Lyon Go Chinese, the Ladies Crush Arsenal, and Toulalan Gets Promoted
By: Inara | October 15th, 2008Remember how I said that China were becoming Lyon’s new best friends? Well, it looks like Aulas takes this BFF business seriously because today Lyon launched a Chinese version of their official website, thanks to a partnership with TitanSport, a Chinese sports media giant.
Pretty soon OL will be signing token Chinese players a la Manchester United.
The Chinese version of the website is making almost all the French information available, with the exception of OL Web TV. But everything else is there – the articles, news briefs, squad information, match results, advertisements…there’s even a fanzone with an interactive forum.
I’m actually a little jealous since the Chinese version of the website is a lot better than the English one, which has half the articles and not much else. But Aulas is serious about expanding into the Chinese market, and I’m sure this summer there will be a tour or two in Asia.
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In other news, Lyon played their last group match in the UEFA Women’s Cup against Arsenal Ladies. Both teams had already qualified for the quarterfinals, so yesterday’s match only settled who would top the group (which is important because it would determine who they faced in the next round). Lyon topped the table thanks to goal difference (15:1 vs. 13:2), so they only needed a draw to win the group. But Arsenal, who are England’s strongest women’s team and winners of the Cup two years ago, were Lyon’s toughest opponents this year so far, and there was the fear that Lyon weren’t adequately prepared for the match.
It’s rare when a French club has the upper hand when it comes to the English.
However, that turned out to be moot because Lyon dominated the match from start to finish. Arsenal rarely had the ball and floundered in the midst of Lyon’s fluid style of play. Lotta Schelin scored the first goal in the 27th minute, Camille Abily added the second at the 76th, and then Schelin added the third in the 80th minute. Louisa Necib also played very well. I’m quite sure Aulas, who was sitting in the stands with Puel, Fred, and Juninho, was not regretting the amount of money Lyon have spent on their new Swedish striker, and no doubt he is planning similar rewarding contracts for his other good players.
I have to say, I was REALLY impressed with yesterday’s game. As much as I support women’s football, I don’t really watch it because their game isn’t as high quality as the men’s. But yesterday was some of the prettiest football I’ve seen in a long time, full of skill and talent, and I wasn’t bored once. In fact, I forgot at some moments that I was watching the ladies! They played a lot better than the men have in recent games, at any rate, something even acknowledged by Juninho. So if you are ever in France, stop by a game of theirs. The tickets are really cheap (something like 4 euros), and it’s fun to watch.
As group winners, Lyon will be facing the runners-up of Group B2, Bardolino Verona, while Arsenal will face Umeå in the quarterfinals.
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International week is almost over. Most players have returned to the club, with the exception of Hugo Lloris and Anthony Mounier, who are at this very moment playing in a crucial U21 match against Germany. Both countries are fighting for a spot in the final tournament. France tied Germany 1-1 away, so they have the slight advantage in the home leg. But they have to play to win because Germany is a dangerous team. Miralem Pjanic, who has a match against Armenia later today, and John Mensah, who will be facing South Africa in a friendly this evening, will also be returning tomorrow.
The results of the other internationals are lukewarm. France’s World Cup qualifier against Romania ended in a 2-2 draw. Jeremy Toulalan and Jean-Alain Boumsong starting the match, and Karim Benzema came on in the second half. The draw puts France in third place in their group, behind Serbia and Austria (!!). Yesterday, France played in a friendly against Tunisia, which they eventually won 3-1. Toulalan, Boumsong, and Benzema started the match, with Benzema scoring the third goal. In both games, France came from behind.
Awww.
The cool news is that Toulalan received the captain’s armband from Thierry Henry, despite more senior players being on the pitch. It’s a very big deal and it establishes him in the hierarchy behind Vieira, Henry, and Gallas. And considering that those three are injured every other week, it’s a fair bet we’ll be seeing Toulalan captain France more often.
