As an abysmal World Cup campaign finally came to an end yesterday, the reward for the French football team is a flight home in the economy-class cabin of an aircraft that they had reserved even before their exit from the competition had been confirmed.
After losing 2-1 to South Africa at the Free Sate Stadium, the French players were bracing themselves for a hostile reception back home stoked by the press and politicians, including their own Sports Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, who visited the team on the eve of their last game and informed them that they had been a “moral disaster”.
South Africa, the host nation, also went out of the competition yesterday, although they, at least, made their departure with their heads held high.
The fallout in the French camp was such that Raymond Domenech, the coach, decided to shake hands with his players as they came off the pitch rather than enter the dressing room with them. At that point the divorce became official, although the repercussions of this disastrous campaign will be played out for days to come.
Before this game Domenech had sacked Patrice Evra, his captain, and dropped another three of his starting team. One of those not picked yesterday was Eric Abidal, the defender, who approached Domenech in person and asked not to play for him.
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The atmosphere in the French team, mutinous on Sunday, had been replaced by regret and emptiness. Ms Bachelot, who was speaking under instruction from President Sarkozy, clearly forced the players to search their souls and persuaded them that they would not like what they saw.
“I told the players that they are perhaps no longer heroes for our children,” she said. “It is the dreams of your partners, your friends, your supporters that you have broken. It is the image of France that you have tarnished. I said to the players that French football was confronting a disaster, not because it had lost a match, but because this disaster is a moral disaster.” A French team official said that afterwards a number of the players were in tears and had gone to Domenech’s room to apologise for their part in the team’s implosion.
All that Domenech then demanded of his team was that when they went out to play in yesterday’s match, they did so trying to rescue the tarnished image of the team and the country. After such an emotional and political buffeting it was, therefore, fascinating to see whether the players would be able to summon the kind of spirit that had been lacking in previous games.
Initially, however, they looked more interested in that flight home. The situation then worsened when South Africa scored their first goal and then, midway through the first half, when Yoann Gourcuff was sent off for a dangerous challenge.
Gourcuff was actually the victim of a poor decision by the referee but when South Africa scored their second goal it appeared as though the game was turning into exactly the kind of disaster that Domenech had been hoping to avoid.
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The French team rallied in the second half and finally summoned some spirit, which was rewarded when Florent Malouda, the Chelsea player, scored. However, Malouda’s goal will soon be forgotten, as he acknowledged afterwards.
“The image we showed to the world and the way they see France right now is a disaster,” he said. “As players, we are the most responsible for that.”
Malouda was not alone in expressing his regrets. Indeed, it seemed that the players were queueing up to apologise for their behaviour. “It’s time to say sorry,” Evra said on national television. “I apologise.”
Malouda continued: “I have never been a boxer but it is like getting a knockout blow. You know you are out. But we know we don’t deserve to stay. I don’t know if it is possible but we have to work hard to restore the image of the French national team in the world.
“And honestly, I don’t want to blame anyone. I will look at myself. I am not happy with the level I played in this World Cup. I will never blame anyone. Everyone will give their own opinion, but for me it is crazy to blame anyone, it is too easy. We are all out now.”
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Malouda said that he accepted that the team’s reception when they arrive back in Paris tomorrow morning may not be friendly. “I will accept anything that happens because we deserve it.”