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Keeping their feet on the ground
Comments(86)
France are on a high following their two great wins over Spain and Brazil and an interesting fact is that’s the first time Raymond Domenech has picked the same team in successive matches.
If there are no injuries he’ll probably pick the same eleven against Portugal, but five of that eleven, Ribery, Zidane, Vieira, Sagnol and Thuram along with Saha, are on yellow cards and stand to miss the final if they get called for another in the semi.
The player’s are in a tricky position, whether to go full out and risk a card or hold back a little so not to lose a final place. If Zidane got one you’d hope FIFA would give him an exemption to play.
Domenech has been talking about the hype surrounding the team’s run and how he’s trying to keep things calm in the squad.
He said ‘I’ve switched off my mobile phone. We get messages from everywhere and I don’t switch on the tv because everyone is saying ‘cock-a-doodle-do.’
Cock-a-doodle-do, must be a French thing.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 86 comments.
Read the rest of the comments
“If I support a team based on race, it doesn’t make me a racist, I don’t think so”
lol of course it does. You can support any team you want, but if its because of the race of its players instead of their nationality it’s racism.
Posted from 
France
France has been a country of immigrants at least since the end of WWII, when the gov’t encouraged thousands of Algerians to emigrate to help with the labor shortage. There are millions of French people of African/Arab/Asian origin who were born there, grew up there in towns and communinities of immigrants and their descendants. Much like the US. The US has been an immigrant country for much longer than France but France’s recent history has made it one as well. Which is why idiots like Le Pen are so irritated with the makeup of the country’s football team. Henry, Zidane and the rest are products of French culture and nationality. They are French. Just like millions of American sons and daughters of immigrants who were born and raised here are American. Or immigrants who’ve lived in the US many years, become citizens and made their lives here are American.
Posted from 
United States
Haarf: Read the definition again. If cheering for one race is racism, then all the people I know (Chinese, Black, Indian, White, etc.) are racist. It means I live in a multicultural racist society 
and never realized it until you pointed it to me. For my part, I think racism has something to do with putting the other races down not cheering for your own race. I also think a distinction in necessary between the French people and the French nation as it is today. The nation may include also Arab, African and other people, I guess.
ALLEZ BLUE BLANC ROUGE!!!
FRANCE 4 PORT 2
HENRY MVP
Posted from United States
And what about all these other-than-Canadian flagged cars we had in Canada for the past three weeks; makes one wonder what Canadian citizenship means to them and also points out that a heck of a lot of people don’t forget their history and where their roots are.
Fantastic Fantastic,
Well done France, you out played and out classed them and Payback big time for England. Thank you
Posted from 
Japan
The best team won! Gods (the FIFA referee) have spoken! My black coworkers are in ecstasy! Hannibal has upset the natural order of things! Legio IX Lusitana is in shreds coming home!
Long live football!!!!
Portugal has shown me today that they LOVE to dive. Amazing how they keep diving within the area.
Posted from United States
Please let me sincerely apologies for my temper and bad mouthing in my previous interventions. on the Brish blog
I was out of order due to some taunting and insults on our blog comming from elements of the Portuguese supporters.
The portuguese, (team) tried everything in the book to get their opponents red carded, diving so much it was not funny any more , a disgrace to the beautiful game. And to their Nation There is winning fair square and there is winning via devious means, and you must agree with me the difference is massive. In fact I ‘d rather admire an honorable looser that did its best to a a cheat, would’ny you?
This time the Portuguese (team) have toned it down.
You did your best Portugal, diving, swimming again (rather naively) but generally speaking you tried your honest best but it seems that the referee was clued up this time, seeing through most simulations.
Never the less I start to think I am the idealist naïve one here and that may be football is by nature not that beautiful? Fouls and tackle have unfortunately to be expected, as well, as Nationalism and all that goes with it. I saddens me
However, this game was beautiful, not to the standard of Francevs Brasil or Italy vsGermany, but still.
Now I suppose that the Portuguese will show us how to loose? There was a lot message of this kind on the British blog from éducated Portuguese fans
Please go to the british blog to see for yourself what some of the Portos supporters are up to…
SO….
Gaspachio for Portugal, Champagne forFrance. Both beverage are better served cold,
I personally prefer the second though
ADIEUS PORTUGAL
xxx VIVE LA FRANCE
Posted from 
United Kingdom
To All the Politicians in this Page:
Hey guys, lets talk about futball (or soccer as it’s known here in U.S.) This is a page about the World Cup, not about racial or ethnic politics.
That said, both France & Portugal played a great, clean game today. It was a fun tug-of-war between two equally matched teams.
Posted from United States
http://www.hateronaldo.com/games.php#
An insight on Portuguese training secrets.
Bravo les Bleus!
Posted from United Kingdom
Free Drive Ro | YOU ARE A BORE! Yawn
Posted from United Kingdom
I was reading at all the racist comments regarding the French team on this forum.
First of all, shut up if you don’t know what you are talking about. Most players in the French team were born in France including Zidane and Henry.
