Ligue 1 Internationals

By: Sarah | October 13th, 2009

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Update! Thanks to Thomas for pointing out some of the players I missed last night! I’ve updated the post to reflect a more accurate (I’m pretty sure a few are still missing…) aggregate list.

This post is slightly late– half of the games have already happened– so apologies for my tardiness but better late than never!

Last weekend and this mid-week will see several Ligue 1 players fighting for world cup qualification, a place in the play-off games or just pride. Here is a brief summary of what happened last weekend and what we can look forward to in midweek from Ligue 1 players. As a caveat, I may have miss a few– it is completely unintentional and I encourage you to keep this post honest by noting any players I missed in the comments section so I can include them in future summaries!

So, lets start with the obvious– Les Bleus!

Despite missing several key players in this must-win game against Faroe Islands (Gourcuff and Ribery were both injured), the French team managed to pull off their best performance of the qualification campaign (though, lets be honest, that is a low bar). And, the amazing part is the role Ligue 1 players had in this win. Though France were strong from the outset, Gignac from Toulouse was the man of match (and earned an 8.5 player rating from Goal.com) after he broke the deadlock on the 34th minute and quickly followed up with a second goal 4 minutes later. In defense, Toulalan from Lyon was solid in defense but almost threatened to steal Gignac’s thunder as he came close to scoring twice in the game’s opening minutes. Mandanda had a solid performance, but he wasn’t really tested much this match. His best highlight is the possible assist he could claim in Gignac’s second goal. On another bright note, Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse) received his first international cap this game when he came on as a subsitute at 62′ for Patrice Evra. Nothing too special about his performance, but he didn’t make any major mistakes either, which I think makes it a successful debut!

Highlights: France vs. Faroe Islands

This win secured France’s 2nd place finish in the group, meaning they will participate in a play-off game regardless of the result of their Austria game. That being said, a win would surely help them maintain some momentum. As there are no Ligue 1 players in the Austria national team, I think we can safely say that this section of the offside will be rooting for Les Bleus!

For a detailed description and up-to-date news, you visit Jeff and Laurie at the France World Cup Blog. They do a really incredible job of keeping on top of the news, match previews and match wrap-ups.

Argentina

Argentina also saved their campaign with a last minute goal by Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors) and some defending by Heinze (OM) who played the full 90 minutes. Check out the Offside-Argentina blog here.

Other Results

Jean Makoun (OL), Nkoulou (Monaco), Alo’o Efoulou (Nancy) and M’bia (OM) helped Cameroon win 3-0 against Romao (Grenoble) and Serge Akakpo’s (Monaco) Togo.

Taiwo (OM) was an unused substitute in Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Mozambique.

Burkina Faso beat Guinea 2-1, but it is unclear if Kabore played (OM). Even ESPN doesn’t know.

Marouane Chamakh could not translate his good form with Bordeaux to help Morroco beat Ovono (Le Mans), Aubemayang (Lille), and Mouloungui’s (Nice) Gabon on Saturday, losing 3-1.

Iceland beat South Africa 1-0 in an international friendly, but it is unclear if Monaco’s Gudjohnsen played– once again, ESPN has let me down.

Jean Jacques Gosso (Monaco), Gervinho (Lille) and Faé (Nice) helped their Cote D’Ivoire secure a 1-1- draw against Malawi.

Davies (Sochaux) and Bocanegra (Stade Rennais) helped the US secure their place to the 2010 world cup with a 3-2 win over Honduras. On a sad note, Davies was in a car accident over the weekend, with reportedly potential career threatening injuries. After undergoing surgery, he will have a recovery time of at least a year– meaning he is out of the World Cup. Check the Offside-US blog for more details.

If you are missing your club teams…

Remember to keep checking up on your Offside club team blogs though as some played friendlies during the break, like OM which I blogged about here.