France Soccer

Samir Nasri to Arsenal

ZinaButt — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:29:28 +0000

Samir Nasri has announced on his personal blog that he will be transferring to Arsenal. The French national will leave Marseille for a 4-year $31.6 million deal. Nasri has been with Marseille since age 9. Many consider him the next Zidane, though he saw action in only one game during the Euro 2008 soccer tournament. France soccer professional leagues will miss his play.

Zidane: Didier Deschamps May Be Next Coach

ZinaButt — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:56:17 +0000

Former French soccer player, Zinedine Zidane seems to be jockeying for former teammate Didier Deschamps as the next coach of the France national team. ‘It’s true someone who could replace the current coach is clearly Didier Deschamps. He’s got everything it takes. He knows the group, he knows football very well and I think it’s quite in order for him, one day, to take over.’

Can Claude Puel Lead Lyon to Champions Success?

ZinaButt — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:45:34 +0000

It is official: Claude Puel has taken over the reins of Lyon, leaving his former team in Lille. There has already been a lot of transition around the Lyon clubhouse after winning the French soccer championship a few weeks ago. The move became official after weeks of rumors of the transition in the press. Many still believe that Puel will make wholesale changes to the team in the name of Champions League success. At the press conference Puel did note, “The important thing is (the players) have technical ability but also an unbreakable spirit.”

Euro 2008 Nightmare Ends for France

ZinaButt — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:08:40 +0000

Wow. Disappointing. France exits the UEFA Euro 2008 championship with a mere 1 point and at the bottom of Group C results.

Today’s match-up was excitement filled, but none of it positive for the French national soccer team. It started with Franck Ribery going down with a tough injury only 7 minutes in, continued with Eric Abidal being sent off a mere 18 minutes later. The Italians dominated most of the game, especially the opening half. If Luca Toni was more precise for Italy, the game could have easily ended 4-0.

Embarassing: Netherlands Trounces France Soccer

ZinaButt — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:51:02 +0000

The French national soccer team got an old fashioned whoopin’ in their second UEFA Euro 2008 game versus Netherlands. France soccer lost to the Tangerine machine 4-1. France took 2 more shots than Netherlands, but its opportunities were not strong and only 47% landed on net compared with 80% for the Dutch. Henry netted the only French goal in the 71st minute to make the score 2-1, but Robben immediately answered for the Dutch the next minute. Sneijder put it further out of reach in the 90th minute. France still has a chance to move on, but Romania must lose to Netherlands, who is already into the quarterfinals.

Disappointing Start for France

ZinaButt — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:52:39 +0000

France tied Romania 0-0 in the opener of the UEFA Euro 2008 soccer championship. The tie puts France in a tough position with Netherlands trouncing Italy 3-0 in Group C play. The game was largely dull with neither keeper playing much of a role in the outcome. Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry both sat out the game for France, which clearly put France in a different position than it would have liked. France will surely need to draw points in their match-up with Netherlands on Friday.

France and Euro 2008 - Get Your Jerseys Ready

ZinaButt — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:56:00 +0000

Will I see you at Summers wearing the good ole blue cheering on France with me in this year’s Euro 2008? I got my jersey ready, do you?

Olympique Lyonnais Wins France Soccer Title

ZinaButt — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:41:53 +0000

Well this year at least we had an exciting finish. The France soccer season has come to an end as Lyon has won the title yet again. The club’s seventh title in a row came as the team defeated Auxerre 3-1. Girondins Bordeaux could manage nothing more than a 1-1 draw at Racing Lens, but it was a moot point anyway. Lyon will now face nearly relegated Paris Saint-Germain for the French Cup.

In more top of the Ligue excitement, Marseille earned a spot in the Champions qualifying tournament as AS Nancy Lorraine dropped another match and it managed to stay ahead of Strasbourg. Neither team finished all that strong in France soccer play.

The final standings indicate that Lens, Strasbourg, and Metz will all be relegated to Ligue 2. Le Havre, Nantes, andGrenoble will be moving into Ligue 1.

France Soccer: Lyon Edges Nancy, Sits Atop Ligue

ZinaButt — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:59:03 +0000

It is looking more and more that this is Lyon’s year to take the French Ligue Championship. In a hard fought game against AS Nancy, Lyon came out on top 1-0 as Brazil’s Andre Luiz netted the game winner. Bordeaux refused to accept second place, as it remained two points down with a victory against Sochaux. Marseille could not fully take advantage of the Nancy loss, as it only managed a draw with Le Mans, leaving it one point below Nancy for the Champions Cup qualifying tournament position. While Nancy still controls its own fate, Marseille has an advantage facing lowly Strasbourg while Nancy must face the fiesty Rennes.

What makes the fight for first place all the more interesting is that both teams will face a team fighting to avoid relegation. For Bordeaux it is Lens and Lyon gets Paris Saint-Germain. PSG scored a huge draw against St. Etienne, while Toulouse and Lens both lost. Currently it is Lens in the relegation position on goals, tied with Toulouse with points.

France Soccer Ligue Goal Leaders

ZinaButt — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:48:24 +0000

Here are the leaders in France’s Ligue action in goal scoring with two games to play:

1) 20 Karim Benzema of Lyon

2) 17 Mamadou Niang of Marseille

3) 14 Djibril Cisse of Marseille

Bafetimbi Gomis of St Etienne

Fernando Cavenaghi of Bordeaux

6) 12 Rafik Saïfi of Lorient

Steve Savidan of Valenciennes

Bakari Koné of Nice

Wendel of Bordeaux

Tulio De Melo of Le Mans