Arsenal connection:
Adebayor (L) Thierry Henry (R)
France meets Togo in a Group H encouter in Cologne at 9:00 PM German time (3:00 PM EST)
This French team has been painful to watch. There is nothing that you can hang your hat on, they have been disorganized in their defence, the midfield, and their toothless attack.
Raymond Domenech makes a number of changes, finally bringing in Daivid Trezeguet to pair up with his buddy, Thierry Henry. France will go with the 4-4-2. Meanwhile, the French public is where the Germans were with their team at the start of the World Cup. With only 30% of them expecting them to make the round of 16. Before the World Cup, 80% of the public expected Les Bleus to go to the next round and even further.
Guess who is officiating the match? None other than our old friend Jorge Larrionda. Will he outdo himself this time?
It promises to be a physical match with lots of political undercurrents and a bitter colonial hangover that remains to this day, between the French and the Togolese. This is when soccer is not just soccer. Togo is not just looking for a victory that will not do anything for their chances, they are out of the World Cup, but will provide a modicum of political redemption.
Togo: Kossi Agassa, Richmond Forson, Dare Nibombe, Massamasso Tchangai, Jean-Paul Abalo, Moustapha Salifou, Cherif Toure Mamam, Yao Aziawonou, Junior Senaya, Emmanuel Adebayor, Mohamed Kader.
France: Fabien Barthez, Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre, Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Florent Malouda, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet.
Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay).