World Cup Betting - Can France will a second World Cup
Can France do it for a Second Time in the World Cup?
The
French National soccer team has been one of the few teams in the FIFA
World Cup campaigns that has had an extremely talented team with very
few results to show for. Their only World Cup success came in 1998 when
the World Cup was being hosted by the French and they went onto beat
the former World Cup champions Brazil 3-0 in the final match. Apart
from this sole tournament victory 12 years ago the French World Cup
hopes have run dry every time. In fact, this is only the first time in
FIFA World Cup history that the French national team has qualified for
the FIFA World Cup tournament four times in a row.
Even though
the French national team hasn't won as many World Cup tournaments as
some of the other teams, they've always posed a threat and looked like
a team which may lift the Cup. The closest they came to victory was in
the last FIFA World Cup tournament in 2008 where they lost to Italy in
the finals during the penalty shootouts.
Their road to this
year's World Cup wasn't as glamorous as Brazil's but they did the job
which was needed to be done, which was to qualify for the World Cup.
Many would say that the team may not win this year's cup based on their
pre-World Cup campaign but even before the last World Cup in Germany
the French had flirted with disaster before being qualified and then
they went on to reach the finals and almost lift the Cup for the second
time.
The team maybe missing some of their most famous players
of the last decade such as Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Claude
Makelele and goalkeeper Fabien Barthez but there are a new set of
senior players who've taken up the responsibility needed to guide the
newer players. The hopes of the French people will be resting heavily
on the sole survivor from their 1998 World Cup triumph, Theirry Henry,
who will also be the captain for this French national team. Alongside
Henry will be Patrick Vieira who has recently gotten over his long
drawn injury issues. The midfield will be taken care of by Lassana
Diarra and Jeremy Toulalan while William Gallas will be a strong force
at the back.
Raymond Domenech, who has now become the longest
serving French National soccer team coach, will be hoping that this
World Cup campaign will be the time when he lifts his first cup since
he took up the job in 2004. The coach who came into the team with a lot
of public support in 2004 has seen the support die out after the team
failed to perform well in the 2008 UEFA Euro Cup.
The
World Cup betting
odds don't really favor the French but that is no different from the
last World Cup where they surprised all the bookies by reaching the
finals. The current World Cup betting odds places France on the 8th
position with odds of 20/1. These World cup betting odds are updated
daily depending on team results and performances.
Finally coming
down to the group that the French have been placed in, the Les Blues
find themselves in a comfortable group which comprises of Mexico, hosts
South Africa and underdogs Uruguay. While Mexico is a strong opponent
which might pose problems for the French during their encounter on the
17th of June, the other two teams don't seem to pose any grave threats.
However, each team which has qualified for the World Cup has enough
potential to upset any team in the tournament and that is why the
French will not be taking South Africa and Uruguay very lightly and
will try their best to win these games with their best players on the
field.
The French national team will kick start their FIFA World
cup campaign on the 11th of June when they play against Uruguay in Cape
Town.
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World Cup betting action? Get over to www.sportsbook.com now!