Nigeria Content Online

A
week in the scenic French Alps seems to have done wonders for France,
who now have a healthy Williams Gallas and a vastly improved mood in
the team.

France leave their
picturesque base on Tuesday with their 23-man squad for the June
11-July 11 finals in South Africa finalised and in a relaxed and
confident mood after a number of concerns were overcome.

Coach Raymond
Domenech, who has been under fire since his side’s Euro 2008 flop,
organised several strange group activities in search of harmony such as
a hike up a glacier, an introduction to biathlon and even a dune buggy
race.

The players loved
it, even Gallas, who survived a fright when his buggy rolled over, and
all the players said they could feel a genuine team spirit blooming.

The man France fans
love to hate, Domenech even cracked a few smiles and did not lose his
cool when midfielder Lassana Diarra was ruled out of the World Cup by
illness on Saturday.

The coach
eventually decided late on Monday that Diarra would not be replaced
after seeing defender Gallas, who had been doubtful because of a sore
left calf, train without any problems.

The coach, who had
brought 24 players to Tignes because of concerns about Gallas, found
himself with 23 after Diarra left and decided those would travel to
South Africa after Gallas was ruled fit to play.

Surprising mood “It’s complicated to take somebody out and we’ve had Lassana Diarra who’s had a real problem,” Domenech said.

“Then we found
ourselves with 23 players so we no longer needed to make a choice
because that group here keep showing us that we can trust them. Those
23 players will take us all the way.” Saying France, who needed an
infamous Thierry Henry handball to qualify through a playoff at the
expense of Ireland, will win the World Cup may seem a little premature.

The mood in the ski
village, surrounded by rugged snow-capped peaks and almost like a ghost
town in the spring, however, has surprised many observers.

All the France
players have been saying that they were having fun together and were
determined to soon prove their worth on the pitch.

Such statements
were hardly ever heard before Euro 2008, where a miserable atmosphere
and a rift between the younger players in the squad and the more
experienced ones marred a campaign that ended with a group-stage exit.

Domenech, who will
be replaced by Laurent Blanc after the World Cup, may feel he has no
pressure, with French fans and media generally feeling the team has no
chance to make an impact on the pitches of South Africa.

The coach even made
a bold move in the penultimate training session in Tignes, fielding a
4-3-3 formation instead of his preferred, more defensive 4-2-3-1 system.

The fans watching
the session applauded, hoping the cautious tactics that have frustrated
them for years might soon make way for a more exciting brand of
football.

France will play
Costa Rica on Wednesday in Lens in the first of three warm-up games for
the World Cup, where they will face hosts South Africa, Mexico and
Uruguay in Group A.