Sports

How It Went Wrong For France In S’ Africa

Published

15 years ago

June 27, 2010

France’s trip to the World Cup has descended into something like a plot from a complex thriller, with the team’s on-field implosion against Mexico the catalyst for an off-field explosion last weekend.

The events of the past days dramatically lifted the lid on the France camp to reveal a grubby underside that is still made muddy by claim and counter-claim in the media.

From the time Raymond Domenech’s side arrived at their training base in Knysna, they have been surrounded by a veil of secrecy, very rarely expressing themselves freely to the media.

The team was locked away as tightly as possible for such a high-profile squad at an event of such magnitude, but even under such close supervision rumours started to spread of a distinct unease.

Domenech has never engendered a great love from the players of the national team, so it was little surprise that the media, who have nothing but contempt for a man who has routinely dodged their questions by answering in a ridiculously cryptic fashion over the last few weeks, were quick to smell blood.

Of course they were aided by allegations that Franck Ribery had conducted congress with a teenage prostitute in Paris just weeks before the World Cup.

And then there was William Gallas’ refusal to speak to the media in the build-up to the competition. His curtain of silence prevented the centre-back from explaining his grievance fully, though most pundits agree that it was instigated by Domenech’s decision to select Patrice Evra as captain.

Just 24 hours before Les Bleus’ opening game against Uruguay came further, and more serious, hints of trouble.

Florent Malouda reportedly had to be held back by Evra from his coach after a training ground disagreement. Domenech believed that ‘Flo’ was acting in too aggressive a manner, leading to the Chelsea player being axed to the bench against Uruguay, a game that was allowed to tamely drift to a scoreless draw and was crying out for the winger’s direct running.

Six days passed without obvious incident, but the fixture against El Tri in Polokwane would start to peel away the layers of protection surrounding l’Equipe de France.

For 45 minutes against Mexico, Les Bleus unsteadily matched their opponents, but after the half-time break there was a distinct change in mood. France’s players suddenly seemed less willing and less concentrated; as if someone had flicked an off button on their performance.

In the wake of the 2-0 loss, which has left France staring at the exit door, reports quickly revealed the events that went on in the bowels of the Peter Mokaba Stadium. Nicolas Anelka, a man not noted for his cool temperament, had a huge fall-out with Domenech.

“Go f*** yourself, you dirty son of a b****,” the media have reported the frustrated Chelsea striker, who later rejected a chance to apologise for the incident, to have said.

Evra has denied that these were the words used by his team-mate, but he has not denied that a ‘clash’ took place. How the media got wind, he only has one explanation.

“This comes from someone who is on the team and wants to hurt the team,” he told the media, explicitly using the word “traitor” to describe the unknown anarchist.

Suspicion clearly lingers around the France squad. Like a good murder mystery, many players, perhaps even staff, have motives, but no-one will shoulder the blame.

But the Anelka saga is not the only controversy to have arisen from the Mexico match. A band of mutineers (Evra, Gallas, Ribery and Thierry Henry), led by retired ace Zinedine Zidane, who was said to have controlled the dressingroom during Les Bleus’ run to the 2006 World Cup Final, is rumoured to have instructed Domenech to reshuffle his formation, dropping Yoann Gourcuff and Sidney Govou in the process.

The coach seemed to be giving the move some thought, but once he learned of Zidane’s influence, he reverted to his original plan.

Domenech, who gives up his post after the World Cup, disappeared on Saturday when he should have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Evra and was labelled “the Invisible Man” by France Football. The stubborn 58-year-old has finally broken, though that seemed apparent from his countenance as Mexico overran his side.

While reports of unrest in squads are not uncommon, England are presently having to fend off such claims, the sheer scale of turbulence in the France squad is monumental. And this is not the end; there are more revelations to come, and more ugly twists in Les Bleus’ World Cup tale, which isn’t even officially over yet.

On Sunday, just a few minutes after taking the field for a training session at their Knysna base, captain Patrice Evra and fitness coach Robert Duverne became involved in an argument. Domenech stepped in and Duverne stormed away as the players walked off and boarded the team bus.

The coach returned moments later to read a statement from the squad to the assembled media. “All players without exception want to declare their opposition to the FFF decision to exclude Nicolas Anelka,” it said.

The statement added the players were angered the Anelka-Domenech row had become public and criticised the FFF “which at no time tried to protect the squad”.

