Early Sidney Govou's Miss Set Tone For Dull Draw

Raymond Domenech ruminated at the end of a drab draw that,

"We lacked that last bit, the last pass.The other two have the advantage. We had to guard against an unlucky counter. It is almost a beautiful 0-0 but the result is what it is."

In the end, France lacked that cutting edge against a resolute Uruguay. Nicolas Ledeiro collected the first red card in this summer's World Cup finals. France and Uruguay battled to a draw in a match where Nicolas Anelka, Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez were supposed to supply the goals.

Only Forlan looked like he was capable of providing that decisive goal but for all his positive running, he had only one clear chance - a chance that he skewed left of the French goal.

But the match could have been settled in the first seven minutes, Sidney Govou's miss really set the tone for an inevitable draw.



That miss summed up this match. Carlos Alberto Parreira wisely pointed out South Africa-France should decide who makes it to the knockout phase.