This seems to be an eternity. Already ten years ago. A stopwatch that flies, players holed up in a bus with curtains drawn… On June 20, 2010 in Knysna, the training of the team of France World cup in South Africa turns to the tragicomedy surreal, with stupefaction of the world’s media.
it All starts after the defeat against Mexico. The Blues are virtually eliminated. On Saturday, June 19, the newspaper The Team publishes in the title of the decade : “Go fuck yourself you son of a bitch. “Nicolas Anelka allegedly insulted, at half-time, the coach of the France team. The new is the effect of a bomb. Captain Patrice Évra launches a full press conference the hunt for the ” mole “, guilty of having revealed the incident that occurred at half-time of France-Mexico between Anelka and Domenech. But how to imagine the explosion that will follow ? Nicolas Anelka is ruled out of the group. The drama is in place.
no one pays attention to one key detail : the Blue wearing sneakers and not cleats.
around 16 o’clock, the because of the Blue makes its appearance on the grounds of the Pezula Resort, a haunt five-star of the France team during the World, a veritable armed camp with stunning views of the Indian ocean. The play area has been pompously called ” The Field of Dreams “. Securely guarded by the local police, the hotel opens its doors for only the second time the public and the media for an entire meeting, a sign of the paranoia that has won the team of France. Fifty journalists and 200 onlookers are present on the outskirts of the lawn, situated below the property.
No harbinger of a clash of amazing that announcement : the players come out of the bus to greet fans and sign autographs. No one pays attention to one key detail : the Blue wearing sneakers and not cleats. A player, however, remained away. He is the captain Patrice Évra, deep in conversation with Raymond Domenech and holding a sheet of paper to the hand. At this time, the players have already decided not to participate in the meeting and the paper in question is a press release written by the group, what the journalists will learn that later.
Disbelief, and confusion
While the coach and Évra speak, the first incident creates disbelief : the fitness coach Robert Duverne, who is obviously aware of the desire to strike players, arises in making signs threatening towards the captain. Duverne is in a rage and it takes the intervention of Raymond Domenech, who grabbed him, to avoid a shouting match. Robert Duverne, infuriated, throws rage at his stopwatch and returned to the hotel. The players, themselves, gather in a circle around Évra before getting directly into the car. They will go down more.
The confusion is total, and Raymond Domenech and Jean-Pierre Escalettes, the president of the French football Federation, are trying to engage in a futile negotiation with the players, which lasted over thirty minutes.
It will take the glow of an officer of the Federation so that journalists have the first explanations of what is playing inside the car of the Blue. Jean-Louis Valentin, managing director of the FFF with the team of France, excited and on the verge of tears, decides to leave the scene with a bang, pursued by a pack of reporters. “Are you the mole ?” even dares to a French journalist.
Former director of cabinet of the president of the national Assembly Jean-Louis Debré from 2002 to 2005, the mandarin stops and creak before a swarm of microphones and cameras. “I am ashamed. I am sickened, disgusted, I leave my office, what happened is a scandal. They don’t want to train, this is unacceptable “, he says trembling voice, before diving into a car flanked by police officers in south africa.
“Thank you very much, goodbye”
A strike training full world Cup ? Even the brazilian media, who have seen others in the country of the football king, are stunned, as the journalist of the powerful tv station O Globo, hilarious in front of the images collected by his cameraman.
Shortly before 17 hours, Domenech eventually advance to the journalists, the famous paper by hand. In an even tone and terse, the coach reads a “release players” in the form of a declaration of war against the FFF. The Blues say they have decided not to train to show their “opposition” to the exclusion of Anelka. “Thank you very much, goodbye “, concludes Domenech, the face grave and marked, before joining because of the Blue that leaves the training ground.
Two days later, without Anelka nor Éric Abidal, who refuses to play, the France loses 2-1 against South Africa, leaving no glory for the 2010 World. Clap the end of the episode the more black the story of the Blues. Eight years later, the team of France Didier Deschamps won the second world Cup of its history.
