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France XI : Aréola - Foulquier, Zouma, Umtiti, Digne - Pogba (cap.), Kondogbia - Thauvin, Veretout, Bahebeck- Yaya Sanogo.

Players to Watch: Obviously there's Pogba & Sanogo. Others to watch include Zouma (very highly scouted/rated CB), Kondogbia (very highly rated Sevillian CDM) Digne (LB), Thauvin (creative winger/CAM), and Umtiti (defender Spurs have been scouting)

5': in and France have already created 2 close chances. 1 Sanogo hits the side post, the other Sonogo too weak to beat the keeper
Thavin looks like he's in the mood today.
10': almost ALL France. Pogba rose well for a header that was too far out to beat the keeper. Uzbeks haven't even gotten into the French penalty box.
15': Pogba freekick whuskers over crossbar. GK had it covered.
16' THAUVIN amazing midfield dribbe and run followed by a shot from outside the box thatbounces off the Right post. Second time thst happened so far... Uzbeks living on borrowed luck.
19': Sanogo dribbles past 2 players in box but Great defending by the 3rd defender stifles the chance
21': Veretout was one on one with the GK and wasted the best opportunity of the match
23' sanogo doesn't do a good job ion edge of box and beaten by defender
25': Umtiti does well to get a cross in which is deflected for a corner
30': GOAL. Bahebak does well and puts in a nice cross in for a tap-in by Sanogo. Uzbeks have been resilient so far but will be dissapointed with that one
33' Almost a Brilliant bit of play by France but final ball too long.
34': Bahebek: great run (beats 3 players) and felled in the penalty box. Clear Pen.
35': GOAL. 2-0 to France as Pogba converts PENALTY. Arrogant walk-up to the strike but converted. Terrible celebration as well.
38': Thauvin BRILLIANT piece of showboating. swerved 2 defender and Cruyff Turns before placing a through ball to forward.
42: PENALTY. Unforced handball (noone even around). Getting from bad to worse for Uzbekistan
43: GOAL. 3-0 to France as Thauvin converts (just barely)
44': Sanogo shot blocked by GK
HALFTIME: France have completely dominated every aspect of this match. Uzbekistan have been very dissapointing as hey have offered NOTHING at all. Seems like they're there just to defend. 3-0 but should be more.

JUST AN OBSERVATION: The entire French U20 squad are basically African in origin. Have the French run out of indiginous players? Not being racist... just curious how the notoriously jingoistic French feel about that.

SPAIN vs URUGUAY U20 WCQF coming up next!

You need to be from poor classes in France to become Pro, because when it's your case, you are all in for Football and you have more motivation than others. And most African's in France are very poor, and cannot have a proper education, so Sports and music are sometimes the only hope of thousands of youth.
This is a fact in France, the other side is that French teams wants big players with a big physic, Xavi would never pass French tests in youth selection.

@tiki: that's as good an explanation as any. Not sure about the physical thing though. Players like Valbuena, Cabaye, seem to be getting their opportunities. I think it is important more for defenders

47\': Uzbekistan\'s 1st real chance.
48\': TERRIBLE MISS by Sanogo. Bahebek did very well and put in a great cross only for Yaya to stubb it wide.
51\': Another Breathtaking run from THAVIN from halfway line. Dodges 5 tackles on a mazey dribble and finally a shot that just goes over the crossbar. This kid is AMAZING!!!! FFS, What an outrageous run that was. I just replayed that 3x over! Zidane-esque

Uzbeks fouling a lot now. Getting frustrated at being outplayed. Ref being nice as a player should've recieved 2nd yellow
Uzbeks constantly fouling now. Starting to get a bit dirty. Ref has to rein it in now
Uzbeks kicking the ball away... they are skating on paper-thin ice. Other ref would've sent 2 off at least by now

60\': Thavin shot blocked on a good counter set up by Sanogog

62\': Sanogo sets up another opportunity for sub Ngago. Scuff it wide.
63\': GOAL. Zouma's diving glancing header from a corner. Impressive Defender..
This game is done & dusted now. Uzbeks fouling out of fatigue now, not malice. I think the entire team has been booked lol
67\': RED CARD for Uzbeks. finally came
73\': Uzbek has a shot on goal! Weak header straight at the keeper... but that\'s best we\'ve seen
73\': GK just blocked off a chance for Sanogo
79\': Outstanding long ball from Pogba to Sanogo. Sanogo took it on his chest but taken out by a brilliant last ditch tackle
80\': Bosetti; just missed a wonderfull volley from another Pogba cross
83\': Sanogo nice chip pass to Bosetti who should\'ve done better with it
86\': Bosetti just misses another chance. Did very well swerving and turning inside the penalty but skewed shot wide
FULLTIME: 4-0. Should be closer to 8-0 easily. Absolute Domination by France. Poor competition. One negative for France is poor conversions. Must increase their accuracy in front of goal.

