Euro 2012: France, the dark horses

The Euro 2012 is the talk of the town right now. All the football fans can expect a month of rip roaring action from Europe’s elite. Some of the world’s most famous footballers will descend onto the stadia in Poland and Ukraine and face off against each other for the Henri Delaunay trophy.

While most people would pick Spain, Germany or the Netherlands as the favorites to win the championships, you can only write off France at your peril.

Lets admit it. They didn’t have the very best of the world cups as in-fighting between the players and the non playing staff, coupled with baffling selections, dented France’s chances of being a real contender.

But things have changed. Laurent blanc has been brought in and has added a sense of freshness to the type of play. France has always been associated with charismatic players all along like Cantona, Zidane, Henry, etc. Although there is no one special player this time around, what they do have is a group of individuals who’ve been playing consistently and as a team.

The defence can boast of players like Patrice Evra, Gael Clichy, Debuchy, etc, who’ve been decent throughout the season. But it is the attacking force that will have opposition teams worried. The likes of Frank Ribery and Karim Benzema have been proven performers at the club level and it’s time for them to go a level higher.

Add to that the exciting talents of Yann M’villa, Olivier Giroud, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa, what you get is a dangerous looking squad. The English will have to be on their guard in their first game. The disappointment of South Africa will also be a motivation for the les’ blues.

After all, they did reach the finals in Germany 2006 after a horrible journey in the far east in 2002.