France took their place in these finals only after Thierry
Henry’s handball allowed William Gallas to knock out the Republic
of Ireland in a play-off game that will long be remembered. Now the
1998 world champions are again grabbing the attention for all the
wrong reasons.
Rather than count their blessings that they are in this
tournament at all and cherish an opportunity to make good the
wrongs of a wretched qualification campaign, Raymond Domenech’s
players approach Friday night’s opener against Uruguay bickering as
only they can.
And Henry is again at the heart of it, for Domenech doesn’t
intend to pick him. At least, he doesn’t want to. But player power
has come to the fore with influential members of the squad making
it clear that their one-time talisman should take his place in the
starting XI.
Pulling in opposite directions: Members of the
France squad are refusing to pass to certain other players
The French have never trusted Domenech. His players have long
felt they know better than a coach who always looks too downtrodden
and travel-weary for a man with one of international football’s
plum jobs.
And here in South Africa, the 58-year-old coach appears not to
have the support of his squad.
Sources close to the French team suggested on Wednesday night
that the majority of Domenech’s players would like to see Henry and
Abou Diaby in Friday’s team at the expense of Yoann Gourcuff and
Sidney Govou.
Divisive: France boss Raymond Domenech is a hugely
controversial character
During their recent friendly against Costa Rica, it was
suggested that Nicolas Anelka refused to pass to Gourcuff while
Franck Ribery is also said to have been selective in his passing
during the embarrassing recent defeat by China.
Domenech has not publicly acknowledged that these problems
exist. It is, however, a familiar tale. He put up with similar
waves of mutiny while guiding France to the final against Italy in
Germany four years ago.
Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna said: ‘We can maybe give him some advice
or help but even if we were to offer it I don’t think he would
listen. The most important thing is the team.’
But Chelsea’s French striker Florent Malouda urged unity,
saying: ‘We have to create links between players, we can’t just
think, “I’m not interested in what others do”.
'We are going to look ridiculous if, as we did at Euro 2008,
each player stays in his comfort zone aiming only for good marks
from the media to the detriment of the team.’
With Domenech having left players such as Karim Benzema at home
and missing the influential Lassana Diarra through injury, he faces
a match of mighty importance here on Friday.
The World Cup will begin four-and-a-half hours earlier amid
fanfare and jubilation as the host nation take on Mexico in
Johannesburg but by the time France kick off in Cape Town it will
all have got very serious.
If France don’t win against a capable Uruguay side at Green
Point then their extended participation in the competition could be
in doubt. Their final group game is, after all, against South
Africa and France would very much like to have wrapped up their
progress to the last 16 before then.
Handy: France were fortunate to secure their place
in South Africa after Thierry Henry's infamous handball
Group A should not scare the French but previous finals have
begun poorly for them and it is in danger of becoming a trend. They
lost to Senegal in Seoul in 2002 and four years ago a 0-0 draw with
Switzerland set the tone for a fretful passage through the group
stages.
Certainly few neutrals will be in their corner over the next two
weeks.
On Wednesday in Cape Town the media were looking back to the
dramatic events that saw the Republic disposed of in Paris last
November.
One columnist in the Cape Times wrote: ‘Law 12, Mr Henry, you
damnable cheat. On behalf of the fighting Irish, I wish you a
miserable tournament.’
Temperatures in Cape Town will certainly not trouble France.
These are not rising above 60F during the day and are expected to
fall sharply during the evenings. It may be one of the few things
the French find in their favour.
