World Cup 2010 - China stun France
France’s World Cup preparations took another step in the wrong direction as Deng Zhuoxing’s second-half free-kick propelled China to a shock 1-0 victory in Reunion.
Raymond Domenech fielded a full-strength line-up with William Gallas fit enough to start after overcoming a stomach ache, but there was no place for Thierry Henry who was forced to watch from the bench.
Gallas had the ball in the back of the net inside the first 15 minutes after he flicked home from a corner, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Yoann Gourcuff hit a shot from the edge of the box, but Chinese goalkeeper Zeng Cheng dived across to his left and held with ease; Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka also spurned good opportunities.
But it was Gallas who had the best chance of the first half when he badly miscued a free header from Gourcuff’s corner.
The Arsenal defender was involved again at the start of the second half, but he failed to make contact from 12 yards out, having been put through by Ribery.
Just before the hour mark, it was the same duo that forced Cheng to tip the ball on to the top of the bar, as Gallas got a faint touch to Ribery’s cross.
But Zhuoxing made the only breakthrough after 68 minutes. After Jeremy Toulalan was penalised for a foul on Qu Bo, Zhuoxing pleaded with the bench to leave him on for the free-kick.
It proved a notable decision from Chinese manager Gao Hongbo, as the forward drilled a swerving 30-yard shot that completely deceived Hugo Lloris on its way into the net.
France pushed for an equaliser, with substitute Henry denied by Cheng from point-blank range, and the Chinese goalkeeper pushed away a header moments later.
Abou Diaby’s driven shot forced a smart save from Cheng, while Yang He missed a glorious chance to make it 2-0 to China.
Henry was denied an leveller by a crucial intervention from Li Xuepeng, and Gallas fluffed a late opportunity in stoppage time as China held on for a memorable victory.
les tricheurs ! les arrogants ! LOSERS for life you French faggots ! :P
@Aziz.Ben.Soltana: Fils de pute de Baotou, les batards francais te crachent a la gueule vermine pourrie.
@odibohotel (65) you are probably the funniest man alive! What a comment you made out there?
Watch out! Japanese kungfu is out there. Ask Didier Drogba. I pray he recover fast cos I can't afford to miss him. I expect more of "Snake in the Monkey's shadow", France can tell tale of this. All tactics and technics such as "Tiger Claws", "Dragon Claws", Crazy Horse Kungfu and Fists of Fury are going to be deployed so players beware.
THAT GOAL WAS ALL ABOUT THE CONTROVERSY OF THE BALL. IT MOVED IN THE AIR
Has no one actually checked the pictures???? Henry NEVER used his hand...he used his lucky rabbits foot just like Maradona. Just so you understand fallaciousrob, we expect better from our atheletes especially if they are veterans of the game and get paid stupid amounts of cash to do so. Henry is no halfwit, he is a professional FOOTball player, and a great one at that. Ah well, such is the bread of our everyday life.
I was shocked to learn that Roma's energetic and creative midfielder, jeremy menez, was not included in the french squad. That coach domenech is still in charge is the puzzle of the last six years in football. I believe the french have enough talents to make impact if they have the right coach. Domenech can f..k up a cup of coffee.
well if things are this bad then u might as well put zizou in as manager b4 the worldcup!
You guys are retarded, handballs happen in football all the time and if you had to replay an entire football match EVERYTIME something controversial happened football would be in a complete mess, goals are ruled out when they crossed the line, goals are considered a goal when they didn't cross the line and people are offside when they ain't or ain't offside when they are, imagine having to replay an entire match everytime something like this happened?
So what if Henry used his hand, it was an instinct reaction and I'm sure all you halfwits would do the same when you have 1 second to react to a situation you either take a risk or you don't, he took a risk and it paid off another time it wouldn't, that is football and that is life, get over it and move on.
They are on the world stage now. Platinii can't help them slip in any back doors now. FACT: France didn't play well enough in the qualifiers to be where they are now.FACT: If Platinii hadn't seeded the match the day before the play-off, France wouldn't be in the world cup (Thierry Henry CHEATING aside). There was a few rules bent to get them there. But now theye are they, They can't hide the fact "That they are S H I T"
An Asian team will win the World Cup before the turn of this century and it will probably be China with 1.3 billion people. People always doubt the strength of the Chinese but look at what they've done in the past 20 years when they've woken up to capitalism. Their teenage talents are currently training in Barcelona and Real Madrid. Wait till the Chinese domestic league becomes better, more players playing in Europe, better coaches from Europe to coach in the CFA, better training and fitness levels, and the Chinese will catch up quicker than you think. People never thought Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, or even South Korea would do well....but look at their records and number of players in Europe in such a short time frame.
i think the fact that henry cheated and got away with it is the problem,if fifa had ordered a replay or france had offered a replay then justice would be done and all forgiving.henrys celebration after the dubious goal didnt help his cause either.
ALL THOSE STUPID COMMENTS ABOUT FRANCE CHEATING AND WHATEVER.HENRY DID NOT SCORE WITH HIS HANDS. IT WAS GALLAS HEADER THAT SCORED AGAINST IRELAND.LISTEN TO THE SENSE THAT ROY KEANE SAID AFTERWARDS.WHAT WERE THE IRISH DEFENDERS DOING LEAVING GALLAS TO HEAD THE BALL INTO THE NET AND WHAT WAS THE GUARANTEE THAT IRELAND WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED NOT FORGETING THE AGGREGATE WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE ALL IF GALLAS HAD NOT SCORED.WHY CANT PEOPLE GET OVER THINGS LIKE MARADONNA,S GOAL MORE THAN 20YRS AGO AND NOW HENRY,S HAND PROPELLING THE BALL WHILE IRELAND DEFENCE WERE HEADLESS.
they forgott to use their hand then ???
I remember last World Cup Cisse broke his leg against China in a warmup now they lost to them in a warmup think it's safe to say the French are now China haters.
@NickWHL ...Indeed you shoulda watched the game and u know what sometimes they unconsciously did those Kung Fu moves to control the ball that was one of their talismans to win the game lol
i'm agreed with n0.44 aziz..china has nothing to proud off...but for france sacked raymond please..
he know nothing about the game..
Well that was only China. Wait till France meets Uruguay. Domenech will see how badly his team plays, then.
ooo la hahaha.....what comes around comes around....defaulted into finals playing hand tennis and this is your pennance.....1st round knockout again francais
I honestly think there's a curse of this French National team. With the wealth of world class players in the squad, I struggle to think why they just cannot play as a team. Shocking.