A Year of Two Halves: France in 2008

2008 will not be fondly remembered in the annals of French football. A year which promised much saw them fail miserably at the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, and then carry this poor form into their World Cup Qualifiers in the final months of the year.

However, 2008 had started brightly for Raymond Domenech and his team. A narrow 1-0 friendly defeat to Spain in Malaga in February was hardly an embarrassment, especially given what their opponents would go on to achieve in the summer.

March then saw Les Bleus inflict the first defeat upon England under Fabio Capello. Ten months on, the 1-0 win achieved thanks to Franck Ribéry’s penalty still remains the Italian’s only reverse as England manager.  

Summer came and France competed in three friendly fixtures against South American opposition. Ecuador were defeated 2-0 in Grenoble thanks to two debut goals from Bafétimbi Gomis, which was followed by a 0-0 draw against Paraguay in Toulouse.

Preparation for Euro 2008 was completed with a 1-0 victory over Columbia at the Stade de France, the decisive goal again coming courtesy of a Ribéry penalty. This match was also remarkable for Thierry Henry becoming the sixth French player to reach 100 caps for the national team.

Despite the good results achieved in these matches—including three clean sheets—their ensuing performance in Euro 2008 cast doubt as to why these practice games had not been scheduled against the type of opposition they would face in a few weeks time at the European Championships. For Euro 2008 saw France drawn in Group C, quickly renamed the "Group of Death".

France began against Romania in Zurich and played out a disappointing 0-0 draw in what was viewed as their easiest game. This match would prove to be the turning point of the year for the team. A fifth consecutive clean sheet meant they had only conceded one goal in their first six games of 2008. The next seven games would see them concede fifteen.

A trip to Berne saw a humiliating 4-1 drubbing at the hands of a Holland side rejuvenated under Marco van Basten. Four days later and with a return to Zurich, France were eliminated after a 2-0 defeat to Italy. A match in which they were severely handicapped by Ribéry’s early injury and Abidal’s sending off in the first half.

The European Championships had proved a disaster and proved that the effort of reaching the World Cup Final in 2006 had been the last hurrah for many legendary players. Lilian Thuram retired after the tournament, leaving only Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira from the World Cup winning squad of 1998.

Claude Makélélé also called it a day at the age of 35. However, despite much pressure and an eccentric marriage proposal live on French TV, Domenech kept his job and was charged with rebuilding the team for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.

A 3-2 friendly victory in Sweden temporarily papered over the cracks in the team before disaster struck again in September as Domenech’s team went down 3-1 in Austria in their first World Cup Qualifier. This was the team’s third consecutive defeat in competitive matches, a run which had not occurred since the 1960s.

Four days later and France scraped a 2-1 win in Paris against Serbia to get their campaign back on track. Yet a month later in the final qualifier of 2008 France were again in deep trouble at 2-0 down against Romania. However, goals from Ribéry and a first international goal from Yoann Gourcuff salvaged a draw for the side and Domenech clung onto his position by a thread.

The year finished with two friendly fixtures in October. A brace from Thierry Henry helped them to a 3-1 win over Tunisia before they rounded off their calendar year in uninspired style with a scoreless draw at home to Uruguay. 

Nonetheless, Domenech remained in charge in spite of winning only one of six competitive matches and was left to pin his hopes on the next generation of young French talent in the form of Gourcuff and Karim Benzema as he seeks to turn the country’s fortunes around for their remaining World Cup Qualifiers in 2009.