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Blanc installed France coach

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Laurent Blanc has been officially installed as France’s new coach, and faces an immediate task of picking the nation up off the floor following their disastrous exit in the group stages of the World Cup (France 12/1 to win Euro 2012).

Blanc, the 44-year-old who helped France win the World Cup on home soil in 1998, replaced Raymond Domenech, whose contract ended after the team were sent packing.

His first task is to help France qualify for the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine (France 4/9 to win qualifying Group D).

The former Bordeaux coach was appointed during a meeting of the French Football Federation (FFF) in Paris.

FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes formally handed in his resignation at the meeting, having said he would quit after the federation was blamed for the way it handled a player revolt in South Africa.

“I have decided to resign because it is my duty,” Escalettes told a news conference on Friday. “I accept my share of responsibility.”

“Raymond Domenech has humbly admitted that he had made mistakes and so have I,” said Escalettes.

The 75-year-old Escalettes and Domenech’s lack of authority were exposed when they failed to convince the players they should train at their base in Knysna, Western Cape.

“It was my responsibility to make the players get out of the coach and train and I failed,” Escalettes said.

“I felt humiliated. I am ashamed and I present my apologies to all those who loved and believed in that France team and to the whole world.”

“All my life I tried to give another image than the one I am leaving and I feel sad,” Escalettes said.

“My successor will have to draw the conclusions from what happened to make sure it never happens again.”

Nicknamed “The President” for his calm authority in his playing days, Blanc will initially be more respected than the controversial Domenech, if only for his far more impressive resume.

“I believe in Laurent Blanc and in the team he will come up with,” Escalettes said.

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Paraguay coach unconcerned by Spanish threat

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Paraguay star Roque Santa CruzParaguay coach Gerardo Martino has insisted his team have nothing to fear from facing Spain in the World Cup quarter-finals.

The South Americans set up a last-eight meeting with the European champions after defeating Japan on penalties on Monday but will start the game as underdogs as tournament outsiders (Paraguay 50/1 to win World Cup outright).

Whereas their opponents, led by Spanish ace David Villa, have started to play with freedom, Paraguay have struggled to create clear goal-scoring opportunities and have scored only three goals in four games in South Africa.

Spanish midfielder Xavi claimed after their 1-0 win over Portugal that his country are now starting to hit form after a slow start to the finals.

But Martino is not concerned by the statistics and believes playing Spain will give his side extra space to express themselves.

“In three of the four World Cup matches we had to take the game to our opponents and that’s difficult for a team like ours,” said Martino.

“Our future rivals will let us play. Spain will give us more space.”

In a forgettable encounter in Pretoria, Paraguay squeezed past Japan 5-3 on penalties after the game had finished goalless after normal and extra time.

It is the first time in their history that Paraguay have reached the quarter-final stage of the World Cup and Martino reckons his side deserve their place in the draw, knowing that victory against Spain will take them through to a semi-final against either Argentina or Holland.

Martino said: “It’s never nice for a match to be decided in this way but I think we sought the win a little more.

“I think we were lucky in the penalty shoot-out. That made the difference.

“Perhaps it wasn’t the match people wanted to see but I don’t think either team has anything to reproach themselves for.

“When you look at how the players played, the solidarity they showed, their enthusiasm, their will to make the history books, both teams did it the same way.

“To speak of an achievement in getting to the quarter-finals is all right but to consider this my greatest achievement is, I think, a bit premature.”

Spain and Paraguay will line-up in the fourth and final quarter-final on Saturday night (Paraguay to win 13/2, Spain 1/2, draw 13/5).

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New Zealand coach unfazed by challenge

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New Zealand (8/1 to qualify from Group F) are going to face a tough battle at this summer’s World Cup and their chances are not going to be helped by the lack of match action a number of their stars have seen in recent months.

The All Whites are outsiders for the competition and have been paired in Group F for the competition along with Italy (12/1 to win World Cup 2010 Outright), Paraguay and Slovakia.

While their rivals will be full of players who have been performing regularly in top flights across the globe, the New Zealand A-League season ended in February and many of their squad members will not have played competitive football for many months by the time the World Cup starts in June.

Even some of their star players who play abroad have not been experiencing first team football due to injuries, with Ryan Nelsen and Winston Reid both struggling in recent months to make the first team of their respective clubs.

New Zealand’s last game was a 2-0 defeat to fellow World Cup qualifiers Mexico in Los Angeles near the beginning of April, which has prompted coach Ricki Herbert to arrange a special training camp for his players based in both Australia and New Zealand.

Herbert is not fazed by the challenges which his squad will face and told the New Zealand Herald he does not have “too many concerns” about the fitness of his players going into the World Cup.

“Ideally it would be fantastic if everyone was playing every week and not getting injured. I’m nervous about the ones still playing in Europe because we can’t do without them,” said the coach.

“I know we have some really good lead-in games so the players will be fine by the time they get to the World Cup. It’s not like they haven’t had any activity, they are training every day, so they will be ready. They will be fresh and hungry.”