Jean II Makoun scored in Cameroon’s 5-0 over Mauritius. Kim Kallstrom, who started for Sweden, could only manage a scoreless draw against Portugal. John Mensah’s Ghana booked a place in the next round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers after a 3-0 win over Lesotho. Bosnia-Herzegovina lost 2-1 to Turkey, with Miralem Pjanic coming off the bench in the 80th minute.
Category: Internationals, Jean-Michel Aulas, OL Féminines, Player News and Rumors, Team News and Rumors
Tags: Arsenal, Bardolino Verona, Camille Abily, Captain, China, France National Team, Internationals, Jean II Makoun, Jean-Michel Aulas, Jeremy Toulalan, Karim Benzema, Lotta Schelin, Louisa Necib, Lyon, OL Féminines, Player News and Rumors, Shameless Promotion, Team News and Rumors, TitanSport, UEFA Womens Cup, UmeaSubscribe
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Comments
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The Lyon website is not that good. By that I mean the articles and coverage. Some of the other L1 teams have really good sights with great pre-match articles. And it sucks for those who don’t read French, because so many articles aren’t offered in English. I almost always get the best information from our opponents’ websites when I’m writing a match preview.
Posted from
Costa Rica
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YES! Do you think Lyon might start setting up stores in China and the like? I can’t wait! I hope the tours start as soon as possible because I’m going to start going back to China every summer…
I really like the sound of this
(Awwwww, Toulala~)
Posted from
United States -
Who is the OL Ladies player that is being congratulated? She is very cute, I do have a soft spot for footballing ladies.
On a lesser note, Germany won the match 1-0 with a stoppage time winner from DM Howedes. Heartbreak for the French, but then again the team was pretty poor and I have to say, besides Matiudi, Coutaduer, Menez and the Lyon boys (Remy and Mounier), none of the players are full France team material. (I know Lloris played in the match, but he is not the usual keeper, that would be ex-trainee Remy Riou and Simon Pouplin)
Posted from
United States -
After Toulalan got the armband, I was trying to figure out who had more seniority. Ribery was already off, which left…Abidal and Boumsong? Alou Diarra?
No wonder he gave it to Toulalan.
Posted from
United States -
John: I agree, the content could be better. It was a bit better last year I thought, but they’ve gotten lazy, especially in their OLTV coverage. Smaller clubs do a better job at reaching out to their fanbase.
Jennifer: They might, depending on the amount of popularity they can earn. It probably won’t happen for a couple of years though.
Corey: That’s Lotta Schelin, Lyon’s newest recruit (Lyon are paying her one of the highest salaries for female footballers in Europe. And it’s too bad about the U21 team. This is the second time in a row that they miss out. I saw the score was 0-0 at 89 minutes, but I had a bad feeling that a last second goal would be scored by Germany. France should have killed off the match long before then.Laurie: Malouda was also available. But even if Ribery had been on the pitch, Domenech hinted in his pre-match conference that his preference would be for Toulalan to take the armband if Henry hadn’t been able to play.
Posted from
United States -
It’s nice sites provided us good content and more about cash, loan and finance.well, keep up it.
Posted from
United States -
I was at Gerland for the ladies game. I LOVED it !
That’ was my first female game, and I really appreciated. Inara said everything I wanted to say about them.
I have been so impressed by Louisa Necib (Zidanette !) and Lotta Schelin, who are not only the best player, but the prettiest too !!
I think Louisa can become to me what Toulalan is for Inara !
Here is the link if you wanna see the last 2 goals from Tribune Jean Jaures, where the audience was seating.http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jxu5SYCagU
Sorry for bad quality, but I recorded it with my phone.
If you hear some “Lotttttttaaaaaaa” screaming, that’s because we had a swedish family behind my friend and I (Lotta’s family ?).
That was pretty cool !And about the price, you’re right Inara, that’s cheap (4 euros), but there was many many way to see the game for free. For example, my friend and I saw it for free because I have my Champion’s league Ticket for the male. Any european ticket gave you 2 free tickets for each female game !
