Franck Ribery Injury: How Far Can France Go Without Ribery?

Franck Ribery is the arguably the best player on the planet. Recently voted No. 3 in the world behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Ribery is able to change the course of any game he is in with a single shot.

Unfortunately for the rest of the world, his talents will NOT be on display in Brazil this summer. Ribery was ruled out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup last week with a lower back injury and was left off the final roster.

With Ribery out, France’s chances of making a deep run in this year’s tournament are dealt a mammoth blow. Ribery has been the best player on European powerhouse, Bayern Munich where he has 16 goals in 81 appearances.

His last appearance was in the German Cup Final on May 17 where in order to get the victory, Bayern Munich Coach Pep Guardiola, subbed Ribery into the closely fought match (when he was supposed to be resting the back injury) and left him in the game until extra time after Bayern had scored the game winning goal. This decision led to criticism by doctors and experts saying Ribery should not have played in that match if he wanted to be ready for the World Cup.

Regardless, Ribery is out and an opportunity for 27 year old Arsenal star, Olivier Giroud arises. Giroud will now get to play alongside Arsenal teammate, Laurent Koscielny, whom already have a lot of chemistry together. Giroud will be placed on the right with longtime rival Karim Benzema moving to the left, giving France two strikers who can score from either side.

Will the new offensive experiment work? With such little preparation time, only time will tell, but there is still hope for Les Bleus as the new strikers will see plenty of pin point passes from young rising star, Paul Pogba.

France has the skill and speed to make it out of Group E with or without Ribery. If they can win the group which I believe they can, they will face an easy second round opponent in either Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nigeria or Iran. If they finish as the runner-up in Group E, a second round date with Argentina and Lionel Messi awaits them. The verdict? If they want to go deep into this tournament without Ribery, France has to win Group E.