It’s always heartening to see long-time players appear in another Cup. France’s Ribery, the man with the horrible facial scar, fits the bill. His dangerous run early in the proceedings was great, and though he may no longer have the juice to do a full 90—we’ll see—I love that he’s making the most of what he’s got.
My feelings in this respect do not extend to Henry who, while he might be wonderful at the club level, has never had a good World Cup match. Indeed, generally I consider France as playing a man down when he’s in.
Couple of good shots early along with a couple of very nice saves, particularly by the Uruguyan keeper off a direct kick.
Toulan is lucky not to get tossed in the 23rd minute of the 2nd half for a pretty brutal foul. It provides a good moment of excitement in a game where teams are playing tight, happy to reduce their scoring chances to insure they don’t concede a goal themselves.
Ribery has played too much 1 v 1, losing almost every time. Love his pace and effort, but it has not worked out for him here. In the 70th minute France puts in Henry, spelling an end to their scoring chances. Uruguay misses a point blank shot a minute later. I’m telling you, it’s hard to play with 10 men. Unbelievably, they didn’t replace Ribery.
Speaking of 10 men, a Uruguan player picks up a second yellow and gets tossed with about 9 minutes to go. Good call by the ref: It was a horrible and stupid foul. Uruguay will have a hard time now; France brings in another forward/attacking midfielder.
France now has nearly complete run of play. If Uruguay can hold onto the 0-0 draw, it’s a successful day for them. France seems to have the same problem as always, namely they don’t know where the goals are going to come from. When they had Zidane, he could set up enough shots on a platter that the problem solved itself; he was capable of giving balls that even I could score.
The ref gives a very questionable free kick just outside the box in extra time. Henry kicks it off the wall. Honestly, I could have done better. Final 0-0, and Uruguay stays even with everyone (Mexico, South Africa, France) in Group A.