The home side goes into this game after a terrific run of results that started approximately one year ago and look poised to continue. Serbia’s efficiency and consistency during this qualifiers was remarkable, although it can be also said that the quality of play didn’t really always follow the run of good results. Skeptics could say that it only a matter of time before this stream ends, but some may also claim that winning with minimum fuss even when you are not at your best is a sign of great teams. One way or another, Serbia has played some good football and achieved some great results. More importantly, it started functioning as a team. Since he came at the helm of the national team, Radomir Antić has done wonders for the side, the results may be great but this is not where the story ends – Serbia seems to overcome all the issues of the past and finally starts reaching it’s full potential. The belief in the national team has never been so great and it is just the kind of atmosphere to be had for a game like this.

Since I’ve already submitted the list of players and explained the situation with the missing ones, I’ll just remind that the two key players who are missing are Boško Janković (knee injury) and Marko Pantelić (unfit, long time without a club). Other than that, Radomir Antić has a full squad of players to chose from. But which formation will he use?
Now, this isn’t very easy to guess. At the back, Nemanja Vidić and Branislav Ivanović are, as always, guaranteed to start, but the left-back and the second centre-back situation leaves various combinations possible. My guess is that he will use the back line of Obradović, Subotić, Vidić and Ivanović, but Ivica Dragutinović, Aleksandar Luković and Aleksandar Kolarov could also appear on the pitch without it being a major surprise.
Guessing the midfield and the attack depends on the formation which Antić will use. My guess, and the general consensus in Serbia, is that we’ll deploy a 4-3-3 that can easily revert to a 4-5-1, with Nikola Žigić as a lone striker and the brilliant pair of Milan Jovanović and Miloš Krasić on the wings. Now, these three players are guaranteed to start whatever formation we use in the end since they are the backbone of our attack, but the rest of the squad isn’t so easy to predict. If we use the 4-3-3, we’ll probably see Dejan Stanković, Nenad Milijaš and Gojko Kačar in the center of the park, but Zdravko Kuzmanović and Miloš Ninković could also be involved if Antić wishes to experiment a little. If we use a 4-4-2, then there’s a good chance that Zoran Tošić could start on the left with Milan Jovanović deployed in a striker’s role alongside Žigić.

Serbian strengths? First of all, I simply need to mention Serbia’s excellence in the air, with Nemanja Vidić, Branislav Ivanović and Nikola Žigić all exceptionally good at headers, so corners and free kicks could be our best chance of scoring against Les Bleus. Since France is probably intent on dominating the game from the start, swift counter-attacks could expose their defensive weaknesses and the players like Miloš Krasić and Milan Jovanović have proven to be very capable in executing some terrific drives from the flanks. Romania has shown what chaos can a counter-attack from the sides do to The French and I think that Serbian strength in that segment makes this a genuine threat to our opponents. My opinion is that Serbia mustn’t rush forward and go for victory from the very beginning, but defend wisely and seek for a chance via set-pieces and counter-attacks, France’s individual talent remains extremely high and any slip we make can be severely punished by their extraordinary attackers. Having said that, I don’t think that bunker-like defense would do us any good, though, giving France lots of the ball means giving France a lot of opportunities. Defend wisely and try to break their attacks on the center of the pitch, any kind of cowardly tactics could make our net full until the end of the game.

Here’s the expected line-up:

Stojković
Ivanović – Vidić – Subotić – Obradović
Kačar – Stanković – Milijaš
Krasić – Žigić – Jovanović

France:

If you’re interested for this game from the perspective of our tonight’s opponents, I’m sure that the guys from The France Blog will do a better job than I can. But I still have to mention some rather important things. First of all, France is in turmoil at the moment. Their coach Raymond Domenech has been extremely unpopular for a while now and it was only a matter of time before his team fail again in an important match, with criticisms coming from virtually all directions. By drawing with Romania at home on Saturday, France has missed the chance to go into this game holding their destiny in their own hands. Like I already wrote, even a victory wouldn’t make them feel safe and this game is now more of a breathing straw than a genuine chance for them. In other words, pressure in extremely high and it can be argued this is more of a vital match for France than it is for Serbia.
But although France doesn’t look strong as a team and haven’t really had much successes for a while now (if you are not counting 1-0 victories against The Faroe Islands and Lithuania as successes), they remain one of the strongest teams on the planet. The game against Romania, although ending with a dissapointing result, actually demonstrated how dangerous can France be if they are given enough chance to play. If they play the same way they did against our eastern neighbors, this isn’t going to be an easy match for Serbia despite all the headlines about “wounded France” and such. Domenech maybe isn’t the best coach in the world, but the team he has at his disposal is a lethal one.

Now, what formation will France use? I think that this one is easy to guess. A 4-2-3-1 with Jeremy Toulalan and Lassana Diarra as holding midfielders is almost guaranteed, while Yoann Gourcuff as an offensive midfielder and Thierry Henry in the forward department are also destined to start. The goal should again be Hugo Lloris’s responsibility, while a defense of Evra, Abidal, Gallas and Sagna can also be expected. In the attack, there is a probability that Karim Benzema will play alongside Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry, since Pierre-Andre Gignac didn’t really have the best of games against Romania. Their most dangerous player, however, Franck Ribery, isn’t likely to feature from the start because of a lack of fitness and an alleged injury he suffered on Saturday. Expect him to come on as a sub later in game, though.

France’s strengths? Wow, there is a long list of those. Lots of their players are capable of solving games on their own and the level of individual talent they have is breathtaking. They have an excellent ‘keeper, a highly experienced defense, a formidable midfield and a world-class forward line. It is almost funny when you think that such a team has such qualifying problems and isn’t sure to even feature at the World Cup. But as they are not really at their best under Domenech, we could really defeat them if we’re good enough. That said, I’m not really sure what are our chances if these guys actually decide to finally show what they can in these qualifiers. If that happens, we’re in for one hell of a ride.

Probable starting line-up:

Lloris
Sagna – Gallas – Abidal – Evra
Toulalan – Diarra
Henry – Gourcuff – Benzema
Anelka

Players to watch:

For Serbia, the players who are likely to make a difference are goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković and Nemanja Vidić. The Manchester United’s defender is a back-bone of the Serbian defense and could also easily be on the scoresheet after a set-piece. Since a draw is a rather fine result for Serbia, the defense is a vital part of the team – if it does the job properly, this game will end with a positive result. And just not to be so defense oriented, I’ll also mention my favorite pair of players – wingers Milan Jovanović and Miloš Krasić. They solved a lot of games for us, why wouldn’t they solve this one?

For France, I believe everything will revolve around Thierry Henry. This beast of player has a habit of scoring goals in the best possible moment, be it with his head or feet. If we want not to concede againt France, closely marking their captian is an absolute must. All of their forward players are exceptionally good, but Thierry Henry has a class of his own. Vidić, have you heard that?

Prediction:

Serbian fans, don’t hate me for this, but I believe France is about to win this one. I already see Henry scoring at the worst possible moment with Serbia’s commitment coming fruitless in the end. We may be favorites in some way, but we simply don’t have luck with the bigger teams. This team has never, ever, defeated one of the world’s top sides and I simply can’t predict this tradition will end now. But if we are ever to stop this negative trend, could there ever be a better moment than this one? If we prove we aren’t capable of dealing with the top sides, what are we going to to at the World Cup then? So, I’ll eat my own words and will not write any kind of result. It’s time to fight the odds!

Goalkeepers:

Nikola Žigić (Valencia)
Milan Jovanović (Standard Liege)
Danko Lazović (PSV Eindhoven)
Marko Milinković (Košice)

Now, what is interesting about this list? About those who are on the list, the presence of Marko Milinković and Radoslav Petrović could be considered surprising, but as these players are not likely to feature at all with such competition in their positions, it’s not really that important for the side as a whole. What does matter, however, are the absentees: Boško Janković has injured his knee and will not be back until February, while Marko Pantelić has been left behind for not having a club at the moment. Janković’s absence does hurt the side’s depth on the wings, but with Krasić, Jovanović, Tošić and Ninković all capable of playing in his position his loss shouldn’t be crippling. But as a quality player capable of turning games on his own, he’ll probably be sorely missed if things don’t work out the way we want them to.
Pantelić’s situation is more tricky: although omitted from the squad for not having a club, Antić has promised him to be the part of the team as soon as he finds himself a new team (note: Pantelić has been without a club since his Hertha contract expired and has trained with Crvena Zvezda since then). Pantelić was a starter for us so far, and while there are other attacking options available to Antić, his absence could be considered as a rather serious problem. The matter would be settled, however, hadn’t Pantelić found himself a club in the meantime, signing with Ajax. Will Antić call him up after this splendid news, or will he consider him unprepared for such a serious challenge – it remains to be seen.

A match preview will follow in the next few days…

P.S. The whole nation has really gone wild because of this game and there are serious ticket buying problems for all those unlucky not to have ordered them on the very first morning of internet sale (and even that wasn’t a guarantee, this whole mess is rather contraversial with massive ticket orders from sponsor companies and such). Therefore, I probably won’t be able to get the ticket for myself. Ironic, isn’t it? Covering for the NT for such a long time, watching it play against Faroe Islands, Austria and such, and then miss the “game of the decade” I’ve been writing about for a while. Dissapointment is a rather weak word for what I feel, but I guess that’s life.

Stojković
Ivanović – Subotić – Dragutinović – Kolarov
Krasić – Kačar – Milijaš – Jovanović
Žigić – Pantelić

Prediction:

A win! Who cares about the result, The Faroe Islands are a banana skin that needs to be defeated at all costs, and if you ask me, it’s precisely what makes them a banana skin – an imperative to win that all sides have when they confront them. I’ll admit that I wouldn’t be too surprised if they managed to get a draw and make me eat my TV, but let’s pretend it’s a taboo and not take that possibility in consideration. Let’s believe in Antić and his boys, it’s that belief that drives this team forward and let’s not abandon that ship even before it crashes. Go, White Eagles!

Team news:

Unfortunately, our joint-best goalscorer so far and an attraction of the upcoming transfer window, Nikola Žigić, misses the game because of yellow cards and will watch the game from the stands. The other probable absentee is young Partizan Belgrade left-back Ivan Obradović, an another summer attraction and a terrific player for us in the qualifiers so far. Other than that, Antić will have at his disposal a strong team that looks good enough to defeat the Austrians, themselves missing a few of their key players. Both Antić and Constantini promissed to play some bold, offensive football that will probably siute the fans quite well and make this game live-up to its expectations.

Probable line-up:

Ivanović – Vidić – Dragutinović – Kolarov
Krasić – Stanković – Milijaš – Jovanović
Pantelić – Lazović

Prediction:

I really am too terrified to predict anything at all. With both teams ready to play offensively, I assume there are going to be some goals, probably from both sides. I’ll be courageous and predict a 4-1 win for Serbia, not because I believe that the Austrians are going to be crushed, but because I expect their bold style of play could eventually allow us to hit them on the counter-attack and achieve a more resounding victory than we actually deserve. However, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a dull draw or even a victory for Austria, they are really not a team you should underestimate and have enough quality to stage an upset. Let’s hope, though, that this won’t happen tonight. As always, keep an eye on Milan Jovanović and Miloš Krasić in the Serbian team, while on the Austrian side you should definetely watch out for Marc Janko, one of the most prolific forwards in Europe at the moment.

P.S. You should also drop by the Austria WCB, where I’m sure J has some interesting thoughts to share from the opponent’s perspective.

Your blogger will be at the game itself, so he won’t be able to post any comments or thoughts until tomorrow, but will hopefully give you a good review of the game in the next few days. And yes, he really is excited to be a part of a 50.000 fan army that will support The White Eagles tonight. May this be a night to remember for a long, long time – in the positive sense, of course!

