The 2010 World Cup for France, came to a merciful end today as the lost to an inspired South Africa team 2-1. And so ends the soap opera. A central figure in this tragicomedy was France coach Raymond Domenech, who was essentially a lame duck before the competition began: the French Soccer Federation named his successor before World Cup. Domenech's surly personality did not help him, but he was done in by the petulance of his players, which came full fore when they refused to practice the day after he sent bad boy Nicholas Anelka home for insubordination (he launched into a profanity-laced tirade against Domenech during halftime of France's 2-0 loss to Mexico).
I felt bad for Domenech as he had to offer a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring 5 players who had not played before; he had to bench several mutineers, including the captain, Patrice Evra. He must have known that there was no hope to win; that the cause was lost. In fact, his approach reminds me of a quote from Ivan Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons": It's no use crying for the moon. Domenech seemed to think that there was no reason not to go through the motions. But after seeing him refuse to shake the hand of South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira after the game, I had to shake my head in disappointment. Domenech bore the burden of watching his team qualify in a disputed fashion for the World Cup, no support from French star Zinedine Zidane, a rebellion in the locker room, vituperative comments from the media and fans. His standoffish attitude did not help. But his awkward and ill-timed sense of humor almost makes me chuckle. Today he tweeted:
Il fallait être éliminé au premier tour : j'avais oublié de remplir ma déclaration d'impôts. Translation: We had to be eliminated in the first round: I forgot to pay my tax. Au revoir, Mr. Domenech. You are despised by many people in your country, but I will give you one thing: you are a character.
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