GOLNOIR



	FRANCE music: Les Nubians-Makeda The French National team is looking to regroup after its shocking 3 and out at the 2002 World Cup and an upset loss to Greece in the quarterfinals of the 2004 European Championships. France will now look to regroup and introduce new faces into a side that was the first to concurrently hold the World and European championships by virtue of the triumps in 1998 and 2000 respectively. What made their recent stumbles on the international scene so shocking is that they are one of the top teams in the world, featuring the likes of Robert Pires, Theirry Henry and Patrick Vieira. Their top players play in the very best leagues in the world while their domestic league is quite competitive as well with teams like Marseille and PSG claiming European success in the 80s 90s and continuing through today with teams like Monaco. Make no mistake. The country that gave us the man who created the World Cup, Jules Rimet, and one of the game's greatest players in Michel Platini, has one of the top teams in the world but their psyche maybe a bit fragile right now. Zinedine Zidane retired as one of the greatest French players ever to play for the National Team(AFP) Robert Pires is making a name for himself internationally as well as in England at Arsenal (AFP) (from owensite.tripod.com) BLACKS IN FRENCH FOOTBALL As with England, France had many colonies the world over and it has translated to many contributions to the French Team. Besides the afore mentioned Henry there are players like Liliam Thuram, Patrick Viera who patrols the midfield for club and country and newcomer Djibirl Cisse. There are many more Blacks who play in the Championnat, the French First Division, including Monaco's Shabani Nonda of the DR Congo and Ghanaian Michael Essien at Olympique Lyon. Marcel Desailly had a tremendous international career and played for clubs in France, Italy and England(BBC) Thierry Henry is, at times, unstoppable (Reuters) Bottom line: It's suddenly a very vital time for the French National side who will now turn their attention to retooling for the 2006 World Cup FRANCE FACTS : Association: Fédération Française de Football Founded: 1919 Soccer Confederation: UEFA Colors: Red, Blue and White National Stadium: Stade de France Location: Paris Coach: Raymond Domenech World Cup appearances: 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006 HONORS: 1984 European Cup 1998 World Cup 2000 European Cup 2001 Confederations Cup 2003 Confederations Cup CLICK ON ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TO LEARN ABOUT FRENCH SOCCER French National Team News Ligue 1 News and Scores Black Players in France Back to Preceeding Page










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