So, it's World Cup time for France again, as they play their first game of this tournament later today against Honduras.
And I am guessing that I'm not the only fan of the French team that doesn't really know what to expect. I have mentioned before my own belief that France has been, far and away, the most inconsistent national squad since at least around 1982. They have tasted glorious success at the highest levels, with huge victories. And they have tasted the most horrendous defeats and embarrassments, on a historic level. It could be an impressive and decisive victory, or it could be a fiasco, and a foreboding sign of things to come. Quite frankly, either scenario is entirely feasible with France in the World Cup.
France's Blaise Matuidi is promising that the disaster of 2010, and the rebellion among French players that made all of the headlines for the wrong reason in the World Cup in South Africa, will not be repeated this time around.
Thank God for small favors!
Raymond Domenech was the coach of that disastrous 2010 French World Cup squad. Yes, he was the coach that the players went on strike against, and did not respect.
And as unruly and idiotic as that may have been, Domenech's recent revelations on what he thinks of the world situation, and the French National team's role in it, might be a bit of a revelation illustrating why he was the coach that, arguably, led his team to the worst, most embarrassing World Cup results ever in 2010.
Here he is, discussing how France's victory over Ukraine to qualify them for this World Cup may have contributed to the Ukrainian crisis:
“The Ukrainians thought they had qualified,” explained the 62-year old said in an interview with French GQ magazine. “If they had eliminated us, they would have something to cling on to by saying: ‘We’re going to the World Cup, let’s talk about something else and take on the Russians on the pitch.’ Involuntarily, we are perhaps partially responsible for the crisis in Ukraine.”
At least he is not outright saying that the French team's victory caused the disastrous state of things in Ukraine, right?
But then, in his own words, he seems a whole lot more certain that France's win was indeed responsible for the present predicament that Ukraine finds itself in:
“When I see what state we put Ukraine in, it depresses me. If only Ukraine had won.”
So, following this logic, the hostilities between the ethnic Russian minority (which is actually a majority in some parts of the country) and the rest of Ukrainians, not to mention the overall discontent at the living standards, a high unemployment rate, and a general lack of opportunity to improve one's standing within the country.
No, it was the fault of France's soccer team, for doing what they are supposed to do, and win the game.
Right.
I think Ryan Bailey wrote it best in his article (which is where I am getting these quotes from, by the way - see the link below):
Domenech is a man who picked his teams using astrology, who proposed to his girlfriend on live TV right after his French team had been humuliated at Euro 2008 (she said no), and who called his own players "imbeciles" after their embarrassing 2010 World Cup exit. So he has form for being a bit insane.
What a nut case! I'm glad, at the very least, that he is no longer roaming the sidelines for the French side. He is where he clearly belongs: completely out of the picture (other than as the butt of jokes for stupid comments that he made revealing an exquisitely out of touch viewpoint of the world and how it works).
Matuidi vows there will be no Knysna repeat by Nicolas Pratviel, June 13, 2014:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/matuidi-vows-no-knysna-repeat-180130276--sow.html
Raymond Domenech says France helped cause Ukraine crisis with World Cup playoff win by Ryan Bailey of Dirty Tackle, June 13, 2014:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/france-helped-cause-ukraine-crisis-with-world-cup-playoff-win--says-former-coach-raymon-domenech-143339698.html
And here's a special treat! It's an article about where the members of that amazing 1998 French squad are now, and what they've been doing since that big win:
Where Are They Now? France’s 1998 World Cup Winners
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2009/02/25/1126716/where-are-they-now-frances-1998-world-cup-winners
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