Oh France. Never more than a couple of international tournaments away from being international football's laughing stock, or so it seems. Having lost 2-0 in their World Cup playoff away in Ukraine last week, they now have 90 minutes to turn things around and make it to Brazil 2014. Of course, with their visitors now able to arrive in Paris and park the bus, that's easier said than done.
France vs. Ukraine, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Preview and TV schedule
Didier Deschamps, you have 90 minutes to save your job and France’s World Cup dreams. No pressure.
Adam Nurkiewicz
However, Les Bleus at least benefit from a few suspensions. Ukraine have Olexandr Kucher and Artem Fedetskiy sidelined, while Laurent Koscielny's unavailability after his terrible performance and subsequent red card in the first leg will likely have French fans tragically and deliriously whooping for joy. Less pleasing is the potential absence of one of Koscielny's potential replacements in Raphaël Varane, who is doubtful with a slight injury problem.
Projected lineups
France: Hugo Lloris; Patrice Evra, Raphaël Varane, Mamadou Sakho, Mathieu Debuchy; Yohan Cabaye, Paul Pogba; Franck Ribéry, Mathieu Valbuena, Samir Nasri; Olivier Giroud.
Ukraine: Andriy Pyatov; Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Yaroslav Rakytskiy, Yevhen Khacheridi, Vitaliy Mandzyuk; Taras Stepanenko, Ruslan Rotan; Yevhen Konoplyanka, Edmar, Andriy Yarmolenko; Roman Zozulya.
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 9 p.m. local, 3 p.m. ET
Venue: Stade de France, Paris, France
TV: TV5Monde USA (U.S. - French), Univision Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Sportsnet 360 (Canada - English), TV5 Québec Canada (Canada - French), TF1 (France), TV5Monde Europe (Ukraine and England - French)
Online: WatchESPN (U.S.), Sportsnet World Online (Canada)
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