France vs. Uruguay Green Point Stadium Cape Town, South Africa 2:30 PM EST Friday June 11, 2011
By Jason Green at Predictem.com
Match Odds: France 2.00 / Uruguay 3.75 / Draw 3.25
Over/Under: 2.5 goals
Moneyline: France +105 / Uruguay +260 / Draw +220
In the second match of the World Cup on Friday night, France takes on Uruguay in Cape Town. France is the favorite to win Group A and each team wants to get off to a good start in group play.
France reached the finals in the 2006 World Cup and nobody is really talking about them this time around, as they have the 8th best odds to win it all. Even though they have a good squad with many world-class players they did not look good in qualifying for the World Cup and have not looked good in their tune-up matches.
After their unimpressive run of recent friendlies, especially with their shock of a loss to China in their last match, France may not be heading into South Africa with a ton of confidence, but that can all change if they come out and play well in this match.
Uruguay needed to win in a playoff with Costa Rica to qualify for South Africa and they will not only be the underdog in this match, but are not expected to make it out of Group A. Uruguay has not progressed past the group stage since 1990 and they can really help themselves to do that if they can, at least, play to a draw in this match. They come into this match with some confidence, as they won their lone recent World Cup tune-up.
Uruguay may come out a little flat, as head coach Oscar Tabarez only scheduled one World Cup tune-up and close to the dates of South Africa, as he wanted his players fresh and did not want to risk injury.
French coach Raymond Domenech has come under a ton of pressure and if he does not win this match they may call for his head in France.
Uruguay Recent Form
5/27/2010 Uruguay 4 Israel 1 (Friendly)
3/3/2010 Switzerland 1 Uruguay 3 (Friendly)
11/19/2009 Uruguay 1 Costa Rica 1 (World Cup Qualifying)
11/15/2009 Costa Rica 0 Uruguay 1 (World Cup Qualifying)
France recent Form
6/4/2010 France 0 China 1 (Friendly)
5/30/2010 Tunisia 1 France 1 (Friendly)
5/26/2010 France 2 Costa Rica 1 (Friendly)
Uruguay will count on the striker duo of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez for their offense and they will hope to take advantage of France’s defense, which is in the central area. Even though Forlan only played in 13 of Uruguay’s 18 qualifiers he was the leading scorer of the team with 8 goals.
The French have not played well on offense, as no striker has really stepped up. They will need Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka to give them some offense and I think one of these two will score in this match.
France will have to watch out for the counter attack, as that may be the best chance Uruguay has to score.
The strength of Uruguay is their strong team play and their defense, but I think France has too much skill in up front and especially in the midfield to keep them from scoring.
Uruguay is a very inconsistent and unpredictable team and during World Cup qualifying they wasted many scoring chances and they cannot do that against France.
Uruguay’s Diego Lugano is the anchor of the defense and he will be counted on to keep France out of the box. He is a very tough player and will not be beat to many balls. Look for him to mix it up with the French strikers all match long.
Franck Ribery is the key player for France in this match and even though he has battled injuries all season for Bayern Munich he will play well and either score a goal or set one up.
Jason’s Pick: France is not playing well, they have pressure on them to do well, and their stars have not played well as of late. That all does not matter, as the French will come out and play solid in this match and beat an inferior Uruguay squad. I see France winning by a score of 1-0 or 2-0.
