Sébastien Chabal, 2e ligne de l'équipe de France a le potentiel pour devenir le meilleur joueur de la Coupe du Monde. The Independent de Londres fait un article sur lui. a suivre...
If all goes according to plan France will meet
New Zealand in the final in Paris on 20 October. Les Bleus are in Pool D for "death", but it is Ireland and Argentina who face the last rites. France, who open the World Cup against the Pumas in Paris on Friday, should have a relatively easy quarter-final against Scotland or Italy.
Sébastien Chabal, the hirsute warrior in the back row, says France have "30 Zinedine Zidanes", a curious statement, since if the coach, Bernard Laporte, has instilled anything into a notoriously temperamental Tricolore psyche it is discipline. In 2003 they were strongly fancied to beat England in the semis but lost their heads and lost 24-7, Jonny Wilkinson landing five penalties and three drop goals. Laporte is determined it will not happen again, and in an impressive build-up, the English and Welsh players were struck by one thing: verbal provocation that would usually induce penalties against the French drew a blank. Zidanes they were not.
There is another difference. "It was a huge event when France won the football in 1998," Chabal said. "There were 10 million supporters in Paris and it was unbelievable. If we can do the same we will have the support behind us. It is good for our heads and our confidence. We are fit and we look good on the pitch but we will have to play the games to know the truth."
Le 8 novembre 2005, Michael Bloomberg est réélu pour un second mandat de quatre ans à la tête de la mairie avec 59% des voix contre 41% à Fernando Ferrer. Cette victoire dans une ville qui vote régulièrement démocrate lors des consultations nationales constitue alors le quatrième échec consécutif de ce camp à réinstaller l'un des siens à la mairie.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's frenetic launching period has been globally positive, though the operative word is "globally." From Libya to Brussels by way of reforms at home, the relentless Sarkozy has given people the feeling France has finally awakened from a long sleep to become a vibrant, enthusiastic "new France." But now we're starting to see what I'd call a Hitchcockian "shadow of doubt": the public has started asking how much lasting result all this action is producing.
At home, Sarkozy often says he wants to give greater freedom to markets, but his actions show he's no economic liberal at heart. The merger of Gaz de France and Suez is the perfect example of an interventionist state influencing companies and the market. Politically, Sarkozy has shown true genius in undermining the Socialist Party by attracting some of its leading lights to his team. But is mere political calculation also behind his backing of Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn to head the International Monetary Fund? Sarkozy's motives are often open to question — and differ from his stated objective. 
