In the absence of the injured Patrick Vieira, it could be down to Claude Makelele to hold the line in the French midfield tomorrow when they take on Romania in their opening Group C Euro 2008 fixture.
Makelele says that, despite the temporary loss of Vieira, France have the maturity and the strength in depth to survive without their skipper against the first of their “Group of Death” rivals, who also include world champions Italy and 1988 European champions Holland.
For “Make” what is important is to send out a balanced side and he insists that will be the case, even as Vieira faces having to look on from the sidelines as the campaign starts.
PHOTO: AP
“That [his absence] doesn’t change anything for me,” Chelsea star Makelele said. “[Jeremy] Toulalan and Patrick have different qualities. But we have been able to adapt in midfield during warm-up matches. We know what we have to do. The most important thing is to respect the French set-up. There is a great complicity between Toulalan and myself. When I move up he sits in front of the defense. There’s no problem. You adapt to your opponents. We are intelligent enough to read their game and make adjustments — it’s up to the players to decide.”
Coach Raymond Domenech has gone through his permutations and did so again in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Colombia, which featured a midfield trio of Makelele, Toulalan and Florent Malouda, with Franck Ribery in the No. 10 role.
That line-up enabled France to shrug off Vieira’s loss and give themselves a more offensive profile into the bargain.
Nevertheless, Makelele was relieved to see Vieira back in training on Thursday.
“He is feeling better and better. There are still three days to go before taking a decision,” Makelele said. “He is an important player for France and I hope he will be ready and able to bring his qualities to the table for this Euro. He has to limit the risks to himself and take the best decision for him and the French team.”
Vieira is a mainstay of the French side with his 105 caps and is one of three survivors from the squad which lifted the World Cup in 1998 and went on to lift Euro 2000, the others being Thierry Henry and Lilian Thuram.
Makelele insists he is ready for the Euro after a long season in the English Premiership and Champions League.
“This season I often played two matches a week with my club, but that’s not been a problem,” he said, while acknowledging that he would say so if he felt tiredness was getting the better of him and noting he was not certain to be a starter at 35.
Even so, with 68 caps to his name, Makelele is a “stabilizer” force that Domenech will be pleased to have in is armory to negotiate the toughest group.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS