Porto Alegre (Brazil): France begin their quest to wipe away the pain of an embarrassing showing at the World Cup in 2010 when they begin their campaign in Brazil against Honduras on Sunday (early Monday in India).
Winners in 1998, Les Bleus nearly suffered another disastrous exit in their playoff against Ukraine just to qualify as they had to overcome a 2-0 first leg deficit before advancing 3-2 on aggregate.
However, that comeback has marked a turning point in Didier Deschamps’ time in charge that has led to wave of optimism surrounding the country’s batch of young stars and that has been stoked by 4-0 and 8-0 thrashings of Norway and Jamaica respectively in pre-tournament friendlies.
“We’ve gone through a rebuilding phase because people still associate the team with Knysna in South Africa (when the players went on strike) and the way in which we exited the tournament,” striker Olivier Giroud told FIFA.com.
“The French public hasn’t forgotten what happened and we’re going to show them that we can keep our flag flying high during the World Cup.”
Messi’s moment as Argentina enter WCup
Rio De Janeiro: Lionel Messi will be attempting to cement his legacy as an all-time great when Argentina tackle Bosnia-Herzegovina in their World Cup Group F opener in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday (Monday in India).
Trophies, plaudits and individual honours have rained down upon the record-shredding 26-year-old Barcelona sensation over the past few years, but a signature showing at a major international tournament still eludes him.
Although he was a member of the Argentina team that claimed Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008, success in the World Cup and the Copa America has proved harder to come by.
“I don’t think the Argentina national team depends on me – far from it,” he told a magazine recently. (Agencies)
