France take a 1-0 lead to Paris for next week’s playoff second leg after Nicolas Anelka scored in the 71st minute to give Les Blues a priceless victory in Dublin. France will be without Barcelona defender Eric Abidal and Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan due to injury, however the French Football Federation announced that there won’t be any replacements called up.
France, who won the World Cup in 1998 and finished runners up in 2006, will be confident that they can see of the Irish, who were so close to qualifying outright but conceeded a late equalizer to current World Champions Italy last month. French coach Raymond Domenech spoke to a press conference but played down any thoughts that the tie was over: “I feel we are only halfway through. The objective is to qualify. There are 180 minutes. Ninety to go. The Irish played very well and are very much able to react so we must be vigilant.”
Ireland captain and Spurs striker Robbie Keane was a bit more upbeat about the challenge that the Irish face in Paris. The striker added “The one (chance) that counted has cost us (but) they got lucky with that goal which was a deflection. We have to believe we can go there and win”. Ireland failed to make the cut in 2006 but reached the last sixteen in 2002 – narrowly losing out to Spain on penalties. Ireland will be hoping that they can emulate Scotland’s performance in 2007 when James McFadden scored in a 1-0 victory in Paris. France will still be without Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery but will still expect to reach the finals with a forward line consist of Thiery Henry, Karim Benzema and Yoann Gourcuff.
