Big toe crew bags Asian hip-hop competition prize

A Vietnamese hip-hop dance crew has bagged the first prize at Southeast
Asia's Battle of the Year (BOTY) contest in Singapore

The 11-member crew, which belong to the top hip-hop dance group in Viet
Nam , Big Toe, vied with five other hip-hop crews from Thailand ,
Malaysia , Laos , Singapore , and Indonesia for the prize.

The crew will now have the chance to compete at the World BOTY, which
will take place in Montpellier , France , next month.

"Although we have sent our members to compete at BOTY every year since
2005, this is the first time a Big Toe crew has won the contest," said
Big Toe's leader, Nguyen Viet Thanh.

The nine-day contest
in France will draw 19 crews from five continents, including
representatives from the Republic of Korea , France , Brazil , and
Taiwan , who are considered to be Big Toe's closest competitors.

Founded in 1992 with seven original members, Big Toe currently has 60
members, divided into four dance groups. They are widely recognised as
Vietnam 's first hip hop dance troupe.

With a number of
top prizes won at a variety of international competitions, Big Toe were
awarded the Certificate of Merit on Oct. 12 by the Vietnam Electronic
Sport and Recreational Sport Association under the Ministry of Culture,
Sport and Tourism.

Big Toe are planning to tour around
France and Germany next year to present their hip-hop theatre
production, Cam Xuc Thay Doi (Change of Emotion)./.

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France must change criteria to develop youngsters

Newly appointed coach of France's national team Laurent Blanc addresses a news conference at the headquarters of the French Football Federation (FFF) in Paris, July 6, 2010

Photo: Reuters

France, who suffered a humiliating exit from the World Cup, must overhaul their selection policies for developing young talent, new coach Laurent Blanc said on Tuesday.

Blanc told reporters at a UEFA conference in Madrid that the once mighty French side must put more emphasis on technical ability rather than physical power if they were to restore their status.

He said Spanish World Cup winners like Xavi and Andres Iniesta, two of the most gifted creative midfielders in the world game, might not have been successful in French soccer because of their slender physique.

"Selection criteria at one time (in France) were for big players whereas in Spain it's the football that counts, the technical qualities," Blanc said.

"The criteria are not good enough in France -- we need other ones," he added.

"Players like Xavi and Iniesta, in France they would have a hard time getting through."

Blanc took over from Raymond Domenech after Les Bleus were knocked out of the World Cup and he has the task of rebuilding confidence and restoring pride in a squad still reeling from an ugly spat between players and management at the tournament in South Africa.

France's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign got off to a poor start with a surprise 1-0 home defeat to Belarus but they recovered to beat Bosnia 2-0 in Sarajevo in their second match.

Blanc, who played for clubs including Barcelona, Olympique Marseille, Inter Milan and Manchester United, said national team coaches should follow Spain's example if they wanted to be successful, with the focus on technique more than strength.

"Spanish football is profiting from the healthy state of its clubs (like Barcelona)," he added. "It's a good example to follow for all football nations."

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France must wake up after "slap in the face"

France's Yann M'Vila (L) talks to team mate Adil Rami during their Euro 2012 qualifying soccer match against Belarus in Saint-Denis September 3, 2010

Photo: Reuters

France have no option but to fight back straight away after starting their Euro 2012 soccer qualifying campaign in humiliating fashion, defender Bacary Sagna said.

"Catastrophic", screamed a headline on the front page of French sports daily L'Equipe on Saturday, a day after Les Bleus fell 1-0 to modest Belarus at Stade de France in new coach Laurent Blanc's first competitive game in charge.

"We took a slap in the face," Sagna told reporters after France looked toothless up front and naive at the back against relatively harmless opposition.

"It's a nuisance to start with a defeat, especially at home, but we must keep our heads held high and get back to work immediately," he added.

Blanc, who took over from Raymond Domenech after the World Cup fiasco and needs to rebuild the team, made it clear he expected an improvement by Tuesday, when France play their second Group D match against Bosnia in Sarajevo.

"We're in a difficult situation and we need to fight, which is exactly what we will do," Blanc, who relied on a young and largely untested team, told reporters.

Blanc knows, however, that he has a problem in that very few players on his list can score goals.

"You have to face the fact that the best two scorers in our team (against Belarus), Malouda and (Louis) Saha, had scored just four (international) goals," he said. "You can't say that we have players who know how to score goals."

Jeered off

France, who shocked their fans at the World Cup by boycotting a training session after Nicolas Anelka was sent home for insulting Domenech, have a long way to go to recapture their place among the world's elite.

Early cheers from the Stade de France stands on Saturday suggested the France supporters at least agreed with Blanc that a fresh start with young blood was needed.

Ninety dull minutes later, however, the players were jeered off the pitch.

With playmakers Yoann Gourcuff and Samir Nasri sidelined by suspension and injury respectively and two new names on his long injury list, Saha and fellow forward Loic Remy, Blanc will be forced to experiment again against Bosnia.

"Nothing works in our favor at the moment with all those injuries," said Blanc. "It's difficult to find anything positive in a defeat but there were things in our game that I liked."

France looked fairly solid at the back until they dropped their guard at the worst possible moment, conceding a goal four minutes from time.

"When you can't win, you must make sure not to lose but that sort of thing comes from experience," Blanc said. "When you're young, you make mistakes.”

“Our problem is we cannot afford to make any."

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