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| France v Brazil – live! | France v Brazil – live! |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| 7.47pm GMT19:47 | |
| So, do send your tweets and emails. What were you doing on That Balmy Summer’s Night In ‘98? What are you doing now? | |
| Updated at 7.48pm GMT | |
| 7.42pm GMT19:42 | |
| This was another exciting game between Brazil and France. | |
| And this was a not-very-exciting game between Brazil and France | |
| 7.37pm GMT19:37 | |
| A very interesting sub-plot in the France squad is the presence of Lyon’s Nabil Fekir on the bench. There’s been a lot of will-he-won’t-he over whether he represents France or Algeria – and this match won’t actually bind him to anything – so if you want to know why, look here: | |
| 7.31pm GMT19:31 | |
| The Brazil starting XI | |
| OFFICIAL XI - Jefferson; Danilo, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Filipe Luís; Luiz Gustavo, Elias; Willian, Oscar; Firmino, Neymar. | |
| Danilo and Firmino are both in, as is Chelsea’s Filipe Luis. So, too, is Thiago Silva – for his first Brazil start since the World Cup! | |
| Updated at 7.35pm GMT | |
| 7.28pm GMT19:28 | |
| The France starting XI | |
| La compo : Mandanda - Evra Sakho Varane Sagna - Matuiti Schneiderlin Sissoko - Griezmann Benzema (c) Valbuena #FRABRE pic.twitter.com/XnDfoho0te | |
| Notable for starts given to Schneiderlin and, at full-back, old stagers Evra and Sagna. Karim Benzema is captain. | |
| 7.25pm GMT19:25 | |
| Nice email from Admir Pajic to kick us off here. What exactly do France have over Brazil? | |
| “If there is ‘Angstgeigner’ (yes, it’s basically ‘a jinx team’ in English but allow me to be a bit pompous) for Brazil, it’s France. They have been responsible for three out of last six big Brazilian defeats at World Cup (1986, 1998, 2006). Even if Zidane was responsible for two of those, I’ve always thought of that French domination over the Brazilians as of the domination of Lizarazus (= hard-working players who do their job in the defence quietly and don’t get enough praise just because they don’t score one preposterous free-kick out of million attempts like Roberto Carlos) over, er, Roberto Carloses.” | |
| 7.00pm GMT19:00 | 7.00pm GMT19:00 |
| Let's party like it's 1998! | Let's party like it's 1998! |
| That’s what you’re thinking, right? Zidane’s headers, Petit’s late goal, Ronaldo’s (the fat one! Not CR7! LOL) blackout, Arsenal winning the World Cup, Brazil going missing in every conceivable way, the last rites for a classic among World Cup theme tunes. Yes, it’s France v Brazil and it’s at the Stade de France – with enough “going on” to make this more than your common or garden friendly. | That’s what you’re thinking, right? Zidane’s headers, Petit’s late goal, Ronaldo’s (the fat one! Not CR7! LOL) blackout, Arsenal winning the World Cup, Brazil going missing in every conceivable way, the last rites for a classic among World Cup theme tunes. Yes, it’s France v Brazil and it’s at the Stade de France – with enough “going on” to make this more than your common or garden friendly. |
| Every day’s a schoolday for France at the moment, with their “ghost” presence in the Euro 2016 qualifiers offering some useful competitive-ish preparation for the tournament they’re hosting and certainly keeping them honest. A 1-1 home draw with Albania – who were most definitely treating the game like a qualifier – proved the point and there have also been useful workouts from the likes of Serbia and Armenia. They have beaten Spain and Sweden since the World Cup too. If Brazil are feeling it then this will be another big test and, as we’ll see, there may be an interesting name or two to conjure with as the night unfolds. | Every day’s a schoolday for France at the moment, with their “ghost” presence in the Euro 2016 qualifiers offering some useful competitive-ish preparation for the tournament they’re hosting and certainly keeping them honest. A 1-1 home draw with Albania – who were most definitely treating the game like a qualifier – proved the point and there have also been useful workouts from the likes of Serbia and Armenia. They have beaten Spain and Sweden since the World Cup too. If Brazil are feeling it then this will be another big test and, as we’ll see, there may be an interesting name or two to conjure with as the night unfolds. |
| France are unbeaten in six games since their World Cup quarter-final defeat to Germany. Brazil? Brazil are on what one resigns oneself to see being called “flames” at the moment. Six consecutive wins since that humiliation at the end of the summer, and if you’re wondering whether they flat-tracked themselves back to happiness then you couldn’t be more wrong – among those victories was an excellent 2-0 win over Argentina in October, played in Beijing. Neymar is back, albeit in slightly lower-key fashion than last summer, and exciting talents such as Porto right-back Danilo and Hoffenheim’s Roberto Firmino are coming to the fore. Dunga is freshening this side up and it might just be that Brazil’s chastening experience nine months or so back prompted a few much-needed changes. | France are unbeaten in six games since their World Cup quarter-final defeat to Germany. Brazil? Brazil are on what one resigns oneself to see being called “flames” at the moment. Six consecutive wins since that humiliation at the end of the summer, and if you’re wondering whether they flat-tracked themselves back to happiness then you couldn’t be more wrong – among those victories was an excellent 2-0 win over Argentina in October, played in Beijing. Neymar is back, albeit in slightly lower-key fashion than last summer, and exciting talents such as Porto right-back Danilo and Hoffenheim’s Roberto Firmino are coming to the fore. Dunga is freshening this side up and it might just be that Brazil’s chastening experience nine months or so back prompted a few much-needed changes. |
| Or it might not. Brazil used a heck of a lot of different players at the best of times. But come with me and see. Just like this guy back when this fixture was cool, you won’t want to miss a thing. | Or it might not. Brazil used a heck of a lot of different players at the best of times. But come with me and see. Just like this guy back when this fixture was cool, you won’t want to miss a thing. |
| 7.00pm GMT19:00 | 7.00pm GMT19:00 |
| Nick will be here shortly. | Nick will be here shortly. |