France Plays A Tune-Up Match

Titi, seen here crying about the fact that he missed the match against Romania, told coach Raymond Domenech that he needed a bit of practice in order to determine his fitness for tomorrow's match against The Netherlands. Domenech consulted his astrology charts and gave it a big "Allons-y!" Join me after the jump for the details of this hard-fought match.





This past Tuesday, as the starting XI for Les Bleus were resting after their exhausting nil-nil draw with Romania, Domenech let the "reserves" run loose. Their opponent? Nothing but the best - they faced off against an All-Star team of...Under-18 year-olds from local clubs Neuchâtel Xamax FC and FC Fribourg? Okay, so it wasn't exactly high-level competition, but these kids got the practice of their lives facing off against Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Patrice Evra. The youngsters even set off the action early, forcing a "world-class save" from keeper Sebastien Frey. In the other goal, Mike Piller made one-on-one saves against Titi and Bafetimbi Gomis, although he was eventually beaten for 7 straight goals. Despite the 7-0 loss, the kids seemed in high spirits to have gotten a chance to play against some of Europe's finest.

And Titi got in a little practice for tomorrow.