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Petit problem French midfielder ruled out of quarters with knee injury
Posted: Saturday June 24, 2000 11:43 AM
KNOKKE-HEIST, Belgium (AP) -- Emmanuel Petit has been ruled out of France's Euro 2000 quarterfinal against Spain because of injury, coach Roger Lemerre said Saturday. The pony-tailed midfielder strained a ligament in his right knee during France's Group D match against the Czech Republic on June 16 and wasn't fit enough to take part in training on Friday. "Apart from Emmanuel Petit, everyone is fine," Lemerre said tersely. "He won't participate in the match against Spain." Lemerre has plenty of options in Petit's absence, but it is likely that his Arsenal teammate Patrick Vieira will be charged with midfield ball-winning duties alongside Didier Deschamps against the Spanish. After his gritty display against the Netherlands on Wednesday, Christophe Dugarry is likely to play with Zinedine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff in more attacking midfield positions, with Thierry Henry as a lone striker. Lemerre said Petit's injury won't change the team's momentum. "The French team has been reconstructed," he said, referring to France's second-string lineup against the Dutch. "It has also been affirmed that all our players can cope perfectly at he very highest level. The team plays with its own force." While he has no regrets about resting his top players in Amsterdam, Lemerre doesn't think France will have much of a physical advantage in Sunday's clash in Bruges. "Spain changed six players in its last matches and three before that, so they have changed the team a lot too," he said. With the likes of Zidane, Henry, Raul Gonzalez and Gaitka Mendieta on view, the quarterfinal has the makings of a classic, evenly matched encounter. "We will see a great France vs. Spain," predicted Lemerre. "Our characteristics and culture are alike. If there is Zidane on one side there is Raul on the other. If we have [Marcel] Desailly, they have Abelardo and Helguera. At left back, they have Sergi but we have [Bixente] Lizarazu." Defender Laurent Blanc, who plans to retire from international soccer at the end of Euro 2000, also said the game could be France's most entertaining of the tournament. Though France beat Denmark an the Czech Republic in its opening matches, he said that the world champion had to play more pragmatic soccer against physical opponents. "The Czechs and Danes imposed their style on us and we had to respond," the Inter Milan player said. France is confident, but knows that one slip up could end its dream of adding the European crown to its World Cup success. "Everyone says that as world champion we are favorite and we must accept it," Henry said. "But the players on both teams know each other well. It is direct elimination. If you lose, you are out and of course it is possible that could happen to us."
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