France expels Anelka and exploits the concentration

“Go fuck yourself, you dirty son of a bitch” was the phrase of the World Cup. It was published on the cover of L'Equipe and in theory pronounced by Anelka addressing Domenech during the break from the match against Mexico. That caused the expulsion of the striker from the French concentration and the outbreak of one of the most important controversies that have been seen in the history of football. Fight of egos, the problem of racism in the country or that there were legends involved are some of the ingredients of this story.

What happened inside that wardrobe is only known by those present, but Domenech gave his version years later in a documentary by Channel +. “At the break I said 'Nico, I want you to go deeper. There are ten guys on the bench and we have seen that you are not going ', to which he replied' Yes, but it always has to be me 'and I said' Yes, it is you, it is you who play '. So, boots in hand, he turns, throws them away and says 'You just have to do it, it's your fucking team'. I said 'You're right, I'm going to do it, you're going to leave' and I sent Gignac to warm up. What bothered me was the way he spoke to me, he disrespected my position. “

Whatever happened, that unleashed a war between players -also facing each other-, coaching staff, the press and fans from all over the country. “They don't deserve the tears or anger of the people. It would be giving too much to men who don't know how to give anything away” Fabrice Jouhaud, the director of L'Equipe. They have deceived everyone and the truth about the behavior of those 'rappers from the suburbs' that, among other things, have separated Gourcuff from the life of the group and from the ownership, for being a “upper middle class French from a town in Brittany” and not come from the banlieue (suburb) of Paris. Hence the nicknames of “criminals” that have been heard in radio and television gatherings. “They don't feel the colors. They use selection for their advertising contracts … “, said Frédéric Hermel in his opinion column in ACE.

Toulalan was very clear after that defeat: “It was a collective problem. The difference is that in Mexico there was a group and in France eleven players. That was what we lacked, to be united. “The break was also between the selected ones, with Evra thinking that the mole who had leaked Anelka's words to the press was Henry “or Ribéry” jealous “of Gourcuff, in the words of the coach years later.

Domenech himself, a couple of days later, said about Anelka's insults: “They are things that happen in the life of a group. People do not imagine the pressure in a locker room and Anelka did not react in the best way, but there was no direct confrontation. He spoke in his equine “. He explained that “it became important because L'Equipe He published it on its cover “and” the only thing I reproach him for is that he rejected the opportunity to apologize. “Ribéry also wanted to get out of trouble: “What has been said is not what happened.” In addition, he stated that when Anelka left, he could not contain the tears and that the whole group was touched: “We did not want him to leave. I have also pissed off the coach on occasions, it is something that usually happens in clubs and it is not normal for someone to be expelled for that.”