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Por estas horas, la gran noticia del fútbol europeo pasa por Francia, más precisamente en la Ligue 1. Tras una temporada de mucho nivel y 38 emocionantes jornadas, el Girondins de Burdeos acabó definitivamente con la monarquía del Lyon al consagrarse campeón. Muchos equipos estuvieron cerca de llevarse el titulo, desde el Marsella hasta el Rennes, pasando por el PSG, Lille, Toulouse, entre otros, Click to continue reading...

Saw this on The Offside and was suitably amused.

Chamakh Getting Ready to Dive

I recently spotted an article titled Arsenal Target Marouane Chamakh Isn't Very Good, and guess what, besides their video proof, I have proof too. I agree wholeheartedly with him.

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Prevailing media will usually cling to its most profitable darlings. They supply what is demanded: the whats-what on Man United, the latest bickering between managers, polls about Ronaldo, anything to breed divide between Barcelona and Real Madrid, what Rafa said, arguing if Arsenal can win with youth, and occasionally even talking about Inter. Click to continue reading...

I am utterly convinced that Yohann Gourcuff is the star of tomorrow and that Milan made a huge mistake by letting him go. Four goals and two assists in three games in Le Championnat for the French midfielder is already an impressive tally and there are no signs of him slowing down. Somewhat depending on his World Cup 2010 I wouldn't be surprised to see him wearing the colors of Chelsea or Man United next year.

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Il sorteggio Champions consegna alla Juventus un girone abbordabile ma non facile, grosso modo sulla falsa riga del girone dello scorso anno. Il Bayern del nuovo corso di Van Gaal con l'ultimo arrivato Robben. I campioni di Francia del Bordeaux con l'astro nascente Gourcuff ed infine gli israeliani del Maccabi tutti da scoprire ma se ci sono arrivati tanto male non saranno.

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French Ligue 1 is as exciting as ever even though we didn't see too many surprises last weekend. Marseille are the only one of the title contenders that failed to win in round 3, while four teams are yet to take any points this season. To cut a long story short, here is the Team of the Week for round 3.

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Bordeaux are the only side remaining in Ligue 1 with a 100% record

Bordeaux find themselves as the only side in Ligue 1 remaining with a 100% victory after their 4-0 win over Nice on Sunday. Â This weekend in Ligue 1 was filled with some big victories, some expected results and a surprise showing by one of the newly promoted sides!

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Usually when someone's the new someone, it's because of superficial similarities in playing style. Yoanne Gourcuff is the new Zinedine Zidane, for example (even if he isn't). Everton's Joleon Lescott could not be less like Dimitar Berbatov if he tried. He's an all action big defender, rarely does any type of fancy flick and has [. Click to continue reading...

Ligue 1 started with a bang and some 24 goals. Lyon already showed their limitations with a very laborious draw while Bordeaux and Marseille showed that, yes, they were the team to beat. Meanwhile, only 3 correct predictions for week 1. Ouch!
Not much luck for Lens last weekend who tied the game before half-time but managed to take 2 goals in extra time courtesy of Marouane Chamakh and Yohann Gourcuff. Click to continue reading...

A new dawn may have risen on Ligue 1 but there was a definite air of 'as you were' about the opening weekend of fixtures in France.
Reigning champions Bordeaux (how nice it is to say that for a change) picked up from where they left off at the end of last season with a 4-1 drubbing of Lens. Click to continue reading...

What can you say about a match like that?

France kept a clean sheet.

Gignac scored a nice goal.

France controlled the match and created a lot of chances, but by conceding free kicks, they also gave Faroe Islands chances to score, and it could have been a disaster.

But it wasn't.

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