England v France: The great divide

One thing you can always expect from the English and French players, especially when pitted against each other, are words. Good, bad, ugly.....

One thing you can always expect from the English and French players, especially when pitted against each other, are words. Good, bad, ugly…the works. Here are some sound-bytes we picked up

• The English game is very open, but this will not be the case on Sunday, because in front will be France. I know (Arsenal teammate Ashley) Cole won’t do me any favours right from the word go. He’s difficult, but I know which side to take him on
— Robert Pires

• I read last week that Pires thinks they are going to beat us 3-1. They are just ultra confident. It is (our motivation to beat them), but it would be nice to say that after the game rather than before it. A few of their players had a lot to say about our defence, but at the end of the day all that matters is what’s happening out on the pitch
— Paul Scholes

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• You’ve got to worry about Henry, Trezeguet, Zidane and Pires, because they are the dangermen. They are the ones who are going to be creating and scoring the goals. It’s easy to get carried away with just the first one (against France) but it’s about the three games and getting enough points to qualify
— Steven Gerrard

• We are strong enough to prevent any of them (the English) from scoring. Our defence is solid and we get along well together. We are not worried. We don’t care who their strikers are going to be. Owen, Rooney or anyone else. They will try to put up a physical fight but we will give them a taste of our medicine
— Patrick Vieira

• The English have had some good results and they have got some real talent. But we must absolutely not lose this game. It’s so important for peace of mind in such a competition. It will be a very physical match, against a formidable midfield. They run a lot and are not easy to contain, very solid
— Zinedine Zidane

• I respect them and I know better than anyone that they are capable of winning the Euro. The English play with their hearts. In England you give 100 percent, which is something I learned over there. Tactical or not, they always give their all
— Thierry Henry