France went ahead to lose 1-2 to South Africa in the last group match to crash out of the world cup without a victory.

Good luck Laurent Blanc, you have a huge job on your hands to rebuild trust amongst this fragmented squad as the coup de grace finally puts France out of their South Africa misery.

Sports

UCL: Henry Calls For Return Of Away Goals Rule

Published

2 hours ago

May 1, 2025

The Tide

Thierry Henry has called for the return of the away goals rule in the aftermath of the bombastic Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona.
The visitors at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys came within milimeters of clinching the first leg of the final-four clash after former Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted late in the second-half.
But the linesman was quick to raise his flag, and semi-automated offside ruled out what would have been a thrilling conclusion to the high-octane 3-3 draw.
The hosts came from behind twice to share the spoils, chasing Inter Milan from the first minute of the game after Marcus Thuram stunned the Barcelona faithful into silence with his neatly flicked goal.
Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead 20 minutes later, but it took just three more for the Blaugrana to finally get on the scoresheet courtesy of a moment of magic from teenage starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres drew Barcelona level ahead of the break, but Lamal was forced to play catch-up again in the second-half after Dumfries scored his second.
In light of the impressive effort from Inter, Henry wondered if the team should have got more from the fixture ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
‘I know it’s been like that for a very time, and we have to accept it,’ Henry said of the removal of the away goals rule, ‘But off air I was talking to Jamie (Carragher), and I was like, “how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?”
‘Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home,’ Henry shrugged.
UEFA took the decision to scrap the rule which gave goals scored away from home the ability to act as a tiebreaker in the case of level scorelines ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger claimed during his time as Arsenal manager in 2015 that the away goals rule ‘encouraged the team at home not to attack’ and that ‘the weight of the away goal (was) too big today’.
Without the rules, the tie at San Siro will go to extra time and penalties to decide which teams books their spot in the Champions League final.
But based on Wednesday evening’s performance, Henry seemed to give Inter a fighting chance against the newly minted Copa del Rey champions.

Sports

London Marathon Breaks World Record

Published

2 hours ago

May 1, 2025

The Tide

The 2025 London Marathon set a new world record for the number of finishers despite hot conditions on Sunday for its 45th edition.
A total of 56,640 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the 26.2-mile route, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
The number surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set by the New York Marathon in November.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, said he hoped the high number of finishers inspired people to apply for the 2026 race ballot.
“The London Marathon was already the most popular in terms of ballot entries, with 840,318 people applying for the 2025 race,” he said.
“It is also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.”
The number of people applying for the ballot to enter this year’s race broke the world record of 578,304 for the 2024 edition.
Of UK applicants 49% were female, while there was a 105% increase in applications from people aged between 20-29.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa surged to victory in the elite women’s race in a world record for a women’s only field, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe triumphed in the men’s event.

Sports

Arsenal Eye Special Performance In Paris

Published

2 hours ago

May 1, 2025

The Tide

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has said that his side will have to do something special in Paris if they are to reach the Champions League final following defeat in their semi-final first leg.
Ousmane Dembele’s early strike at the Emirates leaves the Gunners needing to overturn a one-goal deficit against Paris St-Germain in the second leg at the Parc des Princes next week.
It was an ultimately frustrating night for Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, who failed to convert any of their five shots on target.
“If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special. We’re going to have to do something special in Paris to be there,” Arteta said.
PSG dominated the opening 20 minutes of the match and, while the hosts grew into the game, they continued to be frustrated by the French side’s solid defence, failing to score in a home Champions League match for the first time since February 2016.
“We have a lot of chances to be in that final. As I repeat myself, you have to do something special in the competition to have the right to be in the final. And the time to do it is going to be in Paris,” said Arteta.
Arsenal have not reached the final since 2005-06 while PSG are hunting a first Champions League trophy.
As they did against Liverpool and Aston Villa earlier in the campaign, Luis Enrique’s side relied on Italian keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma to keep them out of trouble.
The 26-year-old kept a clean sheet and made five saves – including important stops to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in one-on-one situations.
“At the end, we have two of our front players one v one with Donnarumma. If they scored the goal it is different. He made the saves, like he did against Liverpool and Villa, and that’s the difference in the Champions League,” Arteta said.
But Enrique says the shot-stopper was just doing his job.
“That’s the work of a goalkeeper, no? Save the team, they work every day for that. In a semi-final, you need all the players,” the Spaniard said.