I think I’ll try to see other ladies game. That’s really technical, I like it.
Posted from
France -
Thanks Jo, she is very attrative. But a good footballer is more impressive in my books, maybe I should travel to Lyon to profess my love and ask for her hand in marriage. Either her or I go to Grenoble and find out where Sandy has been so we can hang out.
The u-21’s are so bad because 1. The coach is so bad, Loembaerts is an awful coach in my opinion, not suited to coach youth. Armand Garrido is Lyons best youth coach, while Patrick Paillot and Pierre Chavrondier are also fantastic. 2. The players selected for u-21 duty are not always the best players. Look at the lineup, and tell me that some of these players just are not good enough for even a youth level of Franc representation. Younes Kaboul, miserable. Bellaid, iffy. Roman Danze, no thanks. Moussa Sissoko, barely played for Tolouse this year. Didier Digard likewise for Middlesborough. Dimitri Payet, Kevin Gamiero, do they ever score goals? And playing Jeremy Menez right now is laughable, he is in such poor form its ridiculous. Where is the call up for Feghouli? Why is Coutaduer on the bench? Why do you play a midfielder in N’Zogbia in defense when he has been bad there for his club team!?! Or three DM’s when you need to press this game?
I will be fair, the German keeper made some excellent saves, but at home, with an away goal, you must not be so overly cautious. You have the team on the ropes, they must attack, so counter attack, dont just absorb pressure for the full 90 minutes with 3 defensive mids!
Posted from
United States -
I agree with you, except for Sissoko who had a really good game in my opinion.
Menez has been AWFUL.
And Matuidi has been the best french player in this game.
Man of the match : the German Goalkeeper, that’s obvious.Posted from
United States -
My only comment on the OL site has to do with purchasing tickets. All was well, EXCEPT that my tickets listed the start time as 2000H, and not the actual starting time of 1900H for the game two weeks ago against Nancy. Yes, I know I probably should have checked the start time once I arrived in Lyon, but if I hadn’t decided to go early to watch the warm-ups I would have missed more than the 20 minutes (and 2 goals!) that I did.
I’m just sayin’ …
Posted from
Canada -
I found this analysis interesting in L’Equipe website with a parallel between Lyon’s defense and that of Les Bleus. It is from Angel Marcos, a former coach and currently consultant to lequipe.fr.
But the Google translation of the page being one of the worse I’ve seen recently, I felt compelled to correct it a bit, so here it is….SECURING THE DEFENDERS
For our consultant Angel Marcos, the defensive problems of the French team have nothing to do with any drop of form or lack of defenders with potential. Let the coach make some clear choices in this position, establish a game project for the eleven players, and we’ll be back to normal, he thinks.
“The defensive problems of the French team are currently being debated, and it reminds me of what was recently seen with Lyon. OL generally had an extremely solid defense. And then, the team began to have problems at the back left, so we targeted Grosso. Then Grosso got injured, and we had the same problems with Réveillère, then with Mensah. If Lyon takes more goals than before, at the moment it’s because of Cris. They say he is no longer the same, he is not this, not that.
My approach to the problem is that it is more complicated than that, we must look for other factors that the poor state of form of an individual player or bad behavior of a line. This also applies to the French team.As far as the French NT is concerned, the problems began at the Euro, and we said at the time that Thuram was now ten years older, or that Sagnol, ultimately, was playing although he was just back from injury. OK, I admit he lacked matches, but he had attended an athletic preparation , playing with his club, and in my view he couldn’t become a donkey overnight, unable to place an action. We must look for other reasons. Today, we slap Gallas, Mexès, Abidal, we talk about lack of character, concentration, slow, inability to duels, to reflection and anticipation. All of a sudden, they all would have become invalid. This, in my view, is rather an issue with the general equilibrium of the team, of the use of both sides, the replacement, the task of defensive midfielders, the relationship between the backs and the midfielders, the midfielders and the attackers, the wings and the centre. How should the laterals move when the team plays on the other side? The staff of les Bleus must now address all these issues.
