French stars are revolting as Thierry Henry is axed
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Raymond Domenech's unhappy French stars are revolting as Thierry Henry is axed
France took their place in these finals only after Thierry Henry’s handball allowed William Gallas to knock out the Republic of Ireland in a play-off game that will long be remembered. Now the 1998 world champions are again grabbing the attention for all the wrong reasons.
Rather than count their blessings that they are in this tournament at all and cherish an opportunity to make good the wrongs of a wretched qualification campaign, Raymond Domenech’s players approach Friday night’s opener against Uruguay bickering as only they can.
And Henry is again at the heart of it, for Domenech doesn’t intend to pick him. At least, he doesn’t want to. But player power has come to the fore with influential members of the squad making it clear that their one-time talisman should take his place in the starting XI.
Pulling in opposite directions: Members of the France squad are refusing to pass to certain other players
The French have never trusted Domenech. His players have long felt they know better than a coach who always looks too downtrodden and travel-weary for a man with one of international football’s plum jobs.
And here in South Africa, the 58-year-old coach appears not to have the support of his squad.
Sources close to the French team suggested on Wednesday night that the majority of Domenech’s players would like to see Henry and Abou Diaby in Friday’s team at the expense of Yoann Gourcuff and Sidney Govou.
Divisive: France boss Raymond Domenech is a hugely controversial character
During their recent friendly against Costa Rica, it was suggested that Nicolas Anelka refused to pass to Gourcuff while Franck Ribery is also said to have been selective in his passing during the embarrassing recent defeat by China.
Domenech has not publicly acknowledged that these problems exist. It is, however, a familiar tale. He put up with similar waves of mutiny while guiding France to the final against Italy in Germany four years ago.
Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna said: ‘We can maybe give him some advice or help but even if we were to offer it I don’t think he would listen. The most important thing is the team.’
But Chelsea’s French striker Florent Malouda urged unity, saying: ‘We have to create links between players, we can’t just think, “I’m not interested in what others do”.
'We are going to look ridiculous if, as we did at Euro 2008, each player stays in his comfort zone aiming only for good marks from the media to the detriment of the team.’
With Domenech having left players such as Karim Benzema at home and missing the influential Lassana Diarra through injury, he faces a match of mighty importance here on Friday.
The World Cup will begin four-and-a-half hours earlier amid fanfare and jubilation as the host nation take on Mexico in Johannesburg but by the time France kick off in Cape Town it will all have got very serious.
If France don’t win against a capable Uruguay side at Green Point then their extended participation in the competition could be in doubt. Their final group game is, after all, against South Africa and France would very much like to have wrapped up their progress to the last 16 before then.
Handy: France were fortunate to secure their place in South Africa after Thierry Henry's infamous handball
Group A should not scare the French but previous finals have begun poorly for them and it is in danger of becoming a trend. They lost to Senegal in Seoul in 2002 and four years ago a 0-0 draw with Switzerland set the tone for a fretful passage through the group stages.
Certainly few neutrals will be in their corner over the next two weeks.
On Wednesday in Cape Town the media were looking back to the dramatic events that saw the Republic disposed of in Paris last November.
One columnist in the Cape Times wrote: ‘Law 12, Mr Henry, you damnable cheat. On behalf of the fighting Irish, I wish you a miserable tournament.’
Temperatures in Cape Town will certainly not trouble France. These are not rising above 60F during the day and are expected to fall sharply during the evenings. It may be one of the few things the French find in their favour.
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but then, the French players are bloody revolting anyway, with or without Henry
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So many big egos....
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maybe this world cup can buy france to lose / not win all their games again
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The players should respect the coach wishes... Anyway, Henry as a sub might actually be a better alternative for the team.
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If the french are going to continue in this manner, no gods would help then .. .. .. ..
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big ego problem and teamwork problem, that's what you get for having so many BLACK players in the team !
Blacks are like that one !
France should be banned from Euro Championship and forced to play in African Nations Cup !
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if the coach doesnt have respect of the players that will what happen.
if he want a more harmonous squad, the should left behind more experience player such as gallas.
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Originally posted by zocoss:
The players should respect the coach wishes... Anyway, Henry as a sub might actually be a better alternative for the team.
Its because the coach loses the respect already... having require a "HANDBALL" to qualify for WC.
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hoho..maybe can buy wu la grey to win.. odds is very good..
haha~
im expecting them to get knock out in the first round. hopefully~
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Raymond Domenech is also one weird coach.
When other coaches for the other countries train their players, he makes them race on a 4WD buggy. Lol?? Training for Formula 1?
Thierry Henry too big an ego. Wenger pamper him too much and goes to Barca like a king. Now who the hell still likes him?
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Originally posted by Y_Shun:
Its because the coach loses the respect already... having require a "HANDBALL" to qualify for WC.
I don't think anyone should blame the coach for that "Handball incident" just like no one blamed the Barce coach last season on how they defeated Chelsea and went on to win the CL title... In fact, many praised him for Barce's 5 or 6 trophies last season. -
Originally posted by JazzMyWorld:
Raymond Domenech is also one weird coach.
When other coaches for the other countries train their players, he makes them race on a 4WD buggy. Lol?? Training for Formula 1?
Thierry Henry too big an ego. Wenger pamper him too much and goes to Barca like a king. Now who the hell still likes him?
henry where got big ego?? he himself even said he doesn't mind coming off the bench..