Although they have won three World Cups between them — Uruguay in 1930 and '50, France in '98 — both are a shadow of their former selves.
The French are predictably embroiled in tournament turmoil and look ill
equipped to reach the final like it did four years ago under Zinedine
Zidane's leadership. While Uruguay hasn't advanced past the round of 16
since reaching the semifinals 40 years ago.Both teams reached the
tournament in South Africa in identical circumstances, too, scraping
through their playoffs 2-1 on aggregate after difficult qualifying
campaigns that offered little reassurance to either coach.Prestige
and previous titles aside, there is little to suggest either France or
Uruguay have what it takes to dominate a group which also includes host
South Africa and Mexico."The match will be decisive for the rest of
the tournament. We can't lose it," France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan
said.Hardly fighting talk, but understandable considering how little
confidence France has these days.France's training facilities and
lodgings in the quiet town of Knysna are perfect, but coach Raymond
Domenech's team is taking flak from all angles back home, with angry
politicians, former players and grumpy fans lining up to predict the
worst.That was also the case two years ago — when France went out of
the European Championship without winning a game — and in 2006, when
Domenech's team was lambasted before it had kicked a ball at the World
Cup in Germany.But the vitriol has a far nastier edge than before,
especially toward Domenech, who is cutting an increasingly aloof and
distant figure amid rumors that unrest is rife in the squad.William
Gallas, who has decided not to speak to the media for the duration of
the tournament, reportedly resents Patrice Evra being given the
captaincy instead of him now that former leader Thierry is on the bench.French
sports daily L'Equipe even speculated this week that midfielder Yoann
Gourcuff is so unpopular within the squad that senior players have
demanded that Domenech pick Arsenal's Abou Diaby to play instead of him
on Friday."You don't always get affinities in a team, some people
get on better with others," Toulalan said. "You don't all have to like
each other to win games." Recent French results have done little to
improve the mood, particularly last Friday's 1-0 defeat to China. In its
other two warmup games, France conceded sloppy early goals against
Costa Rica and Tunisia.None of those teams had anything remotely
like the strikers Uruguay boasts in Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, who
scored 77 goals between them for their clubs this season."We can't
afford to start games like that at this level.That's the first thing
to put right," France midfielder Florent Malouda said. "We have to keep
a clean sheet.That's the base of any good team. It's out of the
question for us to start the competition by conceding a goal in the
first 15 minutes." Forlan, however, thinks it would be a mistake to
consider France as a poor team."I look at the friendly games just to
analyze how they were playing," he said. "I do not keep in mind the
results. It was a friendly match and the result doesn't count. The World
Cup is another competition and they will not play the same." Forlan
scored 28 goals for Atletico Madrid this season — including both goals
to help the Spanish team win the Europa League final against Fulham —
and Suarez scored an incredible 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax, including
six hat tricks."They are a very good team, I don't think Raymond
needs to tell us that," France defender Bacary Sagna said."They're
very clever and technical, they're all good footballers, especially
Forlan and Suarez. But the danger can come from the midfielders pushing
up, so we need to talk together more and concentrate better." France is
expected to line up in an attacking 4-3-3 formation, but the newly
formed central defensive partnership of William Gallas and Eric Abidal
is a potential weak point Uruguay's strikers could exploit.Curiously,
France and Uruguay had the same results when they both reached the
World Cup in unconvincing fashion.France won 1-0 in Ireland and drew
1-1 at home, while Oscar Tabarez's Uruguay team won 1-0 in Costa Rica
and was held 1-1 in Montevideo."The team has improved," said Forlan,
who scored in friendlies against Switzerland in March and Israel last
month.After Friday's game, host South Africa will play Uruguay on
Wednesday, while France plays Mexico the next day.
