They reached the final of the last world cup and much was expected from France in South Africa. Yet, France has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The French squad has found it hard to get along with their coach Raymond Domenech from the beginning and this resulted in a lot of drama off the field which spoiled the squad’s team spirit.

France fielded a new line up against the South Africans. There was no Ankela who was sent home on disciplinary grounds, their captain Patrick Evra was on the bench because he took up for Ankela and Thierry Henry was not good enough to find a place in the starting eleven. To make matters worse, early in the first half Yoan Gourcuff received a red card and got sent off, leaving France with just 10 men. The South Africans went all out and played an aggressive game scoring two goals in the first half.

At half time, the score read 2-0 to South Africa and Les Blues knew they were out of the first round. They came back and played a better game after Domenech introduced Henry in the second half.

France managed a consolation goal in the second half and the match finished with a 2-1 score line in favor of South Africa. Domenech told reporters after the match “There was a low blow with the sending-off of Gourcuff, and when things don't go for you they just don't go for you. I feel great sadness at what has happened not only for myself but for the French people.”

Patrick Evra the French Captain who did not play against South Africa said that “I promise to tell the truth about every minute of what I went through. French people need to know the truth because the France team belongs to them and nobody else.”

Evra went on to say that the French squad will give up their World Cup bonuses. He said “It hurts even more because that could have been done on Monday. I could have done it as the team captain but the coach would not let me. It's time for us to apologise.”

The French go home to a disappointed nation and an angry press. French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes promised to hold a meeting and find out what went wrong. He made a strong statement about the team saying “Where, for me, 50 years of values crumbled. I thought at the time of this shame (referring to the off-field drama) that football brought to France - that's far worse than poor results.”