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World Cup: France vs. Uruguay (Matchday Commentary)

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Game one of the 2010 World Cup is in the books, and the two-week madness of World Cup group matches is underway.

France takes on Uruguay in Group A's second matchup of the tournament (2:30pm, ESPN). The backdrop switches to picturesque Cape Town and Green Point Stadium. There, Les Bleus will try to right just about everything that has gone wrong since the infamous Zidane headbutt back in Germany in 2006.

Uruguay will be a tough challenge, despite a rather inconsistent run through South American qualification. After today's earlier result, a win today would give that nation inside track towards a second round qualification spot.

This is Travis Clark and I'll be providing live commentary throughout the game. Leave all thoughts, opinions and analysis in the comments section after the jump. Enjoy the match.

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FINAL – France 0, Uruguay 0. France frustrated by a very good defensive performance. Group A remains wide open, as every team sits on one point. Forlan had a chance to win it here, while the French struggles continue. That's all from me. Be sure to stay tuned to SBI for all your World Cup needs, and leave any post game thoughts in the comments section below.

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90th minute – Last chance for France? Referee whistles for a free kick against Uruguay, well within shooting range. But can anyone step up and win this?

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90th minute – Under two minutes to go, as France continues to look hopeless on offense, even with the man advantage.

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90th minute – Terrible corner from Malouda. Three minutes of stoppage time.

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90th minute – Tired legs for Uruguay. Can France steal a win here? Pressure is on.

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88th minute – France players wave for a hand ball in the box. That's ironic.

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87th minute – Another disappointing French performance has a few minutes left. Credit to Uruguay, who have defending extremely well. Diego Perez comes off for Sebastian Eguren. The South Americans hoping to hang on to a draw.

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84th minute – Ribery does well to create space on the left flank, but his cross is absolutely atrocious. Andre Pierre Gignac coming on, as France goes for it. Replaces Sidney Gouvou, who should have come off 30 minutes ago.

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83rd minute – All ten men will be behind the ball for Uruguay now. Can France break them down?

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81st minute – RED CARD. Substitute Lodeiro gets his second yellow card with a harsh tackle on Sagna. Well deserved to be sent off for that one. Studs up, into his ankle. France up a man with about ten minutes to go.

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79th minute – Ribery looks to be playing centrally with Gouvou and Malouda on the wings. The latter fires a shot on goal — again, well wide.

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77th minute – France seem to lack ideas. Any chance this game gets a goal?

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76th minute – Domenech once again baffles with his substitutions. Gouvou, a wide player, left off, while Gourcuff — a central player — comes off for Malouda who plays out wide.

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74th minute – Gourcuff with another long-range effort, well off target. Malouda is coming on for Gourcuff.

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73rd minute – HUGE MISS. A throw-in is flicked on by Suarez and Forlan can't hit the target with a smashing shot. Suarez comes off for Sebastian Abreu.

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72nd minute – Henry comes in for Anelka, straight swap for the lone forward. Anelka has had a rather miserable match.

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70th minute – Who will Domenech send on? The coach has been hard to predict, and never seems to make the right decision. Henry looks like he might be coming on.

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68th minute – Yellow card to Toulalan. Third card for France, after a poor challenge on Pereira. A bit of pushing and shoving on the field ensues.

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66th minute – Dicey moment for France as a Pereira cross is grabbed by Lloris, though Suarez knocks it loose. Foul on the play.

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64th minute – Let's see if Lodeiro — more of a play maker — can make a difference in the Uruguay midfield. Only 21, the Ajax man can only help in Uruguay's midfield.

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63rd minute – Lodeiro replaces Ignacio Gonzalez for Uruguay, with Forlan ready to deliver a free kick.

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61st minute – Another France venture forward is foiled by a poor Ribery pass. How long til a sub comes in (from either side)?

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59th minute – Evra gets forward again, is taken down by Victorino and France has a set piece from close in.