Judging by the interviews made by the players such as Stanković, Jovanović, Žigić and Kuzmanović, there is a real desire to win in the Serbian camp, but everyone also tried to point out the Romanians’ quality and a genuine threat in the form of their attacking players – most notably a ”cunning” Adrian Mutu capable of making wonders all by himself, and no, he’s definetely not the only one out there.
On the other hand, the players and the coach are very well aware of one other thing – if we defeat the Romanians, it will most definetely be the end of their World Cup dreams, and a beggining of ours. While that kind of pressure can’t be compared to the one the Romanians have on their shoulders, it shouldn’t be underestimated. Our tonight’s opponents might be desperate to win in order to stay in the race, but our boys are really burning for a win that would keep them (i.e. the Romanians) out of it.
So, it promises to be a very fiery encounter beetween two quality sides directly facing off for a place in South Africa, and the current table standings and team form shouldn’t make us forget that simple truth. It might be interesting to point out that the game isn’t played in Bucharest, the capital of the country, but in Constanta, a city in the east of Romania, on the shores of the Black sea. Now, while it is well known that the atmosphere over there really suit the hosts pretty well and that the stadium welcomed some much stronger teams and made them leave defeated, there is a theory over here in Serbia that the game was scheduled as east as possible to prevent many Serbian fans crossing the border and going to the game to support their team. Now, while there isn’t much difference beetween going to Bucharest and going to Constanta and that’s why the theory, even if correct, shouldn’t be made a big deal about, it is quite interesting for me to witness the psychological effects of that re-schedule (because the game was originally scheduled for Bucharest) on the team that seems aware of the fact that they are going to the place that is as much far and as much hostile as possible. Oh, and, don’t understand this word ”hostile” as a reference to some nationalistic dispute almost all the neigboring countries in the Balkans have beetween them – Serbia and Romania have always had friendly and warm relations, and the only animosity we could talk about is purely a sporting one. May it be like that beetween all of our neighbours.

Probable starting line-up:

Stojković
Ivanović – Vidić – Dragutinović – Obradović
Krasić – Stanković – Milijaš – Jovanović
Pantelić – Žigić

Prediction:

I might be too cautious to expect a win from our boys, but I still feel we can prove our quality tonight. Romania might have better chances, but I really trust in this Serbian team the way I’ve never had trust in it before. I’d stay somewhat cautious, however, and guess a high-scoring draw such as 2-2. If the Romanians score first, I think we’re doomed, and if we manage to grab the first goal, we’ll have good chances of winning. Our defense doesn’t really have the habit of letting us down and we better all hope the offense works as well.
As in the previous games, keep an eye on Miloš Krasić and Milan Jovanović - these players have done wonders for us in the last few games and they simply can’t stop fascinating me. If they play as good as they proved they can, I believe this could be an another Austria (i.e. a 3-1 away win) for us. All in all, Napred Beli Orlovi!

Goalkeepers:
Vladimir Stojković (Getafe), Vladimir Dišljenković (Metalurg Donetsk), Bojan Isailović (Čukarički)

Attackers:
Nikola Žigić (Racing Santander), Danko Lazović (PSV), Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax)

The U21 team also plays a friendly against Cyprus on wednesday at 14:00 CET. The European Championship is just a few months away and coach Slobodan Krčmarević needs to prepare the side properly in this year’s friendly games, create the basis of the team and incorporates some younger talented players previously uncapped for the U21 side. In doing this, the coach will have some problems and the biggest of them all is the fact that many of the star players also play for the senior side and are therefore unavailable for friendlies like this one. Ivan Obradović, Zoran Tošić, Miralem Sulejmani and Igor Đurić got a call by Antić and the first three of them are almost certain to actually play for the senior side, while there are also a lot of players missing for various reasons. All in all, it should be an interesting test for the ambitious U21 side, featuring four debutants: Slavko Perović of Red Star, Nemanja Tomić of Partizan, Aleksandar Ignjovski of OFK Belgrade and Aleksandar Ignjatović of Borac Čačak. Here’s the full squad list:

Goalkeepers:
Bojan Šaranov, Željko Brkić

Attackers:
Rade Veljović, Slavko Perović, Danijel Aleksić

I will write the reports on the matches, probably after the U21 game on wednesday. One other thing, it has been revealed that Žigić and Luković are set to miss the tournament (altough Luković travelled with the team), and Lazio’s left-back Aleksandar Kolarov has been summoned as Luković’s replacement. Eagles, good luck!

