France Vs. USA, 2011 International Friendly: Loic Remy Goal Wins It For Les Bleus

France Vs. USA, 2011 International Friendly: Les Bleus Top USMNT Thanks To Loic Remy Goal

It took until the 72nd minute, but a goal by Loic Remy finally broke the deadlock as France topped the United States in a friendly at Stade de France on Friday. Frankly, the U.S. should be thankful it wasn't three or four goals for Les Bleus or that there is no way to give a team negative goals for complete incompetence in the attacking third. In the end though, Remy's goal was it and it was enough for France to win 1-0 in Paris.

The best chance that the U.S. had all match was a hopeful penalty appeal when Jozy Altidore went down in the box in the first half, but the referee correctly waved it off. Meanwhile, Jeremy Menez got a good opportunity for France, only to put it over the bar. Karim Benzema got an opportunity too, but Tim Howard was there to make the save and the two teams went to halftime without a goal.

Coming out in the second half, the French looked possessed. Benzema hit the crossbar and a slew of last second blocks by U.S. defenders were all that kept France from scoring. Then Howard was called on again, making a brilliant save on a free kick to keep the U.S. level.

Howard couldn't do anything about Remy's goal though. Not long after coming on, Remy chased down a long ball over the top of the U.S. defense and in alone on Howard, blasted the ball into the net. The frustrated crowd at the Stade de France erupted as France got the goal they most definitely deserved.

With the U.S. unable to create much at all in the attacking third, an equalizer was always unlikely. They just had no ability whatsoever to build through the midfield and turn it into chances, instead leaving Altidore or Clint Dempsey on an island to work alone. Eventually, the referee blew for fulltime and it was over as France earned the victory.

France Vs. USA Live, 2011 International Friendly: Loic Remy Puts Les Bleus In Front

Finally France have the goal that they most definitely deserve. Loic Remy got in behind the United States defense and blasted the ball past Tim Howard to put Les Bleus in front at the Stade de France. Having missed on several chances in this match, either by missing the frame completely, hitting the bar or having balls blocked in front of goal, it looked like the French might be cursed, but Remy's goal has them in front after 72 minutes.

There wasn't a lot in the France goal. As was the case a few times in the match, the U.S. defense got burned by their high line with a long ball over the top. This time Remy ran into it and the frustrated French fans in Paris finally had something to cheer about as Remy finished easily.

The U.S. hasn't shown the slightest bit of ability to attack in this match so it's hard to imagine them finding an equalizer. They've had zero ideas in the attacking half and unless they have something up their sleeve, it looks like France is going to win this friendly.

France Vs. USA Live, 2011 International Friendly: First Half Ends With A Snooze

It's a snoozer in Paris. The United States and France have done very little in the first 45 minutes and those in attendance at the Stade de France couldn't be blamed if they fell asleep. The U.S. is playing ultra defensively and while France has tried to create, outside of the occasional moment from Franck Ribery or Karim Benzema, they haven't had much. As a result, the two teams go to halftime in a scoreless draw.

The best chances of the first half both came for France. Ribery did the work to create the first chance, dancing on the ball down the left before clearing enough space to cross for Jeremy Menez. The chance was wasted though as Menez got caught on his back foot and put his open shot from 15 yards over the bar.

Just before the halftime whistle, Benzema got a chance. The ball fell through to him and he was in on Tim Howard, but he couldn't quite control it. The best he could do was poke at it and that went right into the legs of Howard.

Stats are often misleading, but one statistic from this match isn't at all. The French have completed 63 passes in the attacking third compared to just 23 for the U.S. Those number perfectly represent the way this match has gone.

France Vs. USA Live, 2011 International Friendly: Lineups

France is already in Euro 2012, while the United States have their continental championship behind them and are months away from World Cup qualifying. That means both teams have time to warm up (read: make money) with an international friendly match. France are without some of their best players, but still field a very strong lineup. They usually play with a single center forward, but their lineup is being listed as a 4-4-2. The USA lineup features no surprises, as Jurgen Klinsmann sticks to his team for the most part. The only notable selection is Clarence Goodson, who is preferred in defense to both Oguchi Onyewu and Michael Orozco Fiscal. Here are the lineups.

United States Lineup (4-2-3-1): Howard; Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra, Chandler; Beckerman, Edu; Shea, Dempsey, Williams; Altidore    

France Lineup (4-4-2): Lloris; Debuchy, Rami, Koscielny, Mathieu; Menez, Diarra, M'Vila, Ribery; Benzema, Gameiro

The match kicks off at 3:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm GMT, and 9:00 pm local time from Paris, France. You can catch it on ESPN2, ESPN3, and Univision in the USA.

We'll have live coverage of the game in our France vs. USA StoryStream. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.    

France Vs. USA, 2011 International Friendly: Live Online Streaming And TV Schedule Information

Jurgen Klinsmann has just one win under his belt as United States manager. He's obviously a lot more concerned with getting his team games against quality competition than he is with improving that record, as the USMNT is on a European vacation, facing a tough friendly against France. Laurent Blanc will be fielding a slightly weakened side against the USA at the Stade de France, but even a Les Bleus B+ team should be a very difficult matchup for the Yanks. If you live in the USA, you can catch this game streaming live online for free, depending on your ISP, and it's widely available on television.

France vs. USA

TV: ESPN2 (English), Univision (Spanish)

Online: ESPN3.com

The match kicks off at 3:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm GMT, and 9:00 pm local time from Paris, France. We'll have live coverage of the game in our France vs. USA StoryStream. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.

France Vs. USA, 2011 International Friendly: Depleted Les Bleus Team Gives Americans A Chance

France is a better team than the U.S., but with Les Blues missing several top players the Americans have a chance to get a win in Paris