Knysna, South Africa: Nicolas Anelka was not at France's training session on Saturday, hours after reports of his alleged expletive-filled tirade at coach Raymond Domenech exposed mounting tension within the French World Cup squad.
The reported outburst could lead to Anelka being excluded from France's squad.
French sports daily L'Equipe reported that Anelka insulted Domenech at half time during France's 2-0 loss to Mexico on Thursday when the coach offered him some tactical advice.
L'Equipe said that Domenech was upset after being insulted by Anelka, who was then replaced by Andre-Pierre Gignac.
French federation vice president Christian Teinturier thinks Anelka should have either apologized or been sent home.
"If, effectively, the words I'm hearing are true, he shouldn't be there anymore," Teinturier told France Info radio. "If those exact words were said, I can't understand why he was at training on Friday.
"He should have been thrown out straight away or apologized, otherwise he shouldn't turn up again wearing a France training top."
France captain Patrice Evra was set to speak to reporters later on Saturday, the team's media officer Francois Manardo said.
French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot says the "huge pressure" on the French players because of the team's poor results is not an excuse for poor behavior.
"The players must keep in mind that they are wearing France's colors and are considered to be role models by many youngsters," Bachelot said in a statement. "This obliges them to show restraint and dignity."
Anelka was left off Domenech's squad for the 2006 World Cup, even when striker Djibril Cisse was injured on the eve of the team's departure to Germany. Domenech took Sidney Govou instead in 2006.
But the Chelsea striker was a starter in all the warmup matches before this World Cup, and he also started France's opening match, a 0-0 draw with Uruguay.
The latest reports of a rift follow newspaper allegations that midfielder Yoann Gourcuff is an unpopular figure in the squad and that defender William Gallas is upset with Domenech for giving the captain's armband to Evra.
Only a handful of French players spoke to the media after the Mexico defeat left the French staring at possible first-round elimination.
France needs to beat South Africa convincingly on Tuesday, and hope Mexico and Uruguay don't draw their final game, to have any chance of progressing.
"We deserve the criticism," France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan said on Friday. "Despite what was said, I think there were a lot of supporters who had hope. We owe it to ourselves to fight for these people."
Gallas is refusing to speak to reporters for the duration of the competition, while Franck Ribery, Anelka and Thierry Henry — all mainstays of the team — have also not spoken so far.
Toulalan, one of only a few players to speak to the media after the Mexico match, fears that the team is now a collection of individual talents with no teamwork whatsoever.
Toulalan is close friends with Gourcuff, but he would not be drawn on any feuding within the squad.
Some reports say Gourcuff sometimes eats alone at dinner, and that Ribery and Anelka do not like him and pressured Domenech to drop him against Mexico.
Gourcuff was replaced by Florent Malouda, and did not play any part in the match.
In the opening game against Uruguay, Anelka had a clear chance to pass to the unmarked Gourcuff during the first half but chose not to, prompting an angry reaction from Gourcuff, who threw his arms up in the air.
Toulalan did say, however, that players should always behave professionally, no matter what their differences.
"We can't all be the best friends in the world," Toulalan said.
Gourcuff said after the Mexico defeat that he was being made a scapegoat for the team's inability to score goals.
"It has been a collective failure over the two games. Football is hard when you can't play together," Gourcuff said. "Perhaps I have paid the price, I don't know. I've not had any explanations."
Comments
0 comment