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Latest update: 25/06/2010
- 2010 FIFA World Cup - France - Raymond Domenech
Thierry Henry makes silent exit from meeting with Sarkozy
France’s star striker Thierry Henry made a silent exit from a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée palace on Thursday, where he and the president discussed the team’s dramatic World Cup exit.
France’s star striker Thierry Henry left the Elysée palace without comment after meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday to discuss the team’s dismal World Cup performance in South Africa.
The French football team, Les Bleus (The Blues), arrived home earlier in the day after a miserable World Cup encounter that has prompted anger and condemnation from across the nation, including from Sarkozy.
Riot police were deployed at Le Bourget airport north of Paris as the team arrived, although fans were conspicuous by their absence.
Sarkozy met veteran striker Thierry Henry at the player’s request to discuss how and why things went so wrong for the team.
Even the president’s personal intervention is seen in some quarters as adding to France’s embarrassment.
Daily newspaper Le Parisien quoted a French member of the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, as saying that a meeting of ministers on Wednesday to discuss events at the World Cup was “the pinnacle of the ridiculous”.
“The President of the Republic is there to deal with problems faced by the French people, not to get personally involved in the running of the French Football Federation,” he said.
“Sport is entertainment, and [Sarkozy’s] involvement in it risks politics becoming entertainment as well,” Cohn-Bendit added. “Sarkozy is debasing himself to Anelka’s level,” a reference to the star striker whose temper seemingly started Les Bleus’ decline.
Ignominy
Les Bleus crashed out of the tournament in South Africa on Tuesday having scored just one goal in three matches and suffering the embarrassment of a sacked striker and a team in mutiny.
Striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home after firing off some choice words at coach Raymond Domenech in the locker room on June 17, living up to his reputation as the “enfant terrible” of French football.
The rest of the players subsequently went on strike by refusing to train ahead of France's 2-1 loss to South Africa, which left the team in last place in Group A.
"In 11 days of competition, Raymond Domenech's gang has succeeded in becoming the laughingstock of the entire world, a mix of arrogance, incompetence, a lack of talent and professionalism," France Soir newspaper declared.
France winger Florent Malouda apologised to his country and its football fans, and conceded that restoring the team’s battered reputation would now be a priority.
Knocked out
“It's a complete disaster that we chose to express ourselves like this,'' said Malouda, who flew out on his own before the rest of the team. “We honestly didn't know it would affect people so much. …We're really sorry for the French population and the French fans.”
“The image we have shown to the world, the way they see France right now, is a disaster,” Malouda went on to say. “As players, we are primarily responsible for that. Before the World Cup we had great expectations, and we are leaving without winning a single game.''
Malouda was the only French player to score at the 2010 World Cup. When the final whistle blew after the loss to South Africa, the enormity of his team’s embarrassing exit hit him hard.
“It's just like you get knocked out,'' he said. “When you feel the atmosphere in the stadium, you want to stay in the competition -- but we know we haven’t earned it. What can we do? Go home. We deserve it.''
But not all the players were as willing as Malouda to accept the blame.
Many observers, including former French stars Zinedine Zidane and Bixente Lizarazu, blamed Domenech for letting the situation spiral out of control and the French Football Federation for retaining him, even after the team failed to make it out of the group stage at Euro 2008.
Domenech ended his six-year reign without a trophy and in contentious style, refusing to shake the hand of South Africa's coach -- a move that only brought more public derision to the French team’s handling of this year’s World Cup.
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Comments (9)
whatever happened, i still like them!
I AMTHEIR FANS FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS. I STILL LIKE THEM AS PLAYERS. THEY DON'T LACK THE SKILLS, OR PROFESSIONALISM. THEY ARE GOOD!!! IT'S ENOUGH TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. ITALY LOST TOOOOOO. BUT THEIR COACH WAS MUCH BETTER IN A WAY OF ADMITTING THAT THEIR LOST WAS HIS FAULT. JUST A SIMPLE COMPARISON OF HIM & FRENCH COACH!!!! DOES IT RING A BELL?!! I THINK YES. FRANCE WILL ALWAYS HAVE GOOD TEAM, THEY WILL OVERCOME THIS. IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS PEOPLE WILL FORGET ABOUT THIS, PLAYERS WILL CONTINUE IN THEIR CLUBS, BUT THE COACH WILL STILL HAS THAT BLACK SPOT ON HIS RESUME....
FRANCE WORLD CUP PERFORMANCE
The French players should be strong and carry out a postmortem of what went wrong in South Africa. What happened to 'The Blues' can happen to any team- such is football. Politicians should not make capital out of this french football disaster, losing is part of the game and it will always be!
Ireland - get over it!
Cheating in football is now part of the game, doesn't make it right I know, but it has gone on in almost every world cup match played so far - so enough of the Henry bashing all the time eh?
Domenech should have been given his marching orders a long time ago, he was a very poor football manager and if his actions towards the South African coach are anything to go by, he may be lacking in people skills too. Maybe time and Sarko's inquiry will show that the players had just cause to act how they did?
i like france 24 news alots.
to me france24 is one of the best stations in the whole world. this year my friends laughed at me because france went out in the group stages.but it will be better next time.
Just before the Irish get on
Just before the Irish get on their high horse, we must remember that they themselves benefitted from some highly contentious decisions in the preceding matches. Furthermore the Irish were not through anyway as had the goal not counted it would have been a draw.
The referee’s decision is final, it is not up to the player to challenge. The Brazilians were certainly not complaining in their match against the Ivory Coast when Luis Fabiano handled twice in the box before scoring.
Disastrous
Such quality but such a abysmal performance. Totally shocking the entire French WC campaign…….
My friends and I we have for over decade celebrated this team - the skill, the camaraderie, the passion – their wins and their trophies and now this………..We are so distraught
Les Bleus, Get up and redeem yourself!
2010 World Cup
Just what has this to do with Sarkozi? His job is to run the country and leave sport to its rightful masters; the fans.
Maybe he was looking for a great victory to bolster his popularity. British ex prime minister, John Major, used to say that his ratings went up if England beat Australia at cricket. When the national football team lost, as they often did, they were not summoned to explain themselves to the Queen.
The man has just heaped humiliation upon humiliation.
As for the Anelka incident, when was an official's personal pride more important than the national team's success?
World Cup Exit
In view of the fact that the team cheated their way into the finals, an early exit is justice.
The FFF could have voluntarily agreed to replay that match and they would then have earned the right to go to South Africa.
As it is they didn't merit their place and it is right that they should not be there.
Cheats should not be allowed to profit from their actions.
I am so happy
All I can say is well done France, you got what you deserved, after cheating to get to the world cup..
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