Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP

Confident France aim to make the Swiss roll

Les Bleus face their first stern test at the World Cup when they take on Switzerland in Salvador on Friday. The upbeat mood of the nation is a far cry from this day four years ago, when at the last World Cup, the French national team went on strike.

Published: 20 June 2014 11:12 CEST
Confident France aim to make the Swiss roll
No sign of a strike among the French team this time round. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP

France can almost guarantee qualification from their World Cup group on Friday if they manage a victory over Switzerland in Salvador.

Les Bleus are in form after beating Honduras 3-0 in their opening match but they face a much stiffer challenge against a Swiss team who are eager to cast themselves as underdogs.

Switzerland have tried to pile the pressure on France by claiming the underdog tag for the Alpine neighbours' World Cup Group E clash.

Both teams won their openers, with France topping the table after a convincing 3-0 win over Honduras, while the Swiss secured a last-gasp victory over Ecuador.

Super-sub Haris Seferovic netted in the last minute of injury time to claim a 2-1 come-back victory after the Swiss had fallen behind to Enner Valencia's first-half header.

Sixth-placed Switzerland are 11 places higher than the French according to FIFA's rankings, but insist those standings mean nothing.

"Favourites? You like that word in France, eh?," Swiss central defender Steve von Bergen told AFP.

Should expats in France support Les Bleus at the World Cup

"It is France who are the favourites."

Nevertheless, both sides are eager for a win at Salvador's Arena Fonte Nova, which would give them control of the group.

"We're in a special position with France being our neighbours and it's a derby, so to speak, but if we are to have a chance, we really have to go beyond our limits," said Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

"They are a team who have put in great performances and were impressive in their play-off win against Ukraine.

"They put in an explosive performance and played with confidence.

"They are very flexible and can switch very quickly, they work like a machine.

"We'll have to be aggressive on attack, counter-attack quickly and then we'll have a chance."

Friday's match falls on the fourth anniversary of the French squad's infamous strike during their South Africa 2010 campaign when the team refused to train in support of Nicolas Anelka after a row with then-coach Raymond Domenech.

France captain Hugo Lloris says the anniversary will not be a factor as they chase the win which would leave them on the verge of the knock-out phase.

"We don't have what happened in 2010 in mind, we're really focused on this tournament. What happened in 2010 belongs in the past," said Lloris.

"We're here to live an adventure for as long as possible with the best results possible."

France coach Didier Deschamps has plenty of options up front with Arsenal's Olivier Giroud, who spent most of the Honduras game on the bench as 22-year-old Antoine Griezmann shone, eager to start.

Midfielder Yohan Cabaye will not feature after he came off in the Honduras match with a hamstring injury.

Unique experience

France only squeezed into the World Cup finals by narrowly defeating Ukraine in a play-off.

But they have scored 21 goals in their last six games starting with the stunning 3-0 win over Ukraine in Paris last November, which confirmed their Brazil 2014 berth.

"The match against Ukraine allowed us to live a unique experience and regain our confidence, but we have to maintain that with victories," added Lloris.

"We are strong and resilient, but you have to maintain the balance in the team by winning.

"One bad performance can jeopardise everything. You have to keep winning, regardless of who we play."

Deschamps is hoping for another high-scoring game in Salvador at the stadium where the most World Cup goals have been scored so far.

The Netherlands started the trend when they hammered holders Spain 5-1 last Friday, then Germany also went goal-crazy in their 4-0 romp against Portugal on Monday.

Now Deschamps, France's World Cup winning captain in 1998, is hoping the French and Swiss also catch a dose of goal fever — providing his team wins, of course.

"I hope so for the public, the fans who come want to see as many goals as possible," said Deschamps.

"You can have very good goalless draws, but it's always better if you score a few."

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SPORT

Norway’s football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott

Will Norwegian football star Erling Braut Haaland stay home or play on what fans have dubbed a "cemetery?" This Sunday, a meeting of Norway's football community will decide whether to boycott next year's World Cup in Qatar.