Valbuena was an amator until 21 yo, was refused in almost all la ligue 1 and la ligue 2 teams,their are few exeptions but most of French players are big and physical.

Mathieu Valbuena began his football career in his hometown club, ES BlanquefortM . He developed an interest in the discipline through the paternal inheritance that is transmitted when accompanying his father in matches at the Nou Camp in Barcelona during holidays. At the age of nine, his football career was put on hold after receiving 50 stitches in his leg after an accident natation7. After his injury healed, Valbuena returned to football and quickly impressed coaches his club. In 1998, he won the award for best player at a local youth tournament organized at Camp des Loges, the training center of professional club Paris Saint-Germain. Spotted by Fabrice Duluc during a derby win against Bordeaux (3-0) with a double Valbuena, he joined the training center of professional club Girondins de Bordeaux at the age of eight years.

Mathieu Valbuena played for two years with the team less than 18 years from the Bordeaux training alongside one of his best friends and also Mavuba Marouane Chamakh8. Valbuena appears only three times with the reserve team, but it is not maintained by Jean-Louis Garcia, manager of the réserve9 team. It has been said that Valbuena was released by the club because of its small size, however, the former player and coach Philippe Lucas explained that Valbuena was released by the club as he fought hard to \\\"transform his game young player into a professional player \\\"and that\\\" his game needed to be faster and he needed to escape confrontation.

After being released by Bordeaux, Valbuena put his ambitions on hold to become a professional player and is recommended by Garcia to play for amateur club Langon Castets FC who play in the CFA 2, the fifth division football France5. Unlike Bordeaux, where he trained several times a week, Valbuena only train three times a week with the club Langon-Castets and had the status of amateur club, working as a clerk in a sporting goods store when he did not play football5. In his only season with the club, he impressed by his technical ability and was subsequently recruited by the Libourne Saint-Seurin who scrutinized no less than eight times when he was at Langon-Castets5.

.... right not what?

I don't get it.

@Footaholic and tiki_taka, wouldn't this just be an accurate representation of the times in France? Idk personally because I am not French, but I have been to France and noticed that there are indeed many immigrants in the country, and 1st generation-born Frenchmen. Shoot, Patrice Evra is not a born Frenchman, Benzema and Nasri both have Algerian descent.

I laughed a bit at your "indigenous players" bit, Foota. It does seem that long-time French lineage is being muscled out of the international squad but I really haven't heard anything "jingoistic" about it all. That's a tad harsh no? I'm not throwing you under the bus or anything, maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying.

tiki_taka, is there a consensus that you know of, in France or amongst French people, concerning this?

@ikoiko
indigenous : the term used in the colonial armies to designate the officers, NCOs and soldiers from the colonies. This term was still in use at the end of World War II and therefore designated the soldiers from the French colonies. The term is not used to represent those communities but i understood what foota meant
They are not immigrants, they were born in France and have origins, its not the first generation but the 4th. Nasri and Benz were born in France, their parents too.
I did not understand your point ? please explain more.

The French U20 squad may be comprised mostly of players with African backgrounds, granted. I just didn't settle with how it was stated. Afterward I was just asking if this is an actual issue to the French who ARE NOT of African origin. Because as I stated, France is a melting pot, and I have never heard of anyone having problems with the national team being represented by players who are "not of French origin"

I'm extending Footaholic's curiosity and adding my two cents, is all.

@Tiki

It's just a question of,

Can France produce 100% French talent, or are they more relying on players who play for them but have their true origins elsewhere?

Proven by the large amount of African-French players in their roster, including Benzema and Nasri.

It's just like how Germany have a lot of players who are mixed. Ozil is part Turkish, Khedira part Tunisian, Gomez part Spanish, Klose part Polish, Podolski part Polish, Boateng part Ghanaian, Gundogan is part Turkish, etc. Only difference being, all these players are MIXED. They have one pure German parent, whilst majority of the French players have both parents born elsewhere (not in France). So it's kinda difficult to consider them pure "French" footballers, since they don't have any French blood within them. :/

No offense of course. It's just a point of opinion.

