France must beat Denmark by at least two goals if it is to advance further in the World Cup after an ugly no-score draw last night against Uruguay at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium, South Korea.
One man down after Thierry Henry was sent off for a lunging tackle 25 minutes into the game, "les Bleus" were neutralized by what appeared to be a hack-attack strategy on the part of the South Americans.
They were saved from further humiliation by man-of-the-match Fabien Barthez, who made eight saves, including a superb reaction to deny Sebastien Abreu in the final minutes of the game.
Both sides had their chances at the start.
France had a goal disallowed after 10 minutes when Emmanuel Petit lifted a ball over the Uruguayan defense for David Trezeguet to run on to and knock over the advancing keeper, but the Juventus marksman was judged offside.
Uruguay's standout player, Alvaro Recobar, came nearest for the South Americans when the peroxide-topped Dario Silva picked up the ball in his own half.
He skipped past one man and floated a ball to Recobar, who was free on goal and drove in a low angled shot that Barthez foiled with his legs.
The game's defining moment, however, was the sending off of Arsenal striker Henry.
A botched free kick outside the French penalty area came out to Marcelo Romero and Henry dived in, taking out the South American midfielder.
Mexican referee Felipe Rizo Ramos immediately rushed over and brandished a red card at a shell-shocked Henry.
France soldiered on but was unable to get a purchase on the game, in which there was a foul nearly every two minutes.
Commenting on the match, France Coach Roger Lemerre refused to make excuses and said, "We were expecting lots of points from this game and only managed to get one, but we still have a bit of hope left.
"We will give everything we have in the next game. Despite the fact that we had just 10 players, we defended well against Uruguay."
Lemerre also praised his goalie.
"Without Barthez, Uruguay could have scored, but they didn't. When you play with 10 players it's a completely different game. I say with confidence, there can be no question about the quality of the French team."
French fans after the game were of the same opinion. Francois Vergiz from Lille, France, said, "France did well with just 10 men for so long. We just have to beat Denmark by two goals. The red card was a mistake, it should have been a yellow. The Uruguayans played a rude game."
His friend, Gerome Martin-Buhet from Bordeaux, said, "The next game will have to be attack-attack-attack, it is the only thing. Hopefully, we will have Zidane back by then."
Lemerre said, "[Zidane's] recovering little by little and he is running. It was premature for him to play today, but we don't know about tomorrow. I hope to get him back very soon."
Anyone watching in Busan last night would agree that without Zidane, France is not a World Cup-winning team.
Replacement Johan Micoud did have a few chances on goal but fluffed them and was ineffective in the middle of the park.
Sylvain Wiltord was bright to begin with but faded without service, while rising star Djibril Cisse got just 10 minutes to make an impression, bringing one save from Fabian Carini in the Uruguayan goal and causing a few problems for the defense.
For the South Americans, Dario Silva was lively but got involved in a series of arguments with the French players and was loudly booed by the French fans every time he touched the ball.
RSS