Highs and Lows

The fifteen years after Euro 2000 were the most dramatic in the history of Les Bleus: a first-round exit as world champions, a World Cup final lost on penalties after the most famous red card in football, a squad that went on strike at a World Cup, a row about racial quotas and a European Championship final lost at home. Alongside the matches ran a debate about what the team said about France. This chapter is written from the record and flags every date, score and claim that should be checked. Names, dates and scores are from general knowledge and flagged "check".

The Fall of 2002

Berlin, 2006

• The return. After a poor qualifying campaign, Zidane, Makélélé, Thuram and Vieira were persuaded to come back, and France reached the final in Germany (check).
• The final. Played in Berlin on 9 July 2006 against Italy, it finished 1-1 after extra time. Zidane gave France the lead with a chipped penalty that bounced off the bar and over the line (check).
• The red card. In extra time Zidane headbutted the Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest, was sent off and left the field past the trophy. Italy won the penalty shoot-out 5-3 (check).
• The explanation. Zidane later said that Materazzi had insulted his family. Materazzi has given his own account, and the two have said different things about the exact words (check). Zidane apologised to children who had watched, but said he did not regret the act itself.
• The response. The incident was turned into a statue, a song and a film (check), and opinion in France was divided between those who saw a hero betrayed by his temper and those who saw an unprofessional act that cost the team the Cup. Both views can be held.

Anger in the Suburbs

In October and November 2005 there was a wave of rioting in suburbs across France, starting after two teenagers died in a power substation while running from the police in Clichy-sous-Bois (check). The unrest, the longest in modern France, was widely discussed in connection with the national team's mixed origins and with the "black-blanc-beur" idea (Chapter 7). Some commentators said that 1998 had shown a hope that 2005 had broken. Others said that the two events were unrelated. The Marseillaise was also whistled by part of the crowd at the 2001 match between France and Algeria at the Stade de France, which was abandoned after a pitch invasion, and in other matches since (check). Politicians called for punishment, while sociologists pointed to the context of the suburbs and the colonial history (check).

Knysna, 2010

The reasons are still argued. They include the coach's weakness, the divisions in the squad, the role of the press, and the federation's lack of preparation (check). The case is often used as a lesson in sport management.

The Quota Affair, 2011

In 2011 the investigative website Mediapart published notes of a federation meeting in which officials were reported to have discussed limiting the number of young players of dual nationality or of African and Arab origin who were admitted to the national academies (check). Laurent Blanc, then national coach, said that his remarks had been misinterpreted and that he had no wish to discriminate. The federation suspended the technical director, and an inquiry did not find evidence of an official quota (check). The affair is described fairly only from the published documents and the findings of the inquiry. It shows how the question of "who is French" can enter the management of the sport.

Euro 2016 at Home

• Deschamps. The captain of 1998, Didier Deschamps, became national coach in 2012, and led France to the quarter-final of the 2014 World Cup, where it lost 1-0 to Germany (check).
• November 2015. During a friendly between France and Germany at the Stade de France on 13 November 2015, suicide bombers detonated explosives outside the stadium, as part of coordinated attacks across Paris which killed 130 people (check). The match was completed to avoid panic. The attacks changed the security of the tournament and the mood of the country, and it is a subject to be treated respectfully.
• The tournament. France hosted Euro 2016 and reached the final, with Antoine Griezmann the top scorer (check). In the final at the Stade de France on 10 July 2016, Portugal won 1-0 after extra time with a goal by Éder, after Cristiano Ronaldo had been injured and replaced early on (check).
• The meaning. The defeat was a national disappointment but the tournament had gone ahead safely, and the squad of young players, such as Paul Pogba, Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé's generation, was the basis of the next success (Chapter 9).

Exercises