Italy v France: Oh, it is ON!
By: Martha | August 9th, 2007
In an interview with a French newspaper yesterday, France coach Raymond Domenech went and played the conspiracy card nice and early, just in case something goes wrong in next month’s match against Italy, and his squad happen to lose. According to Domenech, the primary problem France could encounter during next month’s Euro 2008 qualifier in Milan is not the absence through injury of their first and second choice keepers, but rather corrupt officials. Oh yes, he went there.
Said Domenech, “The main problem could be the referees, but that’s often the problem with Italy. In the past there have been rigged games like the France v Italy Under-21 qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. They had bought the ref and the cheating was incredible. If it happens once you have doubts, but there are hidden agreements in Italian football.” (All I know about the match he mentions is that Italy won a two-legged playoff 3-2, and that the second game ended 2-1 after extra time. If anyone has details about the alleged cheating, please share.) Not a lot of room to claim a misquoting or being taken out of context, is there? I mean, damn. Domenech has never been predictable, but this just seems dumb, unless he’s so unsure of his team’s ability to take points from the game that he’s setting up excuses ahead of time. Which, also, is dumb. In good news, we can now rest assured that the sold-out San Siro will be an absolute cauldron of loathing come September 8.
(Interestingly, in the interview Domenech is full of praise for Marco Materazzi, both in terms of his performance in the World Cup final, and his ability to get under Zinedine Zidane’s skin, and make him explode. Of course, for all I know this could be clever French sarcasm, but in tranlation it comes across as pretty straight.)
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I mean, he is correct to say that Italian referees have been proven to be corrupt (at least in Serie A).
However, this is a FIFA match, with I presume, neither Italian nor French referees, correct? So exactly how is Italy going to cheat here?
Nothing like the proverbial “bulletin board” material a month a way from a massive qualifier on the road … I’d be salty if I were on the French team. It was going to be enough of a challenge to with this match for France without these idiotic comments.
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United States
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what are the chances that fifa will punish him for his comments? if FIGC was able to do it for zamparini…
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Canada -
Domenech is absolutely without class. He is an embarassment to the French (as if they need anymore), football, and the entire human race. I hope some Inter fans throw a burning Vespa on his pretentous, pompous head. Forza Azzurri!!!!!!!!
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United States -
Italians are well known to cheat for decades…However they don’t roll on the pitch as much as they use too..They did it against Australia in the Quarter Final…Why don’t you ask Australians what they think…I am not French and I suggest that you stop your hate …and watch your Base Ball or American Football…Oh I forgot watch also Beckam circus who never won anything..(Missed penalties in crucial moment…)
France is a great team…they should have won the final…last year…
Zidane was a great player, the best for the last 20 years and a great individual off the field..But he should have known better…Materrazzi is a poor example history speaks for itself…and has shown him no respect…
France beat Italy 3 1 in Paris…Don’t ever assume..So watch out …
DominiquePosted from
United States -
yeah ok whatever Dominique…you should be careful what you say here you are quite outnumbered by azzurri fans. we know serie a was corrupt but the azzurri wouldnt pay the refs because there is too much at stake aka our credibility.
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Canada -
Domenique is not French, and niether is eating frog legs. The French don’t cheat, they just surrender. Forza Italia - 2006 Fifa World Cup Champions!
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United States -
Every day I find another reason to hate the French. Nice find Martha. Domenech really ought to spend more time tending to those eyebrows. What a tool.
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Ok there so was it cheating when they gave zizou a penelty shot in the final when it wasint one
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I love Rayray. Without him, the France NT would be just a sports team. He makes it a lovefest.
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HAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I can’t believe supporters of French football that have the gull to call Italians cheats.
What are you guys nuts??
Dominque, lets set the record straight:
Grosso did not dive. The penalty was the right call. After dicing his way into the Australia area, the defender that committed the foul made one of the laziest, most ill timed challenges you could make. He completely paniced and just threw himself out towards Grosso. By doing this he IMPEDED Grosso’s path to Goal, TAKING AWAY a scoring oppurtunity which is why the penalty was called. Grosso did not dive, he got the ball past the defender whose crappy challege blocked Grosso from going any further. The ref was standing no more than 10-20 feet from the spot with an unobstructed view at probably the best angle possible. The foul may not have been the harshest of fouls but it still was. Its amazing how many people think a plyer needs to be drop kicked before a penalty is called. And I’ll tell you what Australia showed no displays of even coming close to wining that game. They were being domiated even though they had the man adavantage.
Now how dare you mention Grosso when in the Final the only goal France scored was on a Penalty that was awarded because Malouda dove. The ball was played into him and he made a bad first touch. Materazzi realized his challenge would be foolish and pulled out. Now, beacuse Malouda’s first touch was too strong and he knew Cana was closing in… he went down like a car window and got the call he was looking for. Need Proof?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlwV0QPLJNg
And the reason I chose that video is look at the what it is titled. Its further proof how distorted people’s views are: Malouda dove and the the Video is called Italian Cheating exposed. Ther person who made that video probably didn’t even know which team was which.
And Zidane was the maker of his own bed. You find professional sports league where trash talking and agitating tactics are not used. Its a part of sport. Instead of being a man, Zidane’s childish temper got him in trouble and he walked off the pitch for the last time ever with his head hanging in shame.
why does everybody pick on Italian football? Are people really that jealous that they are so good at it. It is one of the most Successful footballing nation in the world on both an International level and Club team level combined and thats a fact.
Find proof that a game that was played by the Azzurri was ever fixed, or had a referee’s adavatage. Don’t just make these absurd claims.
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Azzurri from Italy:
Malouda dived I am not so sure… however to be fair with you Azzurri…(who pretend to be Italian…born and raise in America !!!DA!! ) I was surprised that France got a penalty…Zidane missed a header (Close) and Scarface (Ribery). both almost score…What I don’t like with you guys is hate…it’s because I am the only one in this blog (I don’t carry hate) French surrenders etc…(lessons can be learn from them don’t they? )
No let’s have a conversation ..a civilised one..will you…
You defend Italy at any price …right? I was among many Australians that night and let me tell you …they were really really mad…
Me I think I am fair and I am telling you France has a great Team and they will surprise you again again again…since the area Platini…Period..
Despite the French league …They beat Bayern They beat Real Madrid few times…(lyon) France still produce Top Players…England zero nicht nada…Spain destroyed by the French in the world Cup ..Is anyone outhere who agree with me ??
It’s always easy to insult countries their way of life…But that’s another story to face them face to face…
DominiquePosted from
United States -
Never assume you could be wrong…and you are wrong…No Court or Judge in Italy would take the risk to put Major Italians Clubs out of Business, He or they would put their own life on line… You have no idea (living in the US) what Football mean in Italy…none…
Millions of Euros are involved …and that’s part of the game…
Spike Lee said that it was a Set Up (Talking about Zidane)…Alex Ferguson ..Don’t ask him…Posted from
United States -
Three words for the bellyachers: Four. World. Cups.
But please continue with the brilliantly original kvetching, there’s nothing that makes Azzurri fans wish harder that they had taken to supporting whatever honourable, upstanding football nation you’re fanbotting.
[I hope FIFA take Domenech to task for casting aspersions on their organisation's representatives. Fat chance, though, right, of justice coming from those pompous Francophiles in power? ;)]
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Did someone drag that game up yet again?
Dominique, you’re beating a horse that’s not just dead, but buried and decaying. Yes, losing on a penalty was a crappy way for the Aussies to go out, but if you were