PREVIEW
▲France vs Mexico
A French team in disarray will face a Mexico lineup which is growing in confidence in a Group A match today that could be crucial in determining who progresses in the World Cup.
Mexico scored a late equalizer in the tournament’s first match against South Africa while France opened their campaign later on Friday with a lackluster scoreless draw against Uruguay.
“They have their names, we have ours. But names don’t play, men do,” Mexico captain Gerardo Torrado said. “Nothing short of a win is good for us.”
France defender Eric Abidal said “things will become even harder if we have a bad result” because the French then have to take on South Africa in their last group game played in front of passionate home supporters.
Although France reached the final in Germany in 2006, Raymond Domenech’s current team seems dispirited and disheveled amid rumors of a row between the coach and Florent Malouda plus tensions between players. Former captain Zinedine Zidane has criticized the team, and dejected fans are starting to lose belief.
“Football is simple. You have to win matches, and once you win matches everyone is beautiful and the best friends in the world,” Malouda said. “As soon as results become more difficult, you see stories appearing left and right. The only answer is to win games and then everyone will be smiling at you.”
Malouda is pushing for a place in Domenech’s starting lineup after being dropped to the bench against Uruguay the day after a heated training session where Domenech told him not to fly so heavily into tackles.
Such aggression is lacking in front of goal and Domenech must decide whether to replace the ineffective Nicolas Anelka in attack.
The only positives France could take from the dull draw against Uruguay were the solid performance of Abou Diaby in midfield, and a rare clean sheet from a makeshift defense.
Although Abidal is a left-back, he is playing at center-half alongside William Gallas, who is still struggling for form after recovering from a torn calf muscle.
Mexico’s lively strikers Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos could cause Gallas and Abidal problems with their pace and trickery after combining for some promising moves in the 1-1 draw against South Africa.
“They have a lot of potential in attack, but so do we,” Abidal said. “If you want to go all the way, you will come up against a lot of top strikers, so you have to be prepared for that. Against South Africa we saw that they like to play on the counter attack and launch attacks from deep.”
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre prefers to rely on a settled team and is expected to stick with his three-pronged attack, which has Guillermo Franco holding the central role and with Vela and Dos Santos out wide.
“It’s what has brought us here and we’re not going to change,” Aguirre said. “Yes, we do leave a lot of space at the back, but we’re going to continue this way.”
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