Tuesday, June 22, 2010

South American success, French failure

South American success, French failure

There were unwanted landmarks for France but notable achievements for Uruguay and Argentina as FIFA.com rounds up the numbers on Day 12 of South Africa 2010.


minutes without a FIFA World Cup goal came to an end for France in Bloemfontein when Florent Malouda scored in the 70th minute to make the final score 2-1 to South Africa. Their previous goal had come in the 2006 final, when Zinedine Zidane's seventh-minute penalty opened the scoring against Italy. France's worst streak in the competiiton was a run of 369 minutes without a goal between 1998 and 2006.


years ago was the last time Uruguay won their group in the tournament's opening phase, beating Czechoslovakia 2-0 and Scotland 7-0. They made it as far as the semi-finals in the Switzerland tournament where they lost 4-2 to Hungary after extra-time.


minutes had elapsed in the France-South Africa game when Thierry Henry came off the bench for what might well prove to be his farewell international appearance. The 2-1 defeat will have spoiled what were previously happy memories of games against the Rainbow Nation. Henry made his senior debut against them in Lens in 1997 in a 2-1 win and his first international goal arrived in the France 1998 fixture between the sides at Marseille in a 3-1 win. He also played in a 0-0 draw against South Africa at Ellis Park in 2000.


minutes were on the clock in the Vodacom Park stadium when Yoann Gourcuff was shown the red card. It was the joint-fastest red card for France in the competition, with Les Bleus dismissal at an identical point of the 2002 tournament, when Thierry Henry was ordered off against Uruguay.


FIFA World Cup campaigns have been fought by Argentina and on only three of those have they won all three group games. In 1930 they beat France, Mexico and Chile and in 1998 they claimed victories over Japan, Jamaica and Croatia.


appearances in FIFA World Cup matches make Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Rafael Marquez the most-capped players for Mexico in the competition, equalling the record of legendary goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal.


successive campaigns have seen Argentina face European opposition in their final group game. With their win in Polokwane, their record stands at W3 D3 L1.


times France have faced the host nation in FIFA World Cups and each time they have come off second best. They lost 2-0 to England in 1966 and 2-1 to Argentina in 1978. source:http://www.fifa.com

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