2023-10-23 07:30:00
A little over a week after the incredible elimination, by one point, in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup against South Africa, a subject comes up again and again: the refereeing of Ben O’ Keeffe. As if no one wants to turn the page, the New Zealander’s decisions always fuel conversations. The defensive generosity of the Blues, the mixed coaching of Fabien Galthié or even the key individuals like Penaud and Ramos who missed this big meeting…, all these debates are relegated to the background. Fans of the French XV even harassed the referee even on social networks.
Petitions better than regrets
And, while they have long been opposed in France, notably by praising the famous “values of the oval”, rugby and football are ultimately very close when it comes to being a bad loser. In recent notable defeats, we have always looked for an external culprit, as if the failure could never be 100% our fault. At this level, the palm of gold goes to football: the defeat in the Euro 2016 final? Eder would have touched the ball with his hand. Elimination in the round of 16 of Euro 2021? Yann Sommer was not on his line during Mbappé’s penalty during the penalty shootout. The final of the last World Cup? There would have been a penalty not called on Marcus Thuram.
And, as ridicule does not kill, sure of their rights, the supporters have launched petitions to replay these matches based on these facts of the game which they consider questionable and responsible for their misfortune. Thus, the request to replay the last France-Argentina has gathered more than 200,000 signatures on the Internet. This way of proceeding seems to excuse all the wrongs of the Blues, who did not play until the 75th minute and again failed in the penalty shootout exercise that evening… Six and a half years earlier, after the final of Euro 2016, another petition had already collected, for the same purpose, almost 120,000 signatures.
Video refereeing hasn’t changed anything
Even recently, the news knocked back the painful memory of the 2022 World Cup final: Alejandro Gomez, Argentina player who won in Qatar, was suspended for two years following a positive test for a banned substance during a test carried out in November 2022, just before the competition. Some have called for the removal of the Albiceleste title to return it to the Blues, obviously, but the World Anti-Doping Code makes it clear that a collective title cannot be withdrawn for a single proven case. We will probably have to settle for two stars for the moment.
During this famous final, the dismissal of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after his team’s final was not accepted. Many criticized him for his arrogance and inappropriate gestures that had nothing to do with it. What to think, then, of Lucas Hernandez who had a word for Belgium on the steps of the Élysée while his team celebrated its world title won in Russia?
READ ALSO Kylian Mbappé, the genius beyond the whimsIronically, after having long mocked the Belgian neighbors and their famous “seum” in 2018, the French also adopted bad faith and bitterness. We obviously have the right to complain, it’s almost in our genes – and all our neighbors recognize this quality -, but these situations of protests are becoming excessive and have not done us justice in recent years. It’s very regrettable, as these French teams benefit from exceptional generations and give us incredible emotions. Even video refereeing has proven that it is not infallible: let’s learn to live with our failures as they are, the final victories will only be better.
#France #bad #loser