ACTUALITE |
10.11.2001
Australia looking for double over world champions France
MELBOURNE,
Australia will be aiming to complete a unique double when they take on World Cup holders and European champions France in a friendly international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday evening.
The Australians, who are using the match to prepare for a series of crucial World Cup play-off games later in the month, beat an under-strength French side 1-0 in the Confederations Cup in June this year.
No team has beaten the French twice since they became world champions on home soil in 1998.
Coach Roger Lemerre is treating the Australians with respect this time around, having named a full-strength squad apart from Bayern Munich duo Bixente Lizarazu and Willy Sagnol, who have club commitments, and the injured Youri Djorkaeff.
Late injuries to striker Thierry Henry and midfielder Emmanuel Petit - replaced by Nicolas Anelka and Alain Boghossian - have slightly depleted France but Lemerre still has an immensely powerful 20-man squad from which to name his starting side.
"We do not underestimate Australia`s game at all," Lemerre told local reporters. "Australia has a very competitive team with a lot of quality."
Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez has dismissed the match as "ridiculous" because of the travel involved, but Lemerre knows his team needs match practice after having automatically qualified for next year`s World Cup in South Korea and Japan as defending champions.
"We have come here to win," Lemerre said. "We are taking this match very seriously indeed."
But he laughed at talk of revenge for the Confederations Cup loss, saying: "This is a different match with different players."
Midfielder Zinedine Zidane, arguably the best player in the world, agreed.
"Australia are trying to make a name for themselves," he said. "Good for them, but for France it is just another game."
The tyranny of distance means Australian coach Frank Farina is rarely able to get his full squad together. The vast majority of the Socceroos play in Europe - and their clubs are often reluctant to release them.
The Australians will face the fifth team from the South American qualifying group - either Uruguay, Brazil or Colombia - for a place in the World Cup for only the second time.
Farina sees the French game as being a crucial warm-up for those matches, bringing togther players like Leeds United duo Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell, Feyenoord star Brett Emerton and Middlesbrough players Mark Schwarzer and Paul Okon.
Kewell has played only 100 minutes for the national team over the past two years.
"It is difficult to gel quickly," said Viduka. "One of the bad things about playing for Australia is that you don`t get that many times to play together.
"We are going to have to do our best and get some sort of organisation going.
"We`ve been second-class citizens for a while, but by winning this game and qualifying for the World Cup we can gain some respect."
Australia have also been hit by injuries with Blackburn defender Lucas Neill and his replacement, West Ham`s Hayden Foxe, both pulling out. Norwegian-based Clayton Zane, who scored the winner against France in the Confederations Cup, was given a late call-up.
Australia`s build-up has also been damaged by an on-going row between the players and the federation, Soccer Australia, over payments and bonus deals.
A strike threat appears to have been averted but the Australian players are reported by the local media to be furious with the officials.
"For three years we`ve been playing for minimal amounts because we sympathise with Soccer Australia`s financial predicament," said striker John Aloisi, who plays for Spanish side Osasuna. "We are only asking for a small amount in the overall scheme of things."
Australia are a team in form with seven wins from their last 10 matches, although an under-strength squad lost 3-0 to Japan in their last outing in Shizuoka in August.
France`s last trip abroad resulted in a 2-1 loss to Chile, a side that has failed to qualify for the next World Cup. Lemerre will be anxious to avoid a repeat.
Early on Saturday, over 70,000 tickets had been sold, Soccer Australia said.
Likely teams:
Australia: Mark Schwarzer; Kevin Muscat, Craig Moore, Shaun Murphy, Tony Vidmar; Brett Emerton, Paul Okon (capt), Josip Skoko, Harry Kewell; Mark Viduka, Paul Agostino
France: Fabien Barthez; Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly (capt), Frank Leboeuf, Vincent Candela; Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Zinedine Zidane (capt), Claude Makelele, Christophe Dugarry; David Trezegeut.
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