He knew it. With a growing feeling of insecurity creeping into the French camp. As for me, it’s over. France lost that game, too, and was eliminated for its second straight tournament under Domenech, without a victory in either the 2008 European Championship or the 2010 World Cup. Le Foot had been thrown into disrepute. A tempestuous, moody player, if at times a brilliant one, Anelka scored the goal that helped to qualify France for the World Cup last November. lt was his second “retirement,” since he had also refused to play under a previous coach, Jacques Santini. The Mexicans struggled to find a way past Hugo Lloris but broke through just after the hour mark as Javier Hernández slotted into the net to give his country the lead. “I believe that each player has the right to a second chance,” he added. The look on his face was not one of bewilderment, but of barely disguised boredom. He’d lost speed? “I felt I’d been set aside,” he repeated, “and [when that happens], a man’s pride takes a knock.”. The first leg at Croke Park had finished in a 1-0 win for the French, leaving the Irish needing a breakthrough at the Stade de France if they were to reach South Africa. A photograph of Ribéry tangling with Mexican striker Guillermo Franco was accompanied by a scathing editorial, in which Fabrice Jouhaud exhorted his readers to laugh at Domenech’s pitiful crew. In the first of these two encounters, in which Les Bleus actually showed a surprising degree of enterprise and imagination, the armband had been given to Patrice Evra – who’d kept it on when Thierry entered the fray in the second half. No transcript of what must have been a fascinating conversation was passed on to the press. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was an international football tournament held in South Africa from 11 June until 11 July 2010. With a promising new generation of footballers on the cusp of bringing a trophy back to the land of romance, the debacle of the 2010 World Cup may now only seem like a faraway nightmare for the French people. Deep in the bowels of the Peter Mokaba stadium, the Chelsea striker had had a blazing row with his manager at half-time, which he refused to apologise for when prompted to by Fédération Française de Football (FFF) President Jean-Pierre Escalettes. FRENCH CULTURE has always carried an enormous weight of respect. Thierry Henry had more pressing matters to attend to before he could lose himself in his New York dreamscape [he was joining New York Red Bulls from Barcelona in the summer 2010], starting with his uneasy position within the French national team. The dream was very much alive for the men in green, as Kevin Kilbane fed a ball to Damien Duff, who chased the pass to the byline. When the rebellious squad eventually emerged, they were clutching a letter, which it fell to Domenech to read out. The very foundations of the country seem to be built on romance, cuisine, fashion and stunning architecture, and the sprawling City of Lights continues to be a shining pillar on an increasingly unsure continent. That proposal could be defended in tactical terms, but also hinted at racial faultlines within a squad in which players of West Indian and African origin outnumbered Caucasians by two to one. In open rebellion against their manager, France’s 2010 squad self-destructed as Thierry Henry watched impassively, Sat 12 May 2018 05.55 EDT And thankfully for Les Bleus, the next few tournaments showed remarkable signs of improvement. Malouda had to held back by his captain. The following day, Domenech’s impotence to deal with his squad of egos was fully realised in spectacular fashion. As Arsène Wenger remarked, whilst it seemed that every other white van and black cab was adorned with the flag of St George in London, the tricolour was noticeable by its complete absence from Paris streets. The French squad began by signing autographs, and the sombre mood that surrounded the camp seemed to have been temporarily lifted. A federal council shall be convened immediately on the completion of the French team’s campaign to draw all the conclusions of the crisis that has been created.”. But there is no denying what happened, and it is certain to forever remain the darkest moment in French football – a shady, vulgar blot on an otherwise sparkling and rich history. The coach seemed to be caught between a rock and a hard place and the scene was described by some commentators as the most unbelievable in the history of Les Bleus. A disciplinary commission of the … Domenech had to separate Evra and Duverne. The Chelsea striker argued with Domenech in the dressing room at half-time in last Thursday’s defeat by Mexico, reportedly saying: “Go fuck yourself, you son of a whore.” After he refused to apologise to Domenech, the FFF expelled him from the squad. Finally, the embarrassment was over. Malouda had to held back by his captain, Patrice Evra, after he had squared up to Domenech following a training ground disagreement. However, as the players took to the pitch, Evra could be seen having a row with the fitness coach, Robert Duverne. However, the most noticeable change came just last year, during Euro 2016. The French team had retired to a five-star fortress on the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Peluza Hotel in Knysna, which was only accessible if you could get hold of a boat or show the proper identification documents to the policemen manning a roadblock on the one road leading to the luxurious compound. “We wanted Anelka’s sanction to set an example,” said Jean Mazzella, the disciplinary commission president. It would distance him from the reviled Domenech. A disciplinary commission of the French Football Federation, or F.F.F., banned one player, the 31-year-old striker Nicolas Anelka for 18 matches, virtually ending his international playing career. With a promising new generation of footballers on the cusp of bringing a trophy back to the land of romance, the debacle of the 2010 World Cup may now only seem like a faraway nightmare for the French people. This forced the hitman to rapidly pack his bags, before being sent home from the tournament.