Up To Date france

World Cup winner Laurent Blanc will quit his post as Bordeaux’s coach and become France’s manager after the World Cup this summer, replacing current boss Raymond Domenech.

The 44-year-old former defender of Manchester United led Bordeaux during last year’s League and Cup Double. However, his team finished the season with no trophy. He was included in the French team that prevailed in the 1998 World Cup as well as the Euro 2000.

France’s federation is anticipated to formally confirm Blanc as the successor of Domenech on Thursday.

“Girondons Bordeaux have been informed by Laurent Blanc that he wanted to answer favourably to the French federation (FFF)’s solicitation to become the France coach”, said Bordeaux in a statement. “Girondins Bordeaux expect to hear from the FFF on the question of the compensation linked to the release of their coach”.

Blanc had been successful in his career as the centre-back of Marseille, Inter Milan, and Barcelona. However, after his success as Bordeaux’s manager in 2009, his team only finished sixth this season and was eliminated from the Champions League during the quarterfinals by Lyon.

Domenech also suffered the frustrations of the fans, after a disappointing campaign in the Euro 2008 where the French squad only gained one point and finished at the bottom of the group.

Yet the French manager said that he had not been informed yet whether Blanc will replace him after next month’s World Cup in South Africa.

“I’m not the one who decides on this”, Domenech said. “Blanc proved he was able to be in charge at club level. But coaching a national team is a different job. He will have to be ready immediately because the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign starts in September”.

France will begin their campaign in the World Cup on 11 June against Uruguay.

Over 4,000 wines from different corners of the world competed for trophies in the largest wine competition in France last weekend, with Chinese wines drawing attention for contending for the very first time.

A throng of winegrowers, tasters, trained amateurs, technicians, and merchants flocked in the village of Bourg, near the port city of Bordeaux, wherein they judged 4,435 different wines from 33 competing nations in a two-day blind tasting.

Chinese wine producers submitted eight wines in their first time to enter the competition. The list of winners will be revealed by the end of month.

“Bordeaux wine is very well-known in China and it’s better to win a medal in Bordeaux than in the other competitions”, said long-time Bordeaux wine exporter Shuwang Wang, who joined as a taster this year.

Alex Rychlewski, a wine-lover from Bordeaux, has taken part in the event as a taster for more than two decades. Rychlewski said he enjoyed the challenge of blind tasting and wanted “to keep abreast of winemaking trends around the world and to support a part of Bordeaux that is consistently overlooked compared to more ‘noble’ appellations”.

The competition was started by a group of local winegrowers as their way to recognise Blaye and Bourg, with rich wine appellations located around 1,300 wine estates. Two more appellations remain fairly unknown as they maybe overshadowed by their well-known cousins in Saint Emilion and in Medoc located across the Gironde estuary.

Lyon should thank their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for his incredible save late in the game as they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time after beating Ligue 1 rivals Bordeaux.

With Lyon losing by one goal and hanging to an aggregate lead just three minutes left in the game, goalkeeper Lloris leaped across the bar to knock off Wendel’s header.

Marouane Chamakh’s goal during the first half counted for nothing as the first-leg advantage of Lyon held up through the second half of the match.

Lyon was close to getting a goal that will secure their win during the eighth minute of the game, when Michel Bastos made a powerful free-kick just inches wide of the top right of the goal.

But the hosts were starting to find their momentum, nailing Lyon back as they made several crosses to find an opening in the visitors’ defence.

Wendel then made another free-kick from the same spot to create another chance for Chamakh.

Boumsong dropped the ball, but a defender recovered the ball to block the shot made by Chamakh on the turn.

After a few seconds, they were right back in a tied ballgame and it was Chamakh who scored.

Lyon made the pressure against their opponent after halftime, when Michael Ciani was forced to dive and made Bastos’ shot for a corner.

Bordeaux continued to attack to find any sort of opening they could create but failed to do so.

French vineyards launched the annual wine auction in Bordeaux, France this week, featuring a best-seller vintage that they hope would revive their fortunes and lure rich Chinese buyers.

Over 6,000 wine professionals crowded Bordeaux, and most of them are from Western economies, which were forced to cut imports of wines last year.

Traditional markets in northern Europe, Britain and the US may be starting to progress, but wine professionals set their eyes on China, which is the key customer of Bordeaux.

And the blockbuster vintage for this year is said to be of great quality.

James Suckling and Robert Parker, critics of market-making wines, haven’t released their ratings yet, but experts are confirming the claims of winemakers.

“Great vintage, definitely. Certainly among the best vintages ever”, said Michel Rolland, a famous wine consultant. “I think the grapes are better than in 2005 and even the technical approach is the best we have ever had”, he added.

“I think the wines are fascinating people all over the world. If this vintage is not able to bring back a good market, I think we have big trouble for the future in the wine business”, he further noted.

In a process applied in Bordeaux, wines are sold between April and June, over a year before they were bottled, in order to secure the price and supply for buyers.

Big vintages are often talked about, which are fuelled by constant negotiations and trade-only tastings between export clients, merchants and winegrowers.

The vintage last 2005 was sold at high prices, but the following vintages didn’t do well, and the global recession last year affected the market.

The former German naval officer who disobeyed direct orders in order to save the port of Bordeaux, has died aged 91.

Heinz Stahlschmidt was a petty officer with the German navy during the second world war, but orders to destroy the port as the defeated force retreated played on his conscience and he found himself thwarting the German plans before taking refuge with the local resistance.

When issued orders to help arm a series of explosions that would level the port,  Stahlschmidt instead hatched a plan to ensure the operation could not proceed.

Against the direct orders of his superiors he blew up the bunker where detonators and fuses to be used in the attack were stored, rendering the plan unworkable and saving the port and as many as 3,500 lives.

Considered a traitor in his home country, Stahlschmidt remained in the town he had saved, where he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2000 in recognition of his bravery.

Living under the name Henri Salmide, Stahlscmidt worked for the local pompiers until his retirement.

He did not return to his hometown of Dortmund until 2001, and when he did he was wearing his French medal with pride.

Speaking in 1997 Stahlschmidt told a local reporter: “I could not accept that the port of Bordeaux be wantonly destroyed when the war was clearly lost.”

He will be buried at the Bordeaux protestant cemetery on Saturday.