L'abyssale incompétence des élites françaises à diriger un collectif *

The game is over. The postmortem continues. With thanks to Romuald in Guadaljara, below is a link to a suite of analyses on France's dramatic performance and exit from the World Cup in Le Monde, France's incomparable daily

The featured writing by a number of savvy French intellectuals is brilliant, insightful, alarming – in the best sense of the word – and ultimately challenging.

"Mondial: un fiasco français à l'image d'un monde changeant? **

* roughly translated: "The unfathomable inablility of French elites to lead a collective.']

** roughly translated: "World Cup: a French fiasco in the image of a changing world?"

"French press hammer Les Bleus," a June 23 article on ESPN's Soccernet, reports on the savaging of the team by France's Fourth Estate, but fails to report on the deep social questioning triggered by the events in South Africa.

[graphic from Google image search for 'French les Bleus' from "Taxi for Les Bleus - Sarkozy fails to halt French revulsion; French president ordered France to redeem themselves in crucial final match against South Africa. They lost, 2-1," a June 22 article the U.K.'s Guardian. Caption; 'The final humiliation: France's Yoann Gourcuff, No 8, is shown a red card by referee Oscar Ruiz. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images."]

“Shakes” Kungwane

Issac “Shakes” Kungwane lumbers down 11th avenue, pausing momentarily to light a menthol Cravin A. His thick fingers form a cup around the flame, shielding it from the winds of this bitter South African winter. Horns blare from taxi vans that careen through Alexandra’s frighteningly narrow streets. “Watch these cars,” Shakes warns. “In Alexandra they don’t stop, they just drive through you.” His body, short and squat, begins to shake in a fit of raspy, sardonic laughter. In his wake, throngs of children dribble soccer balls between passing cars, shouting and teasing one another in Zulu language. “This is what we did as kids in Alex [andra],” says the 40-year-old. “Everyone played soccer. In the street, in the stadium, everywhere.”

more

Part of a series of profiles that Nick Fitzhugh and Pete Muller did as part of a documentary series on soccer in Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township. The mini documentary series chronicles the role of soccer in the lives of five Alexandra residents.

[Cross-posted to Signal Fire. Thanks to AP in DC and Guadalajara for making the connection.]

And what About that bar in Manchester...

Before the advent of the World Cup, the Shakespeare pub in Manchester had ten of its regular patrons legally change their names to soccer star "Wayne Rooney." The pub's boss, Chris Hilditch, made a now equally questionable move of changing his name to Fabio Capello. As zesty pre-World Cup bit of spirit and bravado, it was fun when the BBC reported it:

"Manchester bar staff in Rooney name change"

Now that the team has slunk home in business suits and Capello is persona au gratin in England, I wonder how these enthusiasts in Manchester are riding out their decision. Has Hyundai contacted them to participate in a future 'avid fan' commercial? Has the pub owner/boss begun shopping for a safer moniker?

My heart go out to them and the England team ...

[graphic from Google image search for 'Manchester Shakespeare pub.]'

World Cup Advance Redeems Japan's Coach

As Japan plays out its overtime with Paraguay, we look at their trajectory.  A great Wall Street Journal article summarizes their rise from the ashes of hopelessness and dismay with the coach to a national apologetic stance:

"One month ago, Mr. Okada said he was ready to tender his resignation—and plenty of Japanese fans were demanding it. But now, as Japan heads to its first appearance in the knockout stage of the World Cup on foreign soil, the Japanese team's miraculous turnaround from scoreless losers to convincing victors in a matter of two weeks has given Mr. Okada the glow of a miracle worker.

"Twitter users created a hashtag—a phrase or word attached to a message that refers to a popular topic—called "okachan_sorry." Okachan is an endearing take on Mr. Okada's name in Japanese."

Article: World Cup Advance Redeems Japan's Coach

[graphic from Google image search for 'Okada World Cup.']

The Day After

"This is not just a game - this is what we call a classic!" With these words the commentator introduced last afternoon's match. The rest is history. Above are some post-game impressions of a very happy Stuttgart, celebrating in the scorching sun. But since we are in tidy Swabia, the streets are swept clean exactly 3 hours later. And that's that.
PS: I was actually looking forward to today's headlines of UK papers, anticipating some sharp remarks concerning Germany's and the UK's historical [football] affiliations. Instead they seem to be good sports about it. The times they are a-changing.
PPS: Click here for The Wembley Moment as seen by the referee [headline reads: The Evidence: the Ball was not Behind the Line.]

England 1 - Germany 4

The Daily Telegraph

"Capello’s defence were a collection of hesitant strangers, his midfield painfully less than the sum of their celebrated parts and the attack anonymous."

"England 1 Germany 4: match report"
by Henry Winter

* * *

The Guardian

"The Frank Lampard-Steven Gerrard generation have had failure's nail banged into them and it shows. Deep in their minds a voice must cry out that success at World Cup and European Championship level is simply beyond imagining. The temptation across the English game must be to retreat to the sanctuary of the Premier League, with its Super Sunday clashes between empires of debt. These expeditions in the Three Lions livery are only a trail of tears."

"World Cup 2010: England re-enact a drama of failure"
A brutal pattern reasserted itself here as German youth flourished and English maturity tipped over into obsolescence
by Paul Hayward

[graphic from Telegraph article. Caption:  Down and out: England's players react following Thomas Muller's goal for Germany in their 4-1 defeat in Bloemfontein  Photo: REUTERS]

The Invention of Football

"Whoever invented football should be worshipped as a God."

-- Hugo Sanchez
Mexican soccer player and coach

[Graphic from "Goal 2010!" exhibition of the FIFA Fine Art Poster Portfolio at the Capital City Arts Initiative Courthouse Gallery in Carson City, Nevada. Caption: "Red Elephant." 2009 By German artist Isolde Krams.]