Can’t wait for Australia v France.
A Maclaren vs a Rolls Royce. pic.twitter.com/cbYXiVMj2e
— Dan 🧃🇦🇺 (@afcDxn_) November 22, 2022
france vs australia tonight hope my baguette country will win🙏 pic.twitter.com/HV6iTdrjp5
— cie (@hamiItsn) November 22, 2022
Salma Mukansanga, the celebrated Rwandan referee, makes history on Tuesday when she becomes the first African woman to handle a men’s match – Australia Vs France – at the #FIFAWorldCup.
“I want young girls to look up to me and follow in my footstep.”
https://t.co/ZuZ0qcdw0J— The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) November 22, 2022
SportsMole:
An injury-hit France side begin the defence of their global title when they tackle Australia in Tuesday’s World Cup 2022 Group D opener at the Al Janoub Stadium.
Les Bleus went all the way in Russia four years ago, while the Socceroos are aiming to end a run of three successive group-stage exits…
Having been eliminated from Euro 2020 at the last-16 stage, France are already guaranteed to relinquish their Nations League crown after a dismal period of performance in the 2022-23 edition, which very nearly culminated in an unthinkable relegation to League B.
Off-the-field scandals and countless injury problems have also plagued this France side, who already hold the unwanted honour of being the worst-performing defending champions at a World Cup after going out in the group stage in 2002 without a single win to their name…
The art of taking off a goalkeeper and bringing on a penalty-saving specialist is a difficult one to master, but Australia manager Graham Arnold pulled it off in the Socceroos’ playoff final versus Peru, with Andrew Redmayne channelling his inner Bruce Grobbelaar in the shootout and helping to send Australia through.
Redmayne’s efforts ensured that Australia would be present at the World Cup finals for the fourth time on the bounce, but the Socceroos have suffered three group-stage exits in that period and have only won one of their last nine games at the tournament – a 2-1 success over Serbia in 2010.
A round-of-16 berth in the 2006 tournament represents the Socceroos’ best achievement on the biggest global stage so far, and while they flattered to deceive during AFC qualifying, Arnold’s men head into their opening match on the back of five successive victories…
WaterGirl
Anne Laurie’s new France vs. Australia soccer thread is open for business.
HumboldtBlue
This shouldn’t be close, but the loss of Benzema will hurt France down the line. Can they break the boogeyman of being the reigning champs and not making it out of the group stage?
Also, fuck the Saudis.
trollhattan
McClaren vs. Rolls? Holden vs. Citroen, please.
Interested to see how the defending champs fare–their group isn’t as soft as some.
R-Jud
@HumboldtBlue: Re Argentina vs. SA, my kid’s got a classmate called Messi, and I feel bad about how hard his life’s going to suck for the next couple of days.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@trollhattan: No love for Peugeot? That’s the only other French car maker I can think of off the top of my head.
HumboldtBlue
And there it is! The curse continues… so far!
And yet another injury for France.
Alison Rose
Woot woot!
phdesmond
according to the WaPo,
HumboldtBlue
And so, let the time-wasting begin.
Alison Rose
Damn, that was a gorgeous ball into the box.
Alison Rose
Whew, this is gonna be a wild one!
HumboldtBlue
Aaaaaaaaannnnndddd, class is permanent, form is temporary.
West of the Cascades
That was awful by the Australians.
HumboldtBlue
Aussies will be lucky to touch the ball the rest of the match.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Boy France is really dialing up the pressure at present.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
And then the Australian counter attack hits the post.
Kevin
Really entertaining game so far (almost half). Too bad the Soccerroos couldn’t equalize on the header just before halftime.
Geminid
@phdesmond: Seeing as they are underdogs, I kind of want the Saudi team to do well. Like the Iranians, I see them as playing for their fellow citizens and not their governments. And it’s not like the Saudi people got to vote for their rulers.
phdesmond
@Geminid:
that’s a good perspective to have.
Alison Rose
Poor Aussies, I was hoping this would go better for them.
Ella in New Mexico
Ugg, watching France score goal after goal on the Aussies is agonizing.
This game was like watching my son’s high school team scrimmage the University of New Mexico’s Men’s team in 2003 and I can’t watch it any more.
Ella in New Mexico
@Geminid: Sorry, they’re not underdogs, they serve at/for the pleasure of MBS.
After hearing what Qatar tried to do to secure their first game by bribing Ecuador’s team to throw the match $50 bucks the Saudi’s did the same thing only double the money. No way they should have beat Argentina.
WaterGirl
@phdesmond: And that’s why they play the games!
Onkel Fritze
@Ella in New Mexico: That whole reporting about bribery relied on one single twitter account that is well known for misinformation. Journalistic malpractice to even write that. At FIFA you don’t bribe the players, you bribe the functionaries.
Geminid
@Ella in New Mexico: To me, the Saudis are players first when they are on the pitch. And while I did not watch the game I am skeptical that the French team threw the match. But I am now interested in this question and plan to see if this is possibility is getting much credence in the football press.
But you raise a general question, and I’ll say that I expect Prince Bonesaw to rule that country for the forseeable future, and I’m not going to look down on Saudis as people because of that.
Geminid
@Geminid: Correction: now I see it was the Argentinean team, not the French, that lost to Saudi Arabia. To the football journalists I go!
LeftCoastYankee
Given Saddam Hussein’s sons’ motivational skills for the Iraq team back in the day (i.e. torture), bribing the opponent would be a small step of progress.
Don’t think that was the case. The first Saudi goal was hit in the only possible place it could have to score in that situation (between a sliding defender’s legs, just past the keepers fingers, and just inside the far post). In other words, a great shot.
The Saudis were one of two teams to have actual training camps, and they were well-coordinated. Argentina looked like a bunch of guys who played all over the world last Sunday and were not on the same page (they had 2 or 3 goals disallowed for off-sides, their defense was sloppy, etc.).
It’s just the World Cup. So was the fact that it was the best game of the day.