The Guardian, Paris
It was supposed to be a month of French sporting glory, with men in shorts recapturing the heroism of ancient Gaul, distracting the nation from its economic woes and uniting French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new France in victorious flag-waving. But France woke up in a black depression on Thursday after two crushing sporting defeats at home led the country to question the very nature of its new patriotism.
French soccer players declared a "catastrophe" and their place in next year's Euro soccer tournament hung by a thread after a defeat by underdogs Scotland. Days before, the French rugby team had been trounced by similarly unfancied Argentina.
It was a double nightmare as France is hosting the Rugby World Cup, keen to impress four billion global viewers and let off the pent-up energy that would have been expended on the 2012 Olympics if Paris hadn't lost out to London.
But while French commentators marvelled at the fervor of Scottish soccer fans, wondering if the "human tide of rosy-cheeked men in kilts" was behind the Bleus' loss, controversy raged over France's sporting patriotism and whether Sarkozy could be held to blame for sporting catastrophes.
A row has developed over whether it was right to spur on players with the memory of a 17-year-old communist Resistance fighter killed by the Nazis. TV coverage of the French rugby dressing room before the France-Argentina match last week showed the team being read a letter written by the Resistance fighter Guy Moquet before his execution. The letter is a favorite of Sarkozy, who had used it to mark his investiture as president, crying when he heard it and declaring it should be read to all French schoolchildren.
The decision to read it to the rugby team was made by Bernard Laporte, who has accepted a job as junior sports minister in Sarkozy's government as soon as the World Cup is over. But on Thursday, Clement Poitrenaud, the fullback who read the text, complained the dressing room footage made the team look like "cretins."
Moquet's biographer condemned the use of the letter as "grotesque, sad and unbearable."
Crucially, the daily Le Parisien wondered if a letter beginning with the words "I'm going to die" could have "undermined the team's morale."
Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon said on Thursday the president had not asked for the text be read to the players.
Sarkozy, who prides himself on televised jogging and cycling sessions, has restyled himself as a rugby fan and insisted government ministers attend matches in order to reap as much political gain from what most of France assumed would be a clear path to at least the semi-finals.
His advisers have studied the impact of France's 1998 World Cup final victory on former French president Jacques Chirac, who despite not knowing the names of half the team, saw his poll ratings leap.
Sarkozy has joked to the French rugby team that if they lose, he will be blamed.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS