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Player Focus: Flying Full-Backs Key to Releasing France Potential

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Player Focus: Flying Full-Backs Key to Releasing France Potential A topsy-turvy World Cup qualification group campaign comes to an end for France this week, against Finland at the Stade de France. Even if the achievement of a play-off place is as much as could have been expected at the start of a group shared with world and European champions Spain, it hasn’...

Team Focus: Bastia, Ligue 1’s Low-Key Entertainers, Rebuild in Style

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Team Focus: Bastia, Ligue 1’s Low-Key Entertainers, Rebuild in Style For a Friday night at the Furiani, there was everything that one would expect and hope for; driving rain, noise and goals. There was the obligatory red card too – Bastia received seven last season and have recorded two already in the new campaign – though it was Larry Azouni of visitors ...

Player Focus: Valbuena Continues to be the Centre of Attention

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Player Focus: Valbuena Continues to be the Centre of Attention It’s never too late to break away from a stereotype. Mathieu Valbuena should know, having been the butt of rubbish jokes about his size and – more importantly – miscast as a winger for too long. Le Petit Vélo has had his share of knockbacks down the years, from being shown t...

Player Focus: Cavani & Ibra Still Searching for Common Ground

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Player Focus: Cavani & Ibra Still Searching for Common Ground In the build-up to Paris Saint-Germain’s top-of-the-table clash with Monaco, the elephant in the room couldn’t be ignored – and their frequently blunt coach Laurent Blanc was never likely to. “Things aren’t going so badly between Cavani and Ibra,” he said on the F...

Team Focus: Team Effort Sees Saint Etienne Flying High

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Team Focus: Team Effort Sees Saint Etienne Flying High Whenever Brandão scored for Saint Etienne last season, he would usually dust down the same celebration, running off and miming taking snaps with an imaginary camera. He is not just a footballer, but also a music impresario and songwriter - the goal choreography mimicked the “flashy flas...

Player Focus: What’s Wrong with Karim Benzema?

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Player Focus: What’s Wrong with Karim Benzema? “Someone who’s a starter at Real Madrid can’t be as bad as that.” French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet made a few jaws drop with his frank assessment of Karim Benzema in the immediate aftermath of France’s tame goalless draw in Georgia. Yet desperate...

Player Focus: Megabuys Moutinho and James Battle for One Place

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Player Focus: Megabuys Moutinho and James Battle for One Place Jeremy Toulalan doesn’t like talking much, but when he does, it’s worth listening. The Monaco midfielder is a team man who keeps his calm along with his counsel - sitting, observing and making sure the bigger names around him can play. When someone of Toulalan’s experience and sang...