France was held to a 0-0 draw in an international friendly played in Marbella, Spain against Congo. Gael Clichy played the full 90 minutes in his debut senior appearance for Les Bleus. Bacary Sagna also played. Abou Diaby was on the bench. The most worrisome news, though, is that Mathieu Flamini was forced out of the match by an injury in the 17th minute. Because there is very little coverage for the match, initial reports are very confusing. L'Equipe reports that he has sustained a thigh injury; another source reports a knee problem, and yet a third claims it's a minor ankle knock.
Arsenal's next game is next Monday at home to Blackburn. Flamini's injury is a concern for the team because of the pivotal role that he plays in the team's drive towards trophies this year. I hope the injury is not serious and he can play with his typical abandon for the rest of this season.
William Gallas seems to be a definite choice in tomorrow's friendly against Spain so Arsenal's supporters will hope that he can come back to the team unscathed.
Cesc Fabregas is in the Spain squad but it is unlikely he will play a major role in the match. Senderos is likely to play the entire match for Switzerland against England tomorrow; I hope Michael Owen is not able to step on him too often as Arsenal really need him to be fit when he comes back. Gilberto might get a game when he joins Brazil's national team to play against Ireland. Let's all pray for no more injuries!
3 hours ago
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I read a rumor that Eurosport was showing streaming video of the game and that it wasn't great spectacle.
The breakdown of France A versus France A' is interesting.
Of the five Arsenal players called up, only Gallas is in the first team (A), while Flamini, Clichy, Sagna, and Diaby were in the A' team (the second team).
Lassana Diarra is in the first team (A), along with three other central midfielders: Captain Vieira, Makalele, and Toulalan.
I don't understand why they arranged two games on consecutive days. It sort of devalues the meaning of the "National Team" when you have A and A' like that; and what's the message to the players who were picked? Is Clichy's first cap worth less than if he had played for the A team?
Anyway, I just hope Flamini can recover fully in a few days.
Clichy's first cap is definitely worth less (but not worthless) playing for the A' team.
Some higlights of the Spain-France game are here. Some of the clips from Iker91 are extensive.
Still no word on the Flamini injury as of Thursday afternoon. Arsenal play Monday night against Blackburn on Setanta, and Arsenal supporters are waiting to hear if the player will be available.
Denilson is also out injured, from what I can gather from Arsenal.com, so that leaves Gilberto, who was Brazil's captain in their win over Ireland yesterday, the most likely to come in, if Flamini can't play.
American's had the Ireland-Brazil game on tape delay in prime time last night, and Gilberto looked ok in the game. His form for Arsenal has been up and down, but it's fair to expect that he could come into the side and fill the Flamini void.
This whole discussion would have been a convoluted satire a few months ago, when Gilberto was first choice, coming off a season in which he scored a lot of goals, and was expected to be Arsenal captain, while Flamini couldn't get a game, and was best known as a stop-gap fullback.
I saw the first half of the Ireland-Brazil game and I agree Gilberto looked ok. He didn't have the trying-to-dribble-but-instead-stepping-on-the-ball thing happen in the match. Even though the pace of that match was quite slow, I am starting to think that his "rustiness" in EPL games is more a result of low motivation. That bodes well for Arsenal if Flamini does not recover in time for Blackburn.
433, thanks for the pointer to the highlights. iker91 has a whole new world of football stuff - very cool!
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