Top > World > 2006 > July > 2006-07-11

France and Luck on the World Stage

With the Italian national team?s victory over France on Sunday, does this mean that it is correct for France to view itself as unlucky? Not necessarily. No, they didn?t win the big game this year. But eight years ago, they did. Unlucky? French team captain Zinedine Zidane made his last act on the soccer field of play a disgraceful head-butt, earning him a red card ? and he was still voted an award at the end of the tournament! Yes, France has reason to mourn ? but she got to the final game!

France has seen many hours of sadness and disappointment over the past year: riots by Muslim immigrants and poor in Paris and throughout the country. Riots over a labor law that was rejected by those it sought to help. Paris lost out to London for the 2012 Olympic Games. This might, just might, make the French seem as if they?re getting left behind. It might even cause them to blame America for some of their lost sparkle.

The influence of the French, lowered ever so much by the country?s poor performance in world wars, colonization and compromising relationships with Arab dictators, would not have been improved by a World Cup win. As it is, several of the players on the Italian national team play for the team Juventus, Italy?s leading team but also a team which has been rocked by scandal as of late. So maybe the French lost ? but they played well enough to get to the final game. Rather than mourn their loss, they should celebrate their skill.