Published: 18 June 2021 11:27 CEST
Norway's football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott
Norway's forward Erling Haaland (L) and teammates wear jerseys reading "Fair play for migrant workers" before the international friendly football match between Norway and Greece at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga in preperation for the UEFA European Championships, on June 6, 2021. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Under pressure from grassroots activists the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF) has decided to hold an extraordinary congress to decide on whether to pass up football’s showpiece event all together.

The games on the pitches in the Middle Eastern emirate will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery,” according to Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), invoking a commonly used metaphor among opponents of Norway’s participation.

Norway, which has not qualified for a major international competition since Euro 2000, is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group behind Turkey, the Netherlands and Montenegro. 

So while qualification seems an uphill task, the result of the vote could have an impact on whether Norway and its young star Haaland — one of the rising stars of world football — continue to play qualifying matches. 

The movement calling for a boycott began north of the Arctic Circle when football club Tromso IL spoke out against turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses at the end of February.

“We can no longer sit and watch people die in the name of football,” the first division club proclaimed.

Qatar has faced criticism for its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, with campaigners accusing employers of exploitation and forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions.

Qatari authorities meanwhile insist they have done more than any country in the region to improve worker welfare.

“There is no doubt that this World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar,” Tom Hogli, a former professional footballer turned public relations officer for Tromso IL, told AFP.

“The conditions there are abominable and many have lost their lives,” he added.

In March, a spokesman for the Qatari organisers put the number of deaths on the construction sites at “three” since 2014, with another 35 having died away from their workplaces, challenging the heavy toll reported by some rights groups.

Push from fans
The Tromso call began gathering pace in Norway, where clubs operate under a democratic structure, and under pressure from fans, many teams now say “nei” (no).

According to Sandvik, the fans feel that the deaths on the World Cup sites would have been avoided “if they had not had to build hotels, railways and stadiums”.

Nearly half of Norwegians, 49 percent, now say they are in favour of a boycott, while only 29 percent are against it, according to a poll published by newspaper VG on Wednesday.

The Nordic country’s national squad has already protested conditions in Qatar, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Before recent Norway games, Borussia Dortmund superstar Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and the rest of the team have worn t-shirts with slogans like “Human rights on and off the pitch.”

Other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have also followed suit.

FIFA, on the other hand, argue that awarding the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar has opened the door to social progress.

“We know there is still work to be done, but we need to recognise the significant progress achieved in a very short time,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in May.

‘Few successes’ 
While the executive committee of the NFF have said they regret Qatar being awarded the World Cup, they oppose a boycott.

President Terje Svendsen said he thought it was “not the right tool to improve the human rights situation or the working conditions in Qatar,” when speaking at the federation’s ordinary annual congress in March.

According to the NFF, a boycott could end up costing Norway 205 million Norwegian kroner ($24 million, 20 million euros) in fines and compensation as well as lost revenue.

Feeling the pressure from grassroots campaigns, the NFF referred the matter to an extraordinary congress which on Sunday will bring together the eight members of its executive committee, representatives of 18 districts and of hundreds of professional and amateur clubs.

The discussions will be revolve around the findings of an expert committee which, with the exception of two members representing fans, has also come out against a boycott.

“For a boycott to succeed, you need a critical mass behind it, an opposition that calls for it in the country, the UN to put pressure on the
authorities, the business world, the trade unions and civil society to put pressure on it in the long term,” committee chairman Sven Mollekleiv said in a debate hosted by broadcaster TV2.

“Historically, there are few successes,” he said.

Rather than a boycott, the committee recommended 26 measures to consolidate and further the gains made in Qatar but also to ensure that FIFA doesn’t become complicit in so called “sportswashing” — the polishing of a country’s public image through a major sporting event.

Some initial supporters of a boycott, like Tromso’s Hogli, have since sided with these conclusions, although calls for a complete boycott remain.

SHOW COMMENTS