Nicolas Anelka helped France take the lead in the first stage of the play-off with a strike in the 72nd minute. France now have a home advantage going into the second leg, which will be played on Nov 18th, 2009, which will be held in France.

Trapattoni made a late decision to choose Liam Lawrence of Stoke City to play in the right of midfield for Ireland.

Interesting Facts

• If Thierry Henry scores it will be his 5th goal for France this season.
• France haven’t lost in their last 9 games.
• France have scored at least one goal for 10 consecutive matches.

Line-ups

Ireland's keeper-Shay Given, completely dejected

Ireland will now have to pray for some sought of miracle for them to be able to reach the World Cup, after a 0-1 loss to France.

But coach Trapattoni remains positive about their chances in the return leg. Here’s what he had to say:

“Football makes us suffer, but there is another great opportunity in Paris because France have conceded many goals away and also at home.”

He added:

“We must think about this situation, this balance, our performance, our mentality and also what they have allowed opponents in the past. They concede goals and like us, they ended in second place in their group – and we think our group was stronger. We have to think about the positives situation and not the result because in the end, football can come down to a deflection, the crossbar, the referee – there are many situations which can change the result. I don’t wish to speak about luck, but one year, we won a championship with Juventus when an opponent hit the ball against my striker and we scored a goal. If you look at our performance on Saturday night, we played a good game. I have heard also opinion from Italy and other countries, and they said Ireland played a good game against this France team.”