WORLD VIEWS
How France 98 Is Playing in Publications Around the Globe:
GERMANY
From a commentary in the conservative Berlin daily Die Welt, on the flood of red cards:
“We plead for more generosity! You, men in black, allow more freedom for the legs! Trust in the good old yellow card! If eight field players play against nine, it isn’t ‘fair play’ but the ruin of two teams.”
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Nationwide daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung:
“There are different opinions on the best way to watch a soccer match. The nostalgic ones prefer to visit the stadium. But there, the smallest inattentiveness is punished--one sneeze, one kiss and the key goal or the key foul is missed. Those who always watch the matches on TV and then visit the stadium wait intuitively for the slow motion--a fatal mistake.”
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Berlin left-of-center daily Berliner Zeitung:
“These days no idea seems to be too stupid to make money with the World Cup: Underwear maker ‘Triumph’ presented a ‘World Cup bra.’ The cups are made out of the same artificial leather like soccer balls.”
DENMARK
From daily Politiken:
“Referee John Jeiro Toro Rendon drew yellow seven times and three times red as if he himself was the law in a violent U.S. movie.”
SOUTH AFRICA
From the Johannesburg Star:
“Soccer fans of the southern African region seem to have switched their allegiance from Bafana Bafana [South Africa] to the Nigerian Super Eagles after the South African team’s disappointing start to the World Cup.
“That at least is the feeling of the soccer lovers of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana--and to a lesser extent Swaziland. Central Africa has Cameroon, west Africa Nigeria and north Africa Tunisia and Morocco flying the flag for their particular regions. As the only southern African team represented in the finals, Bafana Bafana might have expected at least to win the support of the other countries in the region.
“But a combination of the South African team’s rather desultory performance and also a bit of regional envy and resentment of ‘Big Brother’ arrogance seem to have sapped enthusiasm for Bafana.”
FRANCE
From L’Equipe:
“The Englishman. No one has to identify him for me. It’s easy. The Englishman is an imbecile, he is fat, tattooed, burned by the sun and drunk most of the time. And violent, extremely violent. That’s what I’ve seen, heard and read. I wasn’t at Marseille earlier in the week. I know Marseille a little bit and a few Englishmen. In all this confusion, the differing reports about these grave incidents of last Monday troubled me.
“It’s evident. British hooliganism isn’t dead, but it isn’t practiced except in foreign countries, by those following the national team. But how many hooligans were there Sunday and Monday at Marseille? Two hundred at most, according to those who observed this dismaying phenomenon. Two hundred too many, we agree. Two hundred only . . . but until the morning of July 13, after the final, we will have fear for this World Cup, fear for the strong and positive symbols one would like to put forth. The incidents in Marseille but a simple warning.”
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Correspondents Christian Retzlaff in Berlin, Dean Murphy in Johannesburg and Helene Elliott in Bourdeaux contributed to this report.
