Deja Vu

France vs Switzerland
Stuttgart

Switzerland, playing in white, kicked-off the match in Stuttgart; between two teams who came through the same qualifying group for the 2006 World Cup Finals.

The two neighbouring countries started with a similar style; making it difficult to play through the middle and generally cancelling each other out.

France did have a couple of early chances though: Sylvain Wiltord's cross from the right a little too high for Thierry Henry to header properly; then a little later, Patrick Vieira miss-hit a chance to volley at the far post when Ricardo Cabanas rushed towards him.

Switzerland's best early chance came in the 24th minute, when Tranquillo Barnetta's clever free-kick swung in over everyone in the middle of the penalty area and landed on the far post with Alexander Frei running in behind the French defenders. Eric Abidal and Claude Makelele closed Alex Frei down as the Swiss front runner tried to cue himself up for the rebound.

Franck Ribery had a great time to capitalise on a Swiss mistake in the 37th minute as he ran into the right side of the area unchallenged. Instead of taking the shot himself, the Olympique Marseille midfielder (maybe suffering from stage fright) rolled the ball back to Henry. It was a sad pass to the Arsenal striker, who hit Senderos' hand; penalty appeal turned down.

A minute or two later, Henry ran onto a visionary long-ball from Zinedine Zidane and instead of shooting or squaring the ball to Patrick Vieira in the middle, tapped the ball to Pascal Zuberbuhler.

Half-time: (0:0).

We had to wait 62 minutes before Switzerland earned their first corner; Abidal flicking the ball off before Alex Frei could get to Barnetta's attempted cross.

Two minutes later, Barthez made a crucial save to keep out substitute Daniel Gygax' attempt to head the ball at the far post, with the side of his face.

Switzerland's last gasp attempt to snatch victory took a while coming as the Russian referee tried to stop the jostling in the penalty area before the 93rd minute free-kick could be taken. When the ball was finally released into the area, Alex Frei tried to fist it in, á la Maradona; earning himself a yellow card in the process.

It might have been another hot day in Stuttgart but we've seen it all before with these two teams; another tight match ending in a draw.

Final Score:
France 0 - Switzerland 0

Teams
France: (Captain Zinedine Zidane)
16 Fabien Barthez; 3 Eric Abidal, 5 William Gallas, 15 Lilian Thuram, 19 Willy Sagnol; 4 Patrick Vieira, 6 Claude Makelele, 10 Zinedine Zidane, 22 Franck Ribery; 11 Sylvain Wiltord, 12 Thierry Henry.

Switzerland: (Captain Johann Vogel)
1 Pascal Zuberbuhler; 3 Ludovic Magnin, 4 Philippe Senderos, 20 Patrick Müller, 23 Philipp Degen; 6 Johann Vogel, 7 Ricardo Cabanas, 8 Raphael Wicky, 16 Tranquillo Barnetta; 9 Alexander Frei, 11 Marco Streller.

Referee:
Valentin Ivanov (Russia)