@tiki taka: OK, not saying you're wrong but there must be more than 1 definition of indigenous becuase the word (as far as I've ever heard it) is synoymous with "native". It is used in sociology, history, and the life sciences (not specific to humans only). I only used the term here to best characterize what I was getting at... that is someone who has a muti-generational ancestry commonly ascribed to the people of a particular region.

@ikoiko, et al: There was no easy way to ask the question without sounding a bit prejudiced to begin with. Perhaps, I am unfairly characterizing Fench people as "jingoistic" but from my own personal experience, I have come under the impression that the French are very proud of their heritage and often feel that it is being threatened/diluted due to recent increases in immigration. I of course am aware of the irony of using a stereotype but it's the only way I could pose the question within the scope of my experience.

Anyway, the situation I'm refering isn't unique to France but I was just curious to gauge the honest opinions of any of our French members. @dynastian pointed out that Germany has similar issues and that has long been a source of conroversy amongst the German populace.

I'm sorry if came off as being unfair or in any way judgmental. That was most certainly not my intention. Perhaps I simply failed to articulate the essence of my query well enough.

Some of the remarks above are straight racist remarks. "French blood"? Are we in Harry Potter or something ? This is how the world works now. Everyone travels, and the reality is that people from poorer regions of the world, like Africa, travel to richer countries to find opportunities in life. Not always found by the way. It happens that France has a very rich history of immigration during the second part of the 20th century.

Nationality is about what country you feel attached too, not about your "blood". My mother was born and grew up in Chile, so I feel very attached to that country and will support them when they play. But I feel French because it's my language, my home and my culture. And that's how most young footballers will feel too. If they feel more attached to their origins they will go play for another country (see Higuain).

As for me, I am very proud that our team has so many colours and origins. I would hate to be like the South African rugby team. And if at one point in time we have better black players than white players, if they are French and will win the world cup and the european cup for you, who cares ? Of course everyone doesn't think this way, there are always the extremists.

@Foota there was a very infamous story when Laurent Blanc was managing the French NT about quotas. I don't remember all the details but if really you are interested you should look it up. And like I said above, some people are unhappy with our colours but they are a minority of extremists.

@foota don\'t apologize you did not anything wrong, i got your point, no pb ;)
@dynast your point is stupid, all europeen countries have the born-law not the blood law. if you are born in France, you can not be Chinese. A friend of mine his Father is Portuguese, his mother is Algerian,and he is born in France, he does not speak eather Arabic or Portuguese only French, how can\\\'t he be French in your opinion ? what Nationality you think he should have ??
The word \\\\\'PURE\\\\\" is very shocking here. So you think when your parents are both German you are more German than someone born in Germany with origins ? explain me how ?
I will not go search if Pogba is mixed or something, born in France + world class = national team, no need to look for his mother blood its getting stupid.

@Footaholic, no worries man.

@KingHenry, I understand completely and I was actually trying to edge towards your point about nationality. I couldn't agree more, seeing as I too have sentimental ties with different countries.
Anyhow you answered my question, cheers.

@Tiki_taka

Ahhh, *sigh*.

That's why I said "No offense". Don't get offended. It's just a natural form of opinion. I honestly don't care if the French team has more immigrants in its team than pure French people. I live in Canada, a country renowned for its immigration policies. I myself am of a different skin tone from "white" people, and all my friends come from a different part of the world (Soviet Union, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Middle East, and Mediterranean). I understand diversity as much as you.

But it's just a question of if France would have as talented of a roster if they didn't have so many people immigrating to their country. That's all me and Footaholic are asking here.

And @Tiki_taka, be careful with who you go around calling "stupid". I got a post removed and blocked for calling someone "stuck up", so you calling my theory "stupid" will probably get your comment removed as well if it comes to the attention of a moderator.

The idea of "pure" French people is totally irrelevant, and even if I understand what you mean you shouldn't use this expression. People like me or tiki can get offended by it. And would France have as talented a roster if they didn't have so many people immigrating to their country ? No. Obviously.

Alrightt, I think we've got the point. No need for this to turn into personal insults. I don't apologize for raising a valid question but I apologize for my wording. Dynastian was simly trying to flesh out my question is all. I think we've all got the point now.