Something Great

Arsene Wenger cobbled together starting lineups with spit and duct tape and Denilson and somehow the team dragged its ass over the finish line in third or fourth.

Friday, May 30, 2008

France Must Fail

On June 9th, the end of a confusing, awkward, and conflicting era must begin. The French national team, managed by sociopath Raymond Domenech, faces Romania to open their Euro2008. They must lose.

It's not just David Trezeguet either, it's Guily and Pires, Clichy and Flamini. But more so, it's the principle. A significant crop of players of our generation are not allowed to play on the biggest stage. The Champions League pales in comparison to the World Cup, or to Euro. Ask any player that has contributed to their national team whether they would rather win the Champions League or play in the group stages of the World Cup - the answer has to be the latter. The catch is that Domenech has left these players out purely for personal, or even more insane, astrological reasons. From a sports perspective, it cannot stand.

My bias is written all over this blog for Trezegol, but even if you hate him, you must respect good players. If Arsenal beat Liverpool without Gerrard, or ManU without Ronaldo, it wouldn't be as satisfying. If Uruguay beat Argentina without Messi, or Brasil without Ninho, it wouldn't be as satisfying. I'm not saying Trezeguet is the best player on France, but right now, he is in the top three - Ribery, Trezeguet, Vieira.

Treze is accused of not being a team player - watch him celebrate after goals. You've never seen him slide to the corner flag by himself, or stop and pose for the crowd. Why is that? Well it's because he points at his teammate who passed him the ball, and tries to hurt him with happiness. It's not just when he scores, it's when anyone scores. He mauled Salihamidzic, tackled Del Piero and even hunted down Camorenesi. And he does it every time. It's actually one of the reasons why I love him so much.

Treze is also accused of being a choker. Hogwash. His golden goal in the finals of Euro2000 won it all for France and his PK in the World Cup hit the inside of the top crossbar. Oh and by the way, Trezeguet has won more for France than Domenech has... I'll give you a second... think about it... oh... oh... yeah, Domenech hasn't actually won anything for France.

Guily, besides being a Scorpio, was left out because he was rumored to have sent Domenech's girlfriend a text message.
<-- She's pretty hot so I can understand that. Wanting to play young players, I can understand that. I quite obviously cannot understand Domenech. I'm not the only one either. The French Soccer Federation gave Domenech an ultimatum for the World Cup 2006 that France must make the final or he would be fired. Damn. This gives me hope however that if France gets embarrassed in Euro, Domenech is gone. And when Domenech leaves, France will finally be free of his tyranny and fans like you and me (pointing at you) can see the stars that we watch in Club Football every weekend finally play on the biggest stage. Join me and root for Romania June 9th and Holland four days later. It's the only way France can be free.

1 comment:

Jim said...

My only hope is that after Domenech's failure at the tournament, Ludovic Giuly goes Mark Twain and starts blowing up the cell of Domenech's girl. Maybe this will help her realize that she's dating a superstitious old man and not a badass with a cult following and the nickname "the Atomic Goblin."