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57th minute – Uruguay with a spell on the ball, as Forlan tries to will his teammates on.

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55th minute – How long til Domenech uses a sub? He has two good players — Florent Malouda and Thierry Henry on the bench. Malouda in particular is coming off a sensational year with Chelsea.

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53rd minute – A turnover-wrought start to the second half as Evra and Sagna look to bomb forward and join the French attack. Only then do France look to trouble Uruguay a bit.

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51st minute – Same story as the first half. Forlan getting forward, trying to make something happen, while France is frustrated on the other end.

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48th minute – If Suarez or Forlan can't get this done for Uruguay, hard to see who can. France start off once again with the majority of the ball and nothing to come from it.

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46th minute – Let's hope this game gets a goal as Uruguay restarts the game.

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HALFTIME – Second half nears — think we'll see a goal? Leave your predictions below.

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HALFTIME – It's a bit early to expect changes from either coach. As things stand, proceedings favor the South Americans, but if France can score, it will be a mountain to climb.

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HALFTIME – Top players in the first half? Ribery was ok, Diaby showed a good dribbling ability, and Forlan is always a threat — although he was coming back to receive the ball a bit too frequently.

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HALFTIME – A much more boring 0-0 halftime draw than today's opener. French fullbacks Sagna and Evra need to get forward, and perhaps Domenech will put on a second forward to partner Anelka. The striker has been poor today, unable to get a shot on target and showing his selfish streak.

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HALFTIME – France has been frustrated in the first half by a defensive-minded Uruguay, who have their wing backs sitting back, swarming the ball and hoping to counter. Unfortunately, the passing for the South Americans has been poor, stunting their offensive abilities.

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46th minute – France with one last venture forward, but against swarded off the ball. Toulalan goes down with a bit of an ankle knock after a challenge from Gonzalez.

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43rd minute – Sagna gets forward, pulls back on the right side and crosses, but Anelka gets nothing on the header.

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41st minute – Uruguay absorbing French possession, fouls, hoping to strike on a counter attack. France appear to be a frustrated side, too often looking to dribble through defenders rather than pass around them.

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40th minute – Blame the ball? Gourcuff launches a ball from near the midfield circle straight to Muslera.

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38th minute – Game clearly lacks the same atmosphere and excitement of the opening match. Quite obvious why that is. Still 0-0.

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36th minute – Forlan takes a free kick from almost midfield. Not sure the strategy behind that.

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34th minute – Uruguay have done well to frustrate France and keep a clean sheet. Not sure if it'll last the 90 minutes unless they can convert one of these counters.

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31st minute – Anelka snuffs out a French attack. Diaby with an excellent ball intended for Gouvou that would have been another chance, but the Chelsea striker played it from an offside position.

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30th minute – Uruguay's midfield is struggling to maintain possession, hence their counter-attacking playing style.

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29th minute – Lugano with another mistake, clearing the ball straight to Gouvou, but France has yet to make the Uruguay defense pay for their errors.

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27th minute – Blame the ball? Ribery lofts in a poor cross from the left side. Abou Diaby is giving Uruguay some trouble with the ball at his feet.

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25th minute – Action sticking in the midfield as French players try to make things happen individually.

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23rd minute – Anelka looking isolated already in a lone forward role. Needs support from either Ribery or Gourcuff.

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21st minute – Most action is bogged down in the midfield, with France looking the better of the two sides, but not by much.

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19th minute – Another card for France, this time Ribery fouling on a counter. France need to be careful, as the referee is quick to his pocket.

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18th minute – Save Muslera. Gourcuff tries a cheeky shot, aiming near post on a free kick. Out for a corner.

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16th minute – Save Lloris. Forlan finds some space on the left of the box, cuts back in front of Gallas and unleashes a shot that Lloris palms away and is cleared. Too much space afforded to the striker there.

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14th minute – France enjoying the better play, Sagna sending in a cross from the right hand side that Anelka can't get on target.

