There are some moments from a World Cup that stick in the memory and while much of the actually tournament is forgotten, the moment of brilliance, that which was unexpected, lives on, never to age or be dulled by time. One such moment came in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan, where France, reigning world and European champions, were humbled by debutants Senegal.
That match was surely one of the greatest ever World Cup shocks, with only perhaps North Korea’s triumph over Italy in 1966, East beating eventual champions West in the German derby of 1974, or nine-man Cameroon shocking Diego Maradona’s Argentina 20 years ago comparable in magnitude. Yet, whereas these upsets were quite clearly freak results and were soon out of the system as the respective fallen giants picked themselves back up again, Les Bleus seem to be suffering from the aftershocks of this seismic rupture of football’s hierarchy and after woeful displays against Uruguay and Mexico in South Africa, they are set for even more embarrassment.
After that opening defeat eight years ago, France went on to fire a blank against Uruguay – with a top-form Thierry Henry sent off in the process – and not even the return of Zinedine Zidane could stop them sliding to defeat against Denmark, heading out of the World Cup goalless and bottom of a group that had been straightforward.
Euro 2004 was not much better, as negotiating a decent group was followed by joining the list of big scalps as Greece anti-footballed their way into romantic sporting folklore, and Euro 2008 was even worse, with a bore draw with Romania, a prelude to a thrashing by Holland and a tame defeat to a shaky Italian side.
France’s one successful campaign was in 2006, when they reached the World Cup final, but even this was highly fortunate; two terrible performances and an unconvincing win against a poor Togo side, diving for the crucial free kick to beat Spain, a good game against an underwhelming Brazil, a narrow win over a jittery Portugal and a penalty shoot-out loss to Italy which, considering Luca Toni had a legitimate goal disallowed in normal time, they were lucky to get.
It will take an big stretch for France to qualify from here on in, as a win over South Africa would have to be matched by Uruguay losing to Mexico by such a margin that the French can overhaul a five-goal deficit in goal difference. Judging by their performances so far, it seems more likely that France won’t even beat South Africa, let alone win by enough goals to threaten Uruguay, who probably won’t lose anyway (all they need is a draw to top the group and avoid Argentina, and Mexico, who could go home if they lose, might settle for a draw).
So what has turned the champs of France ’98 and Euro 2000 into the chumps of 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010? Normally it is the changing of the guard, the transition from one gifted golden generation to a devalued new standard, from the age of gods and heroes to the age of mere mortals. While this team may be worse than the side of Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram, Bixente Lizarazu, Zinedine Zidane and only has faded versions of Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, there is more than enough quality in the shape of Franck Ribéry, Yoann Gourcruff, Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and Patrice Evra for at the very least a quarter-final side, about the same level as maybe Germany, who have so far flourished in this tournament. The contrast with the Germans is apposite, as their Teutonic neighbours have achieved a World Cup final, semi-final and a European Championship final with teams far worse than either their or France’s current squads, and with a younger and more inexperienced side they have embarrassed the meekly surrendering French veterans with their energy, vibrancy and team ethic.
The obvious place to look at if a team of good individuals is failing is that of the manager, and in Raymond Domenech France have one who seems to fulfil that role in name only. All the credit he earned with the run to the final in Berlin was lost with pitiful Euro 2008 – which in addition to the Dutch hiding they received also saw home and away defeats to Scotland in qualifying – and another patchy pre-tournament campaign, entering the World Cup second to Serbia and via the most infamous handball for a generation against a spirited (if limited) Ireland, has tarnished his reputation entirely. Given his prickly demeanour and erratic behaviour, how Domenech survived the Euros debacle is a mystery.
However, whilst much of the blame for the woes of the French side must be apportioned to their deluded, demented and deranged head coach – accusations levelled at him at various points by the press, particularly in France – he is not the only one at fault. Seen as the man who fans would arguably label France’s worst ever manager, he is also the longest serving incumbent in the post, so it would seem as though something is wrong at the France Football Federation, and the weakness and dithering they showed in not sacking him after Euro 2008 or during their qualification struggles, only to announce he will be replaced by Laurent Blanc during the crucial tournament preparations, is so stupid it almost makes the bed-hopping headless chicken that the English FA impersonates seem cogent in thought and deed.
The players also have to share the burden of responsibility, as their constant backbiting, infighting and political intriguing has eroded the team unit to a point where their play was disjointed and dysfunctional – if they wanted change, such is the balance of power in their favour (and public opinion against Domenech) a coup d’état would have been easy.
A vicious cycle of bad management, buck-passing bureaucracy and underperforming players weighed down by recent history has thus turned the once mighty French from champions and favourites into a calamity, and the legacy of that fateful afternoon when Papa Bouba Diop bundled in a goal against his country’s former colonial masters is still apparent today. Unless the new side get behind their manager and he in turn is supported by the suits that hired the heroic ex-captain of those glory days, then it will be a long time before memories of Les Bleus are happy.
