Hey! What's that French stuff doing on here? Well, this site has had a distinctly British flavor to it since we began, so I thought that I would introduce the new generation of French soccer stars to our readers (all 17 of you). These youngsters are looking to follow in the footsteps of the immortals - Just Fontaine, Michel Platini, Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, and Thierry Henry.
Franck Ribery (born April 1, 1983) - Ribery started his youth soccer with his hometown club of US Boulogne, and eventually moved on to FC Metz, Galatasaray, Olympique Marseille, and in June 2007 he signed with FC Bayern Munich. In 2006, he won the French Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award. So far this year, in 16 Bundesliga matches he has 4 goals.
Mathieu Flamini (born March 7, 1984) - Flamini played his youth soccer at Olympique Marseille, and signed with Arsenal in 2004. He has helped Cesc Fabregas to dominate the midfield in Arsenal's EPL (eat it, Barclay's!) matches. In all competitions (32 matches), he has 4 goals.
Hatem Ben Arfa (born March 7, 1987) - Ben Arfa plays for Olympique Lyon, where he has played his entire career, including his youth soccer. In 2006 he was asked to play on the Tunisian World Cup team, as he is of Tunisian descent. Ben Arfa declined, stating that he wanted to continue the tradition of "Black, Blanc, Beur" with the French national team. In all competitions (27 matches), he has 7 goals.
Samir Nasri (born June 26, 1987) - Nasri plays for Olympique Marseille, where he has played since his days on the youth team. In 2007 he won the French Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, ahead of Karim Benzema. In 12 matches in Le Championnat, Nasri has 5 assists.
Karim Benzema (born December 19, 1987) - Benzema plays for Olympique Lyonnais, where he has played since his days with the Lyon youth team. In 2006 he was asked to play on the Algerian World Cup team, as his parents are Algerian immigrants. Benzema declined, noting that he watned to play on the French national team with the other young players on this list. In all competitions (32 matches), he has 20 goals. Continuing his offensive dominance, Benzema had 3 goals today against Creteil in a Coupe de France match.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
La Nouvelle Generation des Bleus
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Benzema is the real deal. Any transfer rumors for him this month? He'd look good at, oh, a certain francophone team in London.
Wenger has been hot on the trail of Benzema for quite some time now, but has been hampered by the fact that Lyon is so dominant in Le Championnat. I think it will take a lot more cajoling from the younger French players like Flamini and Clichy at Arsenal to convince Benzema to come over.
Perhaps after yet another disappointing exit from the Champions League next month will convince Benzema to give Arsenal a chance (or more accurately, convince Lyon to sell him).
Let's not forget Bacary Sagna, who despite looking like a tool, has a been a beast for Arse.
Yeah, I considered including Sagna and Clichy, both of whom I love (and not just because they are Gunners), but I decided to stick with "sexy" offensive players.
Post a Comment