France is a wild card. I know that they are always a favorite and were the runner-ups four years ago, but my prediction for The France: They will barely make it out of the group stage and will lose in the round of 16. Reasons: They are not a cohesive team. There is a lot of dissention among the players, and really, based on recent history (last four years) when was the last time Les Bleus did anything really great. They even had to cheat Ireland to get it. Even though they can probably beat any team on “their day” with the talent they have, the loss to China last week (Who knew that China even played soccer?) has convinced me that they will not have “their days” this year.

With as much as I love French things like, crepes, Django Reinhardt, Yeves Montand, Charles Trenet, Edith Piaf, nasty smelling cheeses, macrroons, and talking with a french accent I don’t think the french are going to do well.