Here is the list of all players in the team with their respecive place of birth:
Barthez/Lavelanet FRANCE
Coupet/Le puy en Velay FRANCE
Landreau/Machecoul
Abidal/Lyon FRANCE
Boumsong/Cameroun Chimbonda/guadeloupe FRANCE
Gallas/Asnières FRANCE
Givet/Arles FRANCE
Sagnol/StEtienne FRANCE
Silvestre/Chambray FRANCE
Thuram/Point à Pitre FRANCE
Dhorasso/Harfleur FRANCE Diara/Villepinte FRANCE
Makélélé/Zaïre
Malouda/Cayenne FRANCE
Ribery/Boulogne/mer FRANCE
Viéra/Sénégal
Zidane/Marseille FRANCE
Govou/Le puy en Velay FRANCE
Henry/Les Ulis FRANCE
Saha/Paris FRANCE
Trézéguet/Rouen FRANCE
Wiltord/Neuilly sur Marne FRANCE
So out of 23 players, 20 were born in France (that’s 87%)
For your information, Antilles Islands and Guyanna do belong to France.
Second, in the 1970’s and 80’s, France was a country of mass immigration (immigrants accounting for 40% of the population growth)
These millions of immigrants, coming mostly from Africa, do not go to France because they have been offered a job in the French soccer team but because France has a great econony at that time and these people were seeking jobs.
Posted from United States
I think its curious that the french team is almost entirely black or north African.
England has many immigrants but no where near that many minorities on their team.
I don’t know why but while I felt fine cheering for Ghana, I didn’t like cheering for France.
I think the French team is mostly spoiled super stars.
Notice Zidane’s outburst drawing a red card.
I think sports will without a doubt become engulfed in the conflicts that are going on in society over race, immigration, class.
Why are the best players in france all from africa? Is it because they are poor so football is the only way out, or is it because they have superior athletic abilities, and if so why?
Why cheer for a team? Is it good that nations cheer for their country against other nations?
I think nationalism is dangerous and any I love france movement will tend towards ethnic nationalism.
The fact is that France is divided on racial lines, and class lines.
Any use of the world cup will reflect these tensions.
Posted from 
Republic Of Korea
You stupid racist pig.
As I mentioned above, %87 of the players in the French team DO COME FROM FRANCE, not Arica.
What’s next? You’re going to say that all the Jewish people in the Hollywood industry should not be considered as American but as Isrealis?
Zidane is the best player of his generation; you can’t deny that. Most people in the soccer business would agree, wherever they are from.
By the way, Zidane just got elected as the Best Player in the 2006 World Cup, eveb though he got a red card at the end.
Do you know what happened between him and Materazzi?
No you don’t so don’t make any judgement until you know the whole story.
You are talking about France being divided along class lines and racial lines.
Well, this is what medias are trying to make you think but this is not true.
And even it was, why would you target France more than the US, Korea (where you are from) or even Italy (divided between north and south) ???
Posted from United States
the FREANCH TEAM ROX even though they didnt win….
GOOOO ZIDANE
Posted from 
Singapore
THE GUY FROM KOREA
YOU NEED TO STOP EATING DOG FOOD
Posted from United States
WE WON BUT WE LOVE ZIDANE
Posted from United States
NO RACISM
ZIDANE FROM FRANCE OR ALGERIA OR U.S.A OR SUDAN,ITALY
WE ARE ALL THE SAME
ONE HEART
Posted from United States
In the World Cup 2006, more than the World Champions, the Award meant for Best Fair Play won by Brazil and Spain seem to be more valuable.
It seems the world has no respect for the Italian Team inspite of winning the Golden Ball.
Posted from 
India
Pallavi,
Ur a jke on this website: Italy DID NOT win the golden ball !!!
lololol..Kruman , where r u???
And stop talking on “behalf of the world”
Its really looks like you know nothing about football . Go home baby….
Posted from France
Ethnicity:
Bravo! now here’s a guy who thinks right.
Be careful though, there are many ppl on this blog who will headbutt, or even worse, bomb your country if you do that.
Lets all of us fight words with violence! Way to go Zidane supporters!!!! The world has come to this bcoz of your guys, bravo !
Posted from France
Sara,
Thanx for pointing out my mistake. How silly of me !
I typed ‘Golden Ball’ by mistake — it is an error committed while typing in great haste . It should have been the World Cup Trophy. Got everything jumbled. I am extremely sorry for the error made by me in this site. I hope to be careful while typing in future.
Posted from India
luogo interessante, soddisfare interessante, buon!
Comments are closed
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CATEGORIES & ARCHIVES
Racism: The belief that a particular race is superior to others. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
(are you paying attention, Portugal fan?) .
) Forca!!
Xenophobia: Fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.
…..
I have many black coworkers and friends and they unanimously cheered for the African teams and France. They are all Canadian.Nobody called them racist or xenophobic. Read the definitions before throwing insults. I for one cheered for Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire for some games, but for the main part I cheerd for white European teams (and mainly Italy and Portugal as they have Latin roots). If I support a team based on race, it doesn’t make me a racist, I don’t think so. Only someone lacking education could say that
For me France is the French revolution, JJ Rousseau, Voltaire, Zola, Baudelaire, Sartre, etc. All a bunch of white people. By the same token I don’t know any black Italians (if there are some they are not representative). For the diverse cultures of Canada or USA it may be hard to understand that Europe means mainly white people which are bound together by thousands of years of history. Yes Helmut, Europeans are (mainly) white. Even in France, Shuai,non-white population stay under 5% (and you may be right, it’s concentrated mainly in Paris). All being said and done, let the best team win, but don’t abuse me for cheering for the Portuguese!