French disaster draws to a close with loss to South Africa

Thankfully the disaster that was France can leave the World Cup as they lost to the hosts South Africa on Tuesday.  It has been nothing short of a soap opera of epic proportions.  A soap opera that unfortunately has overshadowed much of the soccer played at the Cup. 

It was a World Cup that began for the French with a scoreless draw with Group A winners Uruguay.  The result wasn't happily accepted by France, but it was the second match that really set off the fireworks.  A disastrous 2-0 defeat to Mexico sent the French camp into a tailspin.

Star striker Nicolas Anelka blew up at coach Raymond Domenech in a profanity laden halftime tirade.  In response, the French Federation dismissed Anelka and sent him home from South Africa.  This action sent many of the France players into a tizzy as they thought the dismissal was unfair.

The next day was drama of the highest order as players revolted and refused to train.  Domenech was forced to read a statement from the players after explaining their discontent and there was a training ground tiff between Patrice Evra and staff.  The next day Domenech called the player's move "an imbecility, a stupidity without name,"

Thus the squad limped into their final match against the host South Africa.  Domenech made multiple changes to the lineup including benching Patrice Evra among others.  Things would not improve though as South Africa jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead behind goals from Khumalo and Mphela.  Sandwiched in between was a red card to Yoann Gourcuff of France.

The second half saw a little bit of life from France as they were able to grab a goal back as Ribery played square to Malouda who tapped home, but that was all there was to be.  A 2-1 loss to South Africa was a fitting end to what can only be termed as an embarrassing couple of weeks at the 2010 World Cup for France.  Now they are left to limp home and face the criticism of a nation and the loss of respect from around the world.