France’s World Cup Going About As Well As France’s Wars

If you’ve taken a European history class in the United States, you’ve probably heard about France’s legendary futility in, well, practically every aspect of geopolitics. Their 2010 World Cup may be worse. Nicolas Anelka’s halftime tirade at Raymond Domenech is just the cherry on top.

⇥According to L’Equipe newspaper, Anelka unleashed a scathing attack on Domenech after being criticised during the interval as France sank to a dismal 2-0 defeat in Polokwane on Thursday.⇥⇥⇥Anelka allegedly told Domenech to “go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore” in the dressing room at the Peter Mokaba Stadium after the coach criticised his first-half performance.⇥⇥

I don’t think that’s the way to promote team unity or inspire performance, but then, I’m not French.Anelka didn’t play the second half against Mexico and is done for the tournament for his vitriol, but it’s not as if that’s guaranteed to help the cause. Though Anelka’s been awful, France as a whole has been nearly as bad; Les Bleus are scoreless thus far, and of teams ranked higher in FIFA’s eyes, only Spain has failed to score. Oh, and the reigning Euro champions are only through one game, while France has been rebuffed for a full 180 minutes, and is last in a group that includes host South Africa.

These struggles are probably a win for France-haters and karma believers alike, but at this point, I want the turmoil to turn full-blown catastrophe in the most hilarious fashion possible. I’m thinking a 2-0 loss to South Africa, in a must-win game, would qualify. Failing that, more “You should be dead” glares from Zinedine Zidane will suffice.

(Newspaper image via L’Equipe.)

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