Raymond Domenech proposes to take France a long way in World Cup
It was supposed to be un geste romantique, a romantic gesture, but it has haunted poor Raymond Domenech for two years.
France had just been unceremoniously bounced out of Euro 2008 and the coach’s failure to get Les Bleus past the first round was embarrassing to a nation that had won the World Cup as recently as 1998 and Euro 2000 shortly thereafter.
So, Domenech was asked on that miserable night in Zurich, what do you have planned now?
“I have only one project, which is to marry Estelle,” Domenech told a surprised television interviewer and a stunned nation. “It’s good to tell someone that you love them.”
Maybe so, but not on national television, not after your team has just had its ticket home punched by bitter rival Italy, not after your players and tactics have failed abysmally.
That is not the time for romantic proposals or for making a fool of yourself.
Former French great Michel Platini recently recalled the incident in an interview with Group Hersant Media and was clearly still upset by it.
“There’s a Raymond problem,” he said. “A problem of personality, not as a coach. He was hopeless . . . his proposal . . . hurt the whole of France. People were in pain, sad, and he, he comes with his words.”
In any event, it is two years later now and the hapless Domenech still is waiting for Estelle Denis, the mother of his two children, to say ‘yes,’ but the answer he yearns to hear has not been forthcoming.
In the meantime, Domenech is taking his team to South Africa, and the mood in all of Gaul is on the upswing after France on Friday was awarded the right to stage Euro 2016. The quadrennial European championship will be a 24-team event for the first time that year and will begin to really rival the World Cup.
“Allez Les Bleus” is about to ring out once again, especially with 1998 World Cup-winning defender Laurent Blanc taking over from Domenech as the national coach the moment that France is eliminated in South Africa.
The trouble is, lame duck Domenech just might take his team on a longer last ride than many imagine.
The French open against Uruguay on June 11 in Cape Town and then play Mexico and South Africa. They could win the group, which would mean a round-of-16 game against Greece, Nigeria or South Korea.
Again, advancing is not impossible.
That would set up a likely quarterfinal against England, which is certainly beatable, and that would put Les Bleus into the semifinals, after which anything is possible.
Domenech should know. He’s been there before. In fact, the main reason why he still has the job stems from the fact that he coached France all the way to the final in Germany in 2006.
Had it not been for another aberrational moment — this one by star midfielder Zinedine Zidane — Les Bleus could have won the title and Domenech, 58, could have joined 1998 World Cup-winning coach Aime Jacquet in the pantheon of French sporting heroes.
But Zidane’s momentary act of head-butt madness against Italy put an end to that dream, and, given his predilection for gazing into the future, Domenech should have seen it coming.
After all, this is a man who picks his players based on their zodiac signs, a man who reads tea leaves and tarot cards, a man who is a lightning rod for controversy.
The fans might not have been won over yet, but after a week of team bonding in the French Alps, where a glacier hike and a dune buggy race enlivened things, Domenech’s players are in good spirits.
The way they qualified for South Africa — courtesy of Thierry Henry’s uncalled hand ball in a playoff with Ireland — has been put aside. The way they were shredded in Paris by World Cup favorite Spain has been shelved for now.
Even a police investigation into underage prostitution that turned up the names of several French players, star winger Franck Ribery among them, has not dampened enthusiasm. Ribery, incidentally, has denied any involvement and the case is being delayed until after the World Cup.
In addition to Ribery, France has an up-and-coming goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris, a useful defense that includes Eric Abidal, Patrice Evra, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna; gifted midfielders in Yoann Gourcuff, Abou Diaby and Florent Malouda, and decent forwards in Nicolas Anelka and Mathieu Valbuena.
“Those players will take us all the way,” Domenech said.
There is a sense that, before he steps off the stage, Domenech wants to erase that embarrassing incident at Euro 2008. Not long after his televised gaffe, he tried to explain it.
“I felt a moment of humanity when I should have stayed cold and professional,” he said.
Winning the World Cup for France would silence his critics once and for all — and Estelle might finally say “yes.”
