France exited in disgrace from the World Cup on Tuesday with no victories and little sympathy for a team that infamously used an intentional handball to get into the tournament and self-destructed on the way out.
France’s petulant image did not gain much redemption in its final match, a 2-1 defeat to host South Africa in Bloemfontein, south of here. Les Bleus, as the team is known, played the final 65-plus minutes a man short after midfielder Yoann Gourcuff was ejected for elbowing an opponent in the head.
Afterward, the eccentric and departing French coach, Raymond Domenech, declined to shake hands with his South African counterpart, Carlos Alberto Parreira. Apparently, Parreira said, the snub was related to his criticism of the way France had qualified for the World Cup: the illegal handling of the ball by forward Thierry Henry, which was unseen by the referee and led to the decisive goal in a cumulative playoff victory against Ireland in November.
Wow. Quite a story. I have nothing to add except to say I don’t know that I would have encountered it anywhere else. Thanks for posting it.
The Wall St. Journals’ front page had a banner for a story about the French team entitled “Les Miserables.”
The Irish must be enjoying some well-deserved schadenfreude!