Did you saw that draw? *Sigh* I miss France, the France who used to score many goals and beat Brazil.

It seems like there is only bad news for France.

Franck Ribery was out when he was tackled by Parreira. Fear that he will be injured again.

Willy Sagnol fears for retirement. He announced that if he won't get recovered before May, he will quit. "The worsest thing is that I don't know why I can't play again," stated Willy Sagnol. "I try to figure out if I will recover. I will wait till May."

This draw against Urugay is the last match of France in 2008. A sad ending. Franck Ribery is still confident: "There are some problems at the defense," he said in a conference. "It's because France is an attacking team. We got Anelka, Henry and Benzema. If we solve the defense, our team will be very strong." he added.

Yesterday Gourcuff, Ribery and Henry were subbed out. Nasri, Benzema and Savidan were subbed in. Savidan wanted to prove himsself like Gourcuff did but failed. I think Savidan has tried a bit too much and he was not exact enough.

I don't know what to say more. I'm disappointed.

Let's try to be optimistic like Franck Ribery and look forward to 2009. The first match coming is in February against Argentinia, a very strong team. I fear but I will hope.

There was nothing to post about France since there were no matches (the reason why I posted weird posts, like Toulalan is da man! And: football porn!). But next week there is one! So it's time now to post about Les Bleus.

France - Uruguay, Friendly match. 19 November, 21:00h (French time), Saint Denis, France.

The list of call-ups:

What's special? Well, Domenechs favourites: Abidal, Govou and Malouda are left out. And fortunately Boumsong has been left out as well! Phew! An old name, Silvestre, has replaced Abidal from the list. Good choice? No idea. A new name on the list, Steve Savidan is called up. I don't know him a lot, but it is said that he has been doing very goot at Caen recently.

Here you go, the list of the 23 Bleus:

Benzema

PEOPLE: I know Jeremy Toulalan is a player who doesn't interest you because he is not flashy, cool, or trendy. But he is very cool if you knew a bit more about him. So read like I did. After I read, Toulalan has become my favourite player.

Not much people apart from the french know Jeremy Toulalan. He just knocks the door, and than he sits and does nothing. While everyone is chatting about the new hip-hop music, Toulalan is just shy, silent and says nothing. I don't know why he is shy: he is a very, very good player who has something which nobody has. But due to his shyness and silence, he doesn't have a lot of fans.

I agree Toulalan is a total dork. But he is a lovable one. Here is a video, where he is dressed as a farmer. At the second half of the video they do a "portrait" of Toulalan and they ask him questions. I'll translate the questions; read, he is a total dork and his answers are easy to predict - but they are so lovable: Here is the video with translations for the interview in the second half.

- What would you like to be, if you would have to become a "thing"?
- A ball

- A favourite season ?
- Summer, because it’s cool… Making barbecues… cool ! (Toulalan likes to eat, he only talks about food)

- A favourite dish ?
- Pasta. Because I eat some a lot… and every time. (see? he likes eating)

- An Animal ?
- A dog, a labrador. I like these dogs, they are nice. (Toulalan looks like a big kind dog himsself)

- A song ?
- That would a be an old style ! Which ?.. Let’s say Michel Sardou “Rouge” (OMG, I searched this song on youtube.... IT'S A TERRIBLE SONG! He should borrow one of Benzema's Rap CD's)

- A color ?
- Blue because that reminds me the sea

- A noise ?
- The sounds of birds. (he is so kind :) )

- You’re favorite word ?
- When do we eat ??? (laugh) No I don’t know (haha I told you he is a fat eating pig. In an interview Franck Ribery said: Toulalan likes to eat! He eats 3 desserts and he is a fat eating pig! hahahha)

- Your favorite swear word ?
- “Fais chier” (”that sucks”) (HAHAHHA HOW COOL)

- If tomorrow you could invite to dinner 2 persons on this earth, dead or alive, star or not ?
- My mum and dad. I would also say Fabrice Briand and my godfather

Well is he lovable or not? I'll tell you something about his youth too. I found an interesting French article about his life in the Liberation. (If you want the article, give a shout and I'll send it to you).

Toulalan was a shy boy. His parents are very religious, so they sent him to a catholic school. Toulalan had no friends, but he was hardworking. His dad was his "coach". Toulalan wanted to become pastry cheff (HAHAHA), he says: "I admire people who work with their hands. So I thought pastry cheff would be an interesting job for me. I liked football, but I never dreamt of being football professional. I thought it would be nice as well to join the Tour de France, but I haven't got the capacities for it." While his friends listened to Hip-Hop music, Toulalan preferred old-style music. (HIS FAVOURITE SONG: "ROUGE - MICHEL SARDOU" IT'S TERRIBLE!) HERE IT IS:

While there is press walking through the field, Toulalan sits in a corner because he knows they are not coming for him. They are coming for Benzema and Ben Arfa. "I'm less interesting for people," Toulalan says. "People are interested in Benzema and Ben Arfa, not me. It's because they have magic and talent. I'm just a football worker."

So what do you want from Toule? He’s not a flashy guy trying to impress people with his coolness. He is humble and down-to-earth; he is a real guy, like us.

By the way, some Lyon news: Lyon has taken some photo-shootings. I thought it would be something cool like the Dolce & gabbana pictures from AC Milan http://milan.dolcegabannacalender.com. But NO WAY: I'll show you some pictures:

Lloris on a car (with a pink bra?)

A gambling Clerc hahahaha :D

But those of Toulalan: dressed as a FARMER! like little house on the prairie! Go and watch yourself: (+ the interview which I translated is included in the video)

Our French players are doing well. 2 of them are nominated on the list of Ballon d'Or, a special trophy given out to the best player of the year. Our French 2 players are: Franck RIBERY and Karim BENZEMA. What do they have in common? Answer: they like gaming on a X-Box.

Watch this video where Franck Ribery beats Miroslav Klose on the X-Box. I'm a Ribery-Fan, but when I saw this video, I thought: "poor Klose :("

It seems like Karim Benzema is winning on an very exciting game, since his face is like: "HA! I killed your Pokemon, ghehehe, GNA GNA GNA."

Now I know why nobody wants to play on the X-Box with Karim Benzema or Franck Ribery.

This is the full list of the thirty nominated people for Ballon d'Or. I think Messi or Ronaldo will win, but I go for Benzema and Ribery. I really hope C. Ronaldo doesn't win it.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo, Arsenal)
Sergio Agüero (Argentinië, Atlético Madrid)
Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Zenit Sint-Petersbur)
Michael Ballack (Germany, Chelsea)
Karim Benzema (France, Olympique Lyon)

Gianluigi Buffon (Italië, Juventus)
Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United)
Didier Drogba (Ivor coast, Chelsea)
Samuel Eto'o (Kameroen, Barcelona)

Cesc Fàbregas (Spain, Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool)
Steven Gerrard (Engeland, Liverpool)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Zweden, Internazionale)
Kaká (Brazilië, AC Milan)

Frank Lampard (Engeland, Chelsea)
Lionel Messi (Argentinië, Barcelona)
Pepe (Portugal, Real Madrid)
Franck Ribèry (France, Bayern München)
Wayne Rooney (Engeland, Manchester United)

Marcos Senna (Spanje, Villarreal)
Sergio Ramos (Spanje, Real Madrid)
Luca Toni (Italië, Bayern München)
Edwin van der Sar (Nederland, Manchester United)
Rafael van der Vaart (Nederland, Real Madrid)

Ruud van Nistelrooy (Nederland, Real Madrid)
Nemanja Vidic (Servië, Manchester United)
David Villa (Spanje, Valencia)
Xavi (Spanje, Barcelona)
Yuri Zhirkov (Rusland, CSKA Moskou)