France
Players To Watch
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Maxime Sprauel
Quarterback
Maxime Sprauel has already established himself as the youngest quarterback at the domestic senior level in France, leading the Thonon les Bains Black Panthers team in the French Alps, near the Swiss border in Division One. He has poise under pressure and wants to play and study in Canada next season.
Sprauel led his club team to the EFAF Federation Cup Playoffs this season. He scored on a 1-yard rush in the 28-14 win against Denmark that earned France third place at the 2008 European Junior Championship. He started two games and also threw a 32-yard touchdown in a narrow 7-6 group stages win versus Russia and scored on a 15-yard scramble to close out a 45-25 win against Spain. In that game, he completed 7-of-10 pass attempts for 163 yards and entered the third place game with figures of 13 completions on 24 attempts for 236 yards and a touchdown.
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Steven Joacin
Fullback
A 5-foot-11 tailback, Steven Joacin is a tough, physical impact player who plays club football for one of the biggest clubs in the north suburbs of Paris, la Courneuve Flash. Joacin scored on a 29-yard touchdown run in the 28-14 win against Denmark that clinched third place at the 2008 European Junior Championship and a berth in Canton. In the EJC group stages, a 4-yard Joacin touchdown earned a 7-6 lead over Sweden in a game France would eventually lose 20-13, and he accounted for all his country’s points with a 3-yard score and a two-point conversion to take a fourth quarter lead. He closed out that game with 15 carries for 16 yards. Joacin rushed 8 times for 62 yards, including the game’s first touchdown in a 45-25 win against host Spain and led the team with 16 carries for 73 yards in a 7-6 defeat of Russia.
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Giovanni Nanguy
Linebacker
In only his second year of playing football, he discovered the game in Rouen and this year went to the French academy in Amiens. Originally from the Ivory Coast, he recently gained his French citizenship and will wear the blue French national team jersey for the first time in Canton. Nanguy is physically built and can run and cover with good speed.
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Thomas Ruiz
Running Back
Thomas Ruiz participated in the EJC in Spain. A pocket running back with good speed, good feet and a big heart, he is also very agile. A quiet person, Ruiz works hard on and off the field and is a leader through his actions rather than his words.
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Geoffrey Dieny
Linebacker
A very talented player with good potential, Geoffrey Dieny was discovered through the French federation recruiting process that sees every regional league organize its own scouting structure to ensure every player has a chance to be seen. He is a member of a new team, the Besancon Bisons, which has not yet played its first official game, so when Dieny lines up against the United States, it will be his first-ever full game of football.