The first thing to do in this case will be to nominate four defenders fixed for the next four matches, irremovable except for injury and suspensions. Players must not feel they will be sentenced for an error, especially if the team is moving towards a more aggressive style with more risk-taking. They would also benefit from refocusing a player like Toulalan on his prime quality, which is to play transversally (in the width). He is dispersing himself a lot. He would be accompanied by a second type of midfielder like Vieira or Flamini, may be Alou Diarra in the future, a player capable of making something in the verticality, not only in passing, but in the presence and races. Once everything is determined, detail a little the role of the wingers and work on convincing the players on what they have to do. We will then naturally find a defensive solidity. That is obvious. No one will make me say that the French team has no defender able to win duels, to take a header, or to anticipate.
That there is potential at this position is not debatable. Look, even Argentina plays with Heinze, 34 years, or a player like Burdisso, and it fits them well. I believe that the French team, like Spain, Italy, Argentina or Brazil, belongs to these teams that have a chance to win all their matches by taking the ball and overtaking the opponent. When it fails, it transforms its opponents into phenomena and it’s only its fault. Austria? The stools? (reference to Domench who, asked what could have been done to avoid taking goals from -tall- Austrian headers, said “maybe take stools”) The two-meter tall striker who scored two goals in his life? With hindsight, we see where Austria is. Scotland, which would allegedly go to the Euro refusing to play? All this is strictly a matter of organization, a way to operate,a balance. Spain has finally found the solution with a player like Senna. Let French defenders feel secure for a few matches, let them be chosen for a game project, and things will return to normal. » “
Posted from
United States -
Inara, France isn’t third behind Serbia and Austria, but behind Serbia and Lithuania, while the Austrians are fourth on goal difference.
Posted from
United States -
Jo thats great that you’ve discovered the ladies team. I didn’t see the Arsenal match but I saw the Zurich one the Saturday before where they won 7 v 1. Frankly it should of been a lot more but they got about 15 (!) offside calls against them; only half of which were valid.
btw you have a much stronger chance of meeting Lotta than Inara has of meeting Toulalan (sorry Inara) because if you hang around at Gerland after the UEFA matches all the girls come out to sign autographs. Plus she speaks good English (but not much French yet) so you’d have a head start against the other men!
You should try to catch a league match, they usually play on Sunday afternoons at the reserve’s pitch. If its a nice sunny afternoon its a great (and free) way to spend some time. I saw a game a couple of weeks ago and at some point towards the end an older man walked past me with a couple of other people. He said hello politely so I replied but only as he had passed did I turn round and realise it was JMA! He’s so small! But very supportative of his girls team.btw Inara although we did spend much more on the girls team in the summer, the Martha transfer didn’t work out because she was never the less too expensive. Maybe next year.
Posted from
France -
Thats great Storm, to get a hello from JMA is incredible. And when I do travel to Lyon, I will do my best to meet Lotta.
Posted from
United States -
It felt like being in the presence of God Corey (but then he kinda of is in Lyon right)
Good luck with Lotta! The girls team are still very accessible so you probably could get to meet her. If you ever do get to come over let me know and I’ll see if I can get the training schedule for you.
Posted from
France -
Storm,
That’s awesome that you met JMA. He’s my fave person at OL, period (though followed closely by Juni and Toulalan). Maybe you can answer a question for me. Last year, I remember Sonia Bompastor was the captain, but this year it’s Sandrine Dusang. Or was the captain always Dusang?
Also, if any of you are interested, you can dl the entire Lyon-Arsenal match here, courtesy of Bonnie over at the BigSoccer forums.
Posted from
United States -
Inara, I was wondering the very same thing. Sonia Bompastor was definately captain last season and I’m not sure why its changed this season. I’ll try to see what I can find out.
Last season there was some rivalry/cliques forming among some of the French girls including Sonia, but I’m not sure if Sandrine was involved so its possible she is felt to be a more ‘neutral’ choice among the whole team.Posted from
France
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