There are some alterations to the squad list I have posted here in the previous article. Nantes’s midfielder Stefan Babović is injured, so Standard Liege’s strong>Milan Jovanović got called up instead. Altough it’s really not a good thing to have injuries to the players which you already called up, this one might be for the good. It’s highly unlikely that Babović would have played even a bit with the competition he had in midfield, while there is a general consensus that we really do need Milan Jovanović’s skills and form in the attack. I’ve already written how Jovanović’s non-inclusion in the original list came as a shock to many fans who consider him the best striker we have at the moment, so it’s quite a good thing to have him around – it wouldn’t be a surprise if he even got to start the game. This, however, aren’t the only injury-related news to report, and the rest of them aren’t so pleasant. A would-be debutant in the squad and the player which is thought of having a very bright future ahead of him, Miloš Ninković, pulled out of the squad due to injury. Gojko Kačar of Hertha Berlin also seems unlikely to be fit, but the truth in this remains to be seen. So, we lost three of our central midfielders to injury in the days prior to the game itself. Many teams would consider this a crippling blow, but it shouldn’t really affect Serbia: we have Dejan Stanković, Zdravko Kuzmanović, Nenad Milijaš and possibly even Miloš Krasić and Boško Janković available for those two spots (assuming we play 4-4-2). The wings should also be fine, altough the injury to Sulejmani leaves us with only three players, Zoran Tošić, Miloš Krasić and Boško Janković for both positions. The attack now looks fine with Žigić, Lazović, Pantelić, Jovanović and Mrđa, while the defense, of course, remains the strongest part of the Serbian team. Nemanja Vidić (CB) and Branislav Ivanović (CB or RB) look certain to feature, while any of Dragutinović, Krstajić, Đurić, Rukavina or Obradović might get the chance. Rotation isn’t really anything new in the Serbian team, so there are numerous combinations for Antić to chose from. Let’s hope he chooses wisely and puts the best possible team on the field – this game might really need it.

Probable starting lineup:

Stojković
Ivanović – Vidić – Krstajić – Dragutinović
Janković – Stanković – Kuzmanović – Krasić
Pantelić – Žigić

Prediction:

I’m afraid to guess anything, but judging by Serbia’s effectiveness in recent games and Lithuania’s style of play, I’d go with a 1:0 victory, with a goal scored in the later parts of the game. If Serbia, however, manages to score early, my guts tell me it’ll be 3-1 with Lithuania opening up a bit and letting us him them on the counter. ‘Eagles’, please don’t screw this up. The fans deserve better.

France:

France didn’t have a very good tournament at Austria-Switzerland after finishing last in the group behind Netherlands, Italy and Romania, collecting only one point and scoring only one goal in the process. There was a massive media outrcry, even during the tournament itself, that the whole team needed serious reform and that the coach Raymond Domenech should be immidiately sacked. An even bigger shock than France’s performance came when the FFF decided to keep Domenech, promising it would force him to reform the squad and his approach to the game. However, media pressure didn’t stop – it is the moment when it was evident that every France game would be closely monitored and that both the coach and the team would be under a lot of pressure. It is hard to tell whether the pressure would have stopped had someone else taken over the NT, but it now looks like FFF made a mistake by keeping Domenech, even if we assume the man didn’t to anything wrong by himself. France defeated Sweden in a friendly, and it looked like Ray Ray changed his ways by doing exactly what the media forced him to do (well, almost everything) and also winning an away game in the process. It even looked like the whole fuss would end after a few victories, but then came the game against Austria which Les Bleus lost 3:1 in a rather unfortunate way (ironically, they lost the game because of a series of mistakes by the man who the media forced Domenech to include – Phillipe Mexes). Now it became clear: defeat Serbia, Raymond, and you may still survive. Fail to win, and there comes the guillotine. And who knows, the whole FFF could join you there.

Despite all the fuss, the French team looks extremely indimidating. They’ll probably play Mandanda on goal, but in case Domenech chooses to replace him after a poor game against Austria, there’s Hugo Lloris, also a wonderful goalkeeper that plays for Lyon and still manages not to concede a single goal in official games since coming from Nice in the summer. After seeing all he can do, I hope Raymond plays Mandanda (though I assume may regret this statement). In defense, we’ll probably see Sagna and Evra as a right and left full-back respectively (altough Clichy instead of Evra is also a possibility), and the central defense will be a combination between Gallas, Mexes, Squillaci and Abidal (who could also play as a left full-back). In midfield, there will be a beast named Jeremy Toulalan, one of the best DM’s in the world today and a player who has already wreaked havoc in Serbian lines (at the U21 Championship in 2006). By his side there will be either one of the Diarras (Alou Diarra of Bordeaux and Lassana Diarra of Portsmouth) or Matheiu Flamini, who Domenech didn’t really fancy in the past. On the left wing we’ll probably have Samir Nasri, who replaced Malouda as a starter on that position, and after so many goals in the last few games, I doubt Raymond would drop Sidney Govou. There’s also an outside chance that Domenech would put Gourcuff somewhere in the midfield, but that would be highly unlikely. As for the attack, we’ll probably see Henry next to Benzema, but there are some speculations that Anelka would get the chance. Everything I’ve written here about the lineups will be false if Domenech chooses to abandon his favourite 4-4-2. Knowing him, I once again assume it won’t happen. Unless, of course, a threat of losing his job immidiately doesn’t make him seriously reconsider his whole approach and change his football philosophy.

