Ribéry Strike Helps France Get Back on Track

France got their World Cup Qualifying campaign back on track with a hard-fought victory over Lithuania on Saturday night.

Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribéry scored the only goal of the game, his left-foot strike from outside the area proving enough to secure the win.

A drab game of few chances wasn’t helped by the state of the pitch, with Patrice Evra afterwards likening the surface in Kaunas to a beach soccer pitch. However, France offered no complaints after they returned home with the precious three points.

Going into the match in third place, five points behind their opponents, Raymond Domenech knew that anything less than a win would effectively see his side fighting for the play-off place.

However, a battling performance from les bleus was eventually rewarded with Ribéry’s sixth international goal.

Midway through the second half, Yoann Gourcuff held off two men on the edge of the Lithuanian box before laying the ball off for Ribéry, whose left-foot strike arrowed perfectly into the back of the net, past the outstretched goalkeeper’s right hand.

Prior to the match, Domenech had sprung a surprise by naming Peguy Luyindula in the starting line-up, the Paris-Saint Germain forward selected ahead of Lyon superstar Karim Benzema.

This left captain Thierry Henry to battle alone upfront, and the striker acknowledged that he found the game tough, having played much of it with his back to goal.

Despite his struggles in the match, Henry lavished praise on the midfield axis of Jérémy Toulalan and Lassana Diarra for their diligent work.

Henry pointed out that the duo constantly won the second ball in the middle, allowing the team to play higher up the pitch. This put increasing pressure on their stubborn opponents, for which they were eventually rewarded.

Perhaps the only sour note was Toulalan picking up a yellow card midway through the first period, his second during qualification, which means he will now miss the return game on Wednesday. Either Alou Diarra or Abou Diaby should come in to replace the Lyon midfielder at the Stade de France.

France line-up:

S.Mandanda; B. Sagna, S. Squillaci, W. Gallas, P. Evra; J. Toulalan, L. Diarra, P. Luyindula (K. Benzema 64), Y. Gourcuff (S. Nasri 78), F. Ribéry; T. Henry (c)

Meanwhile in Group 7, Serbia continue to lead the way after a 3-2 win over Romania in Constanta.

Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic scored the decisive goal. Radomir Antic’s men now sit three points clear of Lithuania at the top of the group but do not play again until June.

In the meantime, France will have the chance to close the gap to two points and move into second place when they play Lithuania again in Paris on Wednesday.

The group’s other game sees Austria host Romania in Klagenfurt, a game which both sides need to win to retain any hope of keeping their qualification hopes alive.

World Cup Qualifying, European Group 7

Serbia              5          12

Lithuania          5          9

France              4          7

Austria             4          4

Romania           4          4

Faroe Islands   4          1