Herbert added that he reckons there are a few places available in his squad as he has already decided on up to 19 players for his 23-man squad.

One man looking to impress and force his way into the New Zealand (40/1 to win Group F) World Cup squad is amateur player Andy Barron.

The 29-year-old is a banker by day and a midfielder for New Zealand Football Championship team Team Wellington, and is taking time off from his everyday job to take part in Herbert’s training camp.

Barron has played for a number of years for the international side and is likely to be the only amateur footballer at the World Cup 2010, but this has not undeterred him in his ambition to play a major role for New Zealand.

“I don’t want to be there just to make up the 23. I want to be there, getting on the park and playing some of the best teams in the world so I’ll be pushing for that as much as I can,” he stated.

New Zealand kick-off their group games against Slovakia in Rustenburg on June 15th before playing defending champions Italy on June 20th and Paraguay on June 24th.

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Coach trip no concern for Busquets

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Sergio Busquets has warned his Barcelona team-mates they cannot use tiredness as an excuse when they take on Internazionale in a Champions League semi-final first-leg clash at the San Siro in Milan on Tuesday (19/10 Internazionale 23/10 draw 11/8 Barcelona – match betting).

The holders were on Monday preparing themselves for an overall trip of around 1,000 kilometres – including a stay in the French city of Cannes – on a coach because of the flight complications caused by the the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.

The revised plan has led to suggestions Barca could suffer from heavy legs and tired minds when they finally arrive in Italy.

However, Catalan midfielder Busquets said there would be no complaints from the players.

He said: “We are in with a chance to reach another final and we don’t want to throw that away.”

He added: “We know Inter will make it tough for us. We have been having a lot of big games and it’s not the ideal way to travel to Milan, but there can be no excuses. We have to get a good result that will allow us to go into the second leg with confidence.”

The two teams met in the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition earlier this season – Barca drew 0-0 in Milan and beat Inter 2-0 at the Nou Camp – but Busquets has those games will count for precious little at the knockout stage of the tournament.

Jose Mourinho accused his Serie A title-chasers of standing and admiring the Spanish champions following the defeat and Busquets expects the Portuguese tactician will have done his homework.

He said: “Inter know us better and they will be better prepared for our tactics.”

Mourinho is desperate improve on Inter’s record of having not won a major European trophy since the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1965 and Busquets has warned it could be a difficult night (2/1 Internazionale – To Qualify).

He added: “Their confidence is high after getting through against teams like Chelsea and the fact that there is a chance of making the final will mean they come out really fired up.”

France international Eric Abidal is struggling to shake off a thigh injury but was expected to travel along with 20-year-old reserve defender Andreu Fontas in the only new additions to the squad that had to settle for a goalless draw with local rivals Espanyol in La Liga at the weekend.

However, coach Pep Guardiola is still missing Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta, who could be out until mid-May with a hamstring tear, and Ukraine international Dmitrio Chygrynskiy, who is ineligible.

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Mourinho doubts coach trip effects

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Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has played down claims that his side’s chances of reaching the Champions League final (Inter 2/1, Barca 4/11 To Qualify) will be boosted by opponents Barcelona having to travel 600 miles by coach to Italy for Tuesday’s semi-final first leg.

Reigning champions Barca were forced to take to the road for the San Siro showdown on Sunday afternoon due to air travel restrictions in force across Europe caused by the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano.

However Mourinho feels the Spanish Primera League giants will not be too affected for the game given that they enjoyed an overnight stop in the French resort of Cannes en-route to Italy.

He said: “I don’t think it will matter. It is their body, their mind that has to respond.

“If it happened to me, I would try to transform a problem into motivation, something to enjoy, to have the squad together due to a difficulty.

“It doesn’t seem like a drama to me.”

Mourinho also acknowleged that Barca’s Argentinian international Lionel Messi (Messi 8/11 Anytime Goalscorer) deserves ’special attention’, but ruled out man-marking the player, who has scored 40 goals for his club in all competitions this season.

“Above all let’s see how they play because I don’t know,” Mourinho added. “None of us know. He could play right, left, centre. We don’t know.

“What we know is that he is an important player and football, for me, is not about marking man to man. It’s not for me.

“It is not one against Messi and 10 v 10, it will be 11 v 11, although he deserves special attention.”

Barca managed to draw at Inter in Group F earlier in the competition before winning the return match 2-0 at the Nou Camp and Mourinho admitted they were ‘far superior’ in that game. However he does not feel that will have any bearing on their semi-final (Inter 19/10, Inter 11/8, draw 23/10 90 Minutes) meeting.

“In the [second] game in the group, Barca showed that they are far superior. They won easily, deserved to win and in that game we were not capable of responding to them,” he said.

“But that was November, many months ago. They have followed their path, we have followed ours and it seems like we are a lot better than we were in November.

“I accept that they are favourites – this does not offend me – but I think it’s 50/50.”

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