Road to Brazil: New French team has exorcised the ghosts of 2010

‘Le mot impossible, pas Francais’, screamed a banner at the Stade de France on the 19th of November. ‘Impossible is not a French word’ it said. And for 90 minutes in the French capital, it really did seem like nothing seemed impossible for the French. On the night, it was Mamadou Sakho who opened the scoring in his native Paris. If the occasion wasn’t a good enough reason for the former Paris Saint-Germain man to raise his level, the crowd’s adoration which fed the local boy was. Like Sakho, the rest of the team seemed to have only one singular objective in mind: qualify for next year’s World Cup, and do it the right way. The last time France were in this position was less than four years ago, on the same pitch, which the same agenda in mind. Raymond Domenech stood in the same position where the man who captained the side that won the World Cup at this very stadium, Didier Deschamps, stood. Ireland were the visitors, and we all know what happened on that night. Many said the French did not deserve to go to South Africa, and they were right: France’s displays both on and off the pitch showed just that. Never before had France been humiliated in such a manner. [caption id=“attachment_1243843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Getty Images[/caption] It is said that playing for your country is the highest honour that a footballer can earn. And on Tuesday night, the French were doing just that, earning back the honour that their country had forsaken in the Rainbow Nation. That was a different French team. That was a French team that was cut into little cliques and circles of its own and the eccentric Domenech who picked his players using Tarot cards and had a distrust for Scorpios could do nothing about it. He’d lost control of the dressing room, the unity that once signified a team that represented a multicultural France was fragmented, and that spoke volumes on the pitch. Every time the French team walked onto the turf, whether it was in Toulouse, in Lyon, in Marseilles, in Bordeaux, they were jeered by their own fans. They were jeered because the fans knew they were not united, because they were putting themselves before their country. But this is a different France, and it is because of men like Didier Deschamps and his predecessor Laurent Blanc that things are different. Blanc put things right in the dressing room by stamping his authority on the players. If they did not like playing for France, they could leave. And his steps worked wonders for France: for the first time since 1998, France secured automatic qualification by topping their table en route to Euro 2012. Three days ago, in Paris, the players were ready to die to get on that plane to Brazil. They would give everything to make sure that the debacle of 2010 was not repeated. Their performance against Ukraine was one that will surely live long in the memory of a France fan because it meant they had gone a long way in exorcising Thierry Henry’s handball that put them to shame. But perhaps the biggest sign of the healing of old wounds was the atmosphere inside the stadium on the night. The Stade de France was awash with Tricolours and everybody at the stadium – which included French President Francois Hollande – sang La Marseillaise which such gusto. That boost that the crowd gave the players went such a long way in giving the French team the lift they did not have during the Domenech years. All three goals on the night were scrappy, and while some might say that that does not show real penetration by the French team, I think the three goals showed a willingness to commit everything to putting the ball in the back of the net. The French never gave up hope on the night, and they were rewarded with a place in Brazil because of it. Before the game, Raphael Varane, the youngest member of the squad, went to each player and gave him a bear hug, evidence of the new optimism that France’s nouvelle generation are bringing with them. After the game, the scenes at the stadium were so powerful, so emotional. Mathieu Valbuena and Blaise Matuidi hugged each other in solidarity, Franck Ribery went to the crowd to embrace them in what had been a highly charged night for French football, Olivier Giroud grabbed the microphone from the PA and began a spirited, impromptu rendition of La Marseillaise, in which the players, stand side by side, bonded in embrace, singing lustily with the 81 thousand inside the stadium. Didier Deschamps, the man who made all this possible, was unanimously hoisted into the air by his players. They all knew how much it meant to go to Brazil the right way. At long last, the scars of the Domenech reign were beginning to heal. One of the reasons this is so is because so many of the players that played against Ireland are now gone, and that makes the transition so much quicker. Although they do not possess the same star cast as Germany or Spain or Brazil, the French have a very talented squad of up and coming players who could be integral members of this France team for a long time to come. Sakho and his defensive partner Raphael Varane were imperious at the back for the French and they will continue to serve France for many years to come. In 20-year-old Paul Pogba, the French have one of the brightest talents currently present in the footballing world. Deschamps allows him a more liberal role than is afforded to him at Juventus and he is excelling in it for Les Bleus. Pogba combines strength and pace with direct running and the ability to pick a pass or let fly at goal, a set of talents that make him the perfect hybrid of defensive midfielder and deep-lying playmaker. It is an area where the French are well furnished. Blaise Matuidi (26) and Moussa Sissoko (24) are other examples of that type of player. Clement Grenier, now considered to be a shoe-in to the playmaker role for the national team as he matures, is only 22, and already earning rave reviews for his performances at Lyon. The future of France lies in him and a clutch of players like Real Socidedad’s Antoine Griezmann, AC Milan’s Mbaye Niang, the Lyon duo of Maxime Gonalons and Alexandre Lacazette, Atletico Madrid’s Josuha Guilavogui, Monaco’s Geoffrey Kondogbia, Kurt Zouma of St. Etienne, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa of Newcastle and Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala. French football, therefore, is in good hands, but it will take some time for these players to fully establish themselves. In that time, France can look to the talents of some of their more senior players, which now features the likes of the Arsenal trio of Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud, Manchester City’s Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy and the vastly experienced duo of Patrice Evra and Eric Abidal. Indeed, Abidal and Franck Ribery are the only two players who remain from that side which made it all the way to Berlin and will provide some much needed experience alongside Karim Benzema – who was bizarrely not selected for the 2010 World Cup – and new captain Hugo Lloris. France may not be favourites going to Brazil, but they will remember that a good showing there will contribute much to the healing process that was begun by Blanc and continued by Deschamps. And from that could come a new solidarity and espirit du corps that could see France go to the latter stages of the competition. There are of course those who would think that impossible. But then again, ‘impossible’ is not a French word.