Saturday,
July 08,
French Coach Spells Out
Plan for Italians
The ANNOTICO Report
Coach Raymond Domenech believes his ageing team can
shrug off fatigue and sprout 'wings' to defeat Italy in
Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.
The
July 7 2006
Coach Raymond Domenech believes his ageing team can shrug off fatigue and sprout 'wings' to defeat Italy in Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.
Domenech admitted his team had felt the after-effects of their sixth match since June 13, but is confident that they will shine in the German capital.
'If they were tired (at the
end of the
'Being tired after a semi-final is normal. You are always tired after a match.
'But the final will give wings to everyone.'
Domenech had another dig at the critics who branded his team too old - he has previously called them 'regular old guys'.
'For me they are not old,' said Domenech. 'When you are 30 or 35 you can still follow a preparation and then it is faith that makes the difference. They must believe what they are doing is meaningful.'
Domenech pointed out that playing a gruelling season was not the same as a World Cup.
'Over six months you can expect players of that age to have problems, but not over a month and seven matches,' he said.
'(
'We are not the only team with old players.'
Domenech admitted the six surviving veterans of the France 98 squad - Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Fabien Barthez, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet - would have a role to play in motivating their team-mates for Sunday's match.
'They must show calmness and certainty,' said Domenech. 'We must not go there with doubts and play a match thinking about what will happen after the match or having mentally already played the final - that happens a lot.'
Meanwhile,
He said: '
'We have only been playing the best teams and at this level we have to show how good we are.
'Great players come to the fore at big games and we will be there on July 9. We fought really hard to get here, but the further we go the tougher the matches get.'
Florent Malouda, who has started
all Les Bleus' matches bar the opener with
'Right now, we're all still
euphoric, but we'll have to get our feet back on the ground very quickly,' said
Abidal's
'If we don't, we can be guaranteed that we will be disappointed in the final on Sunday evening.'
Sidney Govou,
another Lyon player who came on as a substitute against
'We're all feeling absolutely delighted at the moment, but it would be a shame to get carried away,' said Govou, a late replacement in the squad.
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