IT HAS been the Year of the French. For all the wrong reasons, Les Bleus have left an indelible impression on this World Cup following their extraordinary exit from Africa’s tournament.
France’s World Cup began with the infamous handball that Thierry Henry perpetrated against Ireland on that emotional night in Paris last November. It ended with the decorated Barcelona striker entering the scene yesterday as the grimmest of conclusions faced the French.
Henry even suffered the divine misfortune of having the ball glance off his arm as he tried to control it, an error that was replayed in slow motion on television screens throughout South Africa and across the world. It evoked, of course, instant recall of Henry’s scandalous intervention in that play-off match against Ireland and deepened the sense that France’s World Cup adventure has been stalked by that moment.
While all of South Africa was riveted by the rousing performance of Bafana Bafana, who needed not just a win but a five-goal turnaround to progress, France’s nightmare began early when Bongani Khumalo put South Africa ahead after 20 minutes. Then they lost attacker Yoann Gourcuff to a red card after he clattered into Macbeth Sibaya with a stray elbow. Ten demoralised Frenchmen, regardless of their mercurial talent, could not halt the unstoppable emotion of the South Africans. Inevitably, unbelievably, they soon trailed by two clear goals. French coach Raymond Domenech watched on, ashen-faced, presiding over his last match. “Like everybody we’re sad and disappointed even if in that game I saw some of the qualities I expect from that team: some heart, generosity and solidity.”
It was difficult not to feel sympathy for the sheer loneliness of the man in those minutes, self- inflicted as his destruction may have been. He has been under intolerable pressure in recent days, as evidenced in his strange refusal to shake hands with Carlos Parreira, his South African counterpart, afterwards.
“He said I insulted the French team and for the life of me, I don’t know what I said,” the bemused Parreira said.
Nothing can mask the appalling breakdown that the French suffered here. Their abdication was such that with a bit more luck and composure, South Africa could have concocted the five goals they needed.
Everywhere, the ghost of Giovanni Trapattoni’s Irish team was out there on the field in Bloemfontein. The international sense that Ireland was somehow robbed of a rightful place in this tournament has been overwhelming.
France came into South Africa as the popular villains of the cast and exit to gleeful farewells.