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Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Honk, honk, c'est l'autobus français (10-0-0): Lloris, Réveillere, Rami, Koscielny, Clichy, M'Vila, Debuchy, Cabaye, Malouda, Ribery, Benzema.
Subs: Mandanda, Evra, Valbuena, Giroud, Nasri, Matuidi, Menez, Diarra, Martin, Ben Arfa, Carrasso.
Proyecto de arte modernista española (0-10-0): Casillas, Arbeloa, Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Silva, Fabregas, Iniesta.
Subs: Valdes, Albiol, Javi Martinez, Juanfran, Pedro, Torres, Negredo, Mata, Llorente, Santi Cazorla, Miró, Jesus Navas, Dalí, Picasso, Reina.
Kick off: 7.45pm BST, 9.45pm EEST (the local time in Donetsk).
What's more, everyone in the French team has the face on, after reacting to the Swedish loss by enjoying a massive post-match barney in the dressing room. Bof! Still, it appears Spain aren't going to field any strikers again, so you never know. This could end up being an attritional nightmare, but it's tiring being cynical 24/7, so let's paint on our gamefaces and look forward to a surprise classic! It's France versus Spain! It's the quarter-final of the European Championships! It is ON!!!
But that desperate record is likely - if the form guide means anything - to be shattered this evening. Spain have only lost three of their last 46 competitive fixtures, winning 40 of them. France had gone 23 matches unbeaten themselves, admittedly, but are coming off the back of a dismal defeat against Sweden. And the last time these teams met, in March 2010, Spain won 2-0 in Paris, their first win in France since 1968.
Whether the Spanish will be of a mind to tip the titfer to Zizou is a moot point, however, Zidane having been instrumental in seeing off Spain at both Euro 2000 and the 2006 World Cup. Those matches were the latest instalments in a dreadful sequence for Spain: these two countries have met four times in major finals, France winning three (2006 World Cup, Euro 2000, the final of Euro 84) and drawing the other (at Euro 96). Spain can't even claim a competitive victory in qualification, France having beaten them home and away in the qualifiers for Euro 92. ¡Oh Spain!
The date's been particularly good to French football, though. Three legends share a birthday today: Jean Tigana, the engine of France's Euro 84 winning side; Patrick Vieira, the engine of France's victorious teams at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000; and Zinedine Zidane, probably the country's greatest footballer ever. Bon anniversaire to all three of them.
June 23 has delivered quite a few bonny bouncing babies over the years. The golfer Colin Montgomerie. The movie actor Frances McDormand. The singer Adam Faith. Cricket's Len Hutton. The model Jordan (the Sex Pistols one). From the world of music, Stuart Sutcliffe of the Beatles and, er, Bonehead out of Oasis. Caesarion, son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. And the mathematical genius Alan Turing, without whom there'd be no computers, pretty much, and therefore no MBM reports. So thank you to Mr Turing for keeping us all out of the poor house. And thank you to June 23! Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
