Sport | Football
The French connection among Dubai fans
The companies may only have 'French' in their name, but a little bit of French flair seems to have rubbed off on employees of several French-themed Dubai businesses ahead of their semifinal clash against Portugal today.
- By Danna Farhang, staff reporter
- Published: 00:00 July 5, 2006
Dubai: The companies may only have 'French' in their name, but a little bit of French flair seems to have rubbed off on employees of several French-themed Dubai businesses ahead of their semifinal clash against Portugal today.
With Les Bleus' surprise victory over Brazil, the team which were quickly written off as 'too old' have become the dark horse of the World Cup. And with expectations running high, employees of 'French' businesses are confident the team will rise to the Portuguese challenge.
"France is going to win because they're slowly improving and they're going to reach the final of course.
I even predicted that they would win against Brazil," said Baby Jacob, an employee of French Arabian Perfumes in Jebel Ali.
"Portugal has only reached the semifinals because of good goalkeeping, not good playing. They don't play very well and they're really just surviving."
However, Amedee Santalo, a Frenchmen working for French Concepts Digital Solutions in Deira, had a different take on why France would make it to the final.
"Portugal is a very strong team and that's why I predict that France will win because they'll be scared of them.
France are motivated because they weren't very good and they just barely qualified for the World Cup. Now they realise they can still play well," he said.
At the Paris Gallery in Wafi City, Isra Mehdi was confident that the team would take it all the way. "France is going to win the World Cup, especially after the game with Brazil. They have surprised a lot of people and proven that they really are a good team. They'll do it, but I think it'll be a good competition."
Still, others like Farida Bahar, the manager of the French Connection clothing stores in Dubai said that while her heart was with France, her head was with Portugal.
"We're the French Connection, so we have to be with France," she said.
However, "they're both strong teams but I think that Portugal is going to win . . . they have better players."
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