Serbia:

Serbian football was also severely rocked in the last few months. You certainly won’t find that info in the foreign media, but compared to our problems, this whole Domenech affair looks like a children’s fight over a candy. Serbian football had many affairs recently, and we are more and more sure by the day that it’s run by incompetent criminals that threaten to destroy it’s foundations. I won’t molest you by this whole situation, but the fact is that Miroslav Đukić, a former Serbia U21 coach who was promoted to the senior side because of his immpresive exploits both as a U21 and Partizan Belgrade coach, was fired before even playing a single competitive game with the A team. It is well known he had serious issues the man who works both as a president of Serbian FA and Partizan Belgrade, Tomislav Karadžić. There were problems with the selection of players for the Olympics and Đukić was sacked in an unbeleiveble manner. He confronted Karadžić the Partizan president and got fired by Karadžić the FA president, his own boss! To prevent being crucified by the angry fans and media, Karadžić brought Radomir Antić, a highly experienced and succesfull coach, former manager of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, to fill the vacant spot. As Antić is definetely a better coach than Đukić, everyone soon forgot this injustice to poor Miroslav and greeted the new coach, who was always thought of as our savior and who our FA unsuccesfully tried to bring in the last several years. Antić might really lift us up – he is an excellent coach and the players believe in him. But was he able to create a strong tim capable of challenging France after spending just several days with his new team?

We should be seeing Stojković in Serbia’s goal, but in case he hasn’t healed his injury yet, there’s always Dišljenković, who really didin’t have much to do against the Faroese. In defense, we’ll probably use the line of Rukavina (RB), Vidić (CB), Ivanović (CB) and Dragutinović (LB), all the other options look far less experienced and experience at the back is what we’ll desperately need. Antić may try playing Obradović or Kačar back there, but while the first is too young for such a game, the second could be much more useful up front – he scored 5 (!) goals for the U21 against Hungary. There’s also Krstajić, but I doubt he would use him – he’s a good player but I don’t think he has the pace for Benzema and such. The midfield is a real mystery: Stanković is an obvious choice, but where to put Janković, Krasić, Milijaš, Tošić, Ilić, Kačar and Sulejmani? There’s a huge number of options, but I guess Antić will play 4-5-1 with Sulejmani on the left, Krasić on the right, and Stanković (DM), Ilić and Kačar in the middle. That’s what I would play, that is. Sulejmani, who was paid 18m by Ajax this summer, thus breaking the Dutch tranfer record, definetely needs to play. He’s our most dangerous player and the fans want to see him – all the other midfielders are opet to rotation without any great difference. Sulejmani could also play as an attacker, but with the choice of Žigić, Pantelić and Lazović, I doubt Antić would put him up there. Like I said, I guess we’ll play a 4-5-1 and use Žigić up front – his height is a threat whoever he plays against. If we still play with two up front – my guess is we’ll se Pantelić, but Lazović is definetely not out of the question. All in all, our wingers are far better on the offense than France’s full-backs are on the defense, and this is where I see the instrument to victory. The second is Žigić, who can always score if not properly marked, and sometimes even marking can’t help you. The third is, if you ask me, the powerful shot of Nenad Milijaš - he isn’t a very quick player and probably won’t play today, but if he does and manages to shoot from distance – Mandanda, take cover! Did I mention Vidić also knows how to score goals with his head?

Expected lineups:

Mandanda
Sagna – Gallas – Squillaci – Evra
Govou – Toulalan – L. Diarra – Nasri
Henry – Benzema

Stojković
Rukavina – Vidić – Ivanović – Dragutinović
Krasić – Ilić – Stanković – Kačar – Sulejmani
Žigić

Expected result:

Call me a pessimist, but I think France will defeat us tonight. If we manage not to concede any goals in the first half, we might use the pressure on the French to even claim a victory in the second. If Les Bleus score first, it will be hard to equalise, and knowing our boys, everything from a 1:0 to 6:0 defeat seems possible. But, hey, we now have a renowned expert on the bench. That must mean something, right? Right?