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13th minute – Nervy moment from Lloris, as he makes a meal of a long ball, but is adjudged to have kept it in.

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12th minute – Evra gets a yellow for tugging back as Perez strips him and tries to start a Uruguay counter. Bit silly from the left back.

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10th minute – Diaby's long range effort is well off target, shooting from far out.

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9th minute – France doing well to maintain possession in Uruguay's end. Not a bad start from Les Bleus, as Uruguay look to sit back and counter.

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7th minute – Chance goes begging for Gouvou. Ribery gets a lucky bounce to beat a defender, but Gouvou deflects it wide of the net. Should have scored.

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6th minute – Uruguay are one of the few teams playing something resembling a 3-5-2, with Godin, Lugano and Victorino anchors. Two wing backs give them the option of having five at the back.

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4th minute – The vuvuzelas aren't quite as loud on the TV screen as they were during the first game. For those wondering, Frances lost a warm up to China last week, 1-0. Not a good sign.

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2nd minute – A lot of empty sits visible as the two sides knock it back and forth, two sides meeting for just the sixth time ever.

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1st minute – France kick off the second game of the World Cup, first-ever game at Green Point Stadium.

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PREGAME – Anthems are beginning. Uruguay is returning to the World Cup after missing out in 2006, when they lost to Australia in the CONMEBOL-Oceania playoff in qualification.

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PREGAME – France is one of the most talented teams in the tournament — on paper of course — now gets a chance to silence critics, and leave sex scandals and controversial calls behind them as their cup campaign gets going.

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PREGAME – Players to watch in today's game? Yohann Gourcuff is one of those labeled "the next Zidane," while Franck Ribery enjoyed a solid season in Germany. Outside of the striker duo of Forlan and Suarez, pressure will be on goalie Fernando Muslera, as the position was a real problem area for Uruguay in qualification.

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PREGAME – Both sides must have liked the defensive frailties on display in the opening match. What kind of French team will we see in Cape Town?

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PREGAME – Kick off is set for 2:30 pm on the East Coast. Any predictions while the minutes tick down?

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PREGAME – Thierry Henry is on the bench, despite the reported rift it has caused in the French locker room. Raymond Domenech is no stranger to controversy, and many have picked Les Bleus to flame out in the group stage. The French media reports that Florent Malouda clashed with Domenech in training, leading to the swap in the starting lineup for Abou Diaby.

Meanwhile, Uruguay will rely on the striker tandem of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez to trouble the partnership of William Gallas and Eric Abidal.

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PREGAME – Here are the lineups for today's match:

FRANCE

—————Anelka————–

Ribery———-Gourcuff———–Gouvou

—–Diaby——–Toulalan——–

Evra—-Gallas—-Abidal—-Sagna

—————Lloris————-

URUGUAY

———-Forlan——Suarez————

–Pereira—–Gonzalez——Pereira–

——-Arevalo Rios——-Perez——-

–Godin———Lugano——-Victorino–

——————-Muslera—————

Comments

  1. I’d like to add, the little coq on the french badge is nice. Then they screwed it up with all the junk around it. Kind of like their team.. nice elements, crap as a whole.

    Reply
  2. France should be OK, Uruguay played with a million defenders. I’d be concerned about this if I was Mexico cause both of these teams will counter-attack them back into the locker rooms.

    Reply
  3. Well, Group A still remains interesting. Honestly, I wasn’t THAT impressed by either team except when Ribery and Forlan touched the ball. France stepped it up after subbing in Henry and Malouda.

    This might be the group of death to watch. Absolutely no one is safe here.

    Reply
  4. I know that 1-1 and 0-0 are not the most exciting examples of soccer, but these results ensure that every remaining game of the group is going to matter a great deal and be fun to watch.

    Reply
  5. Wow everyone level pegging in Group A its anyones groups….. Still gotta think Mexico and France advance but could see a Mexico France Tie and and a South Africa Win to put them head of the group after two rounds

    Gotta love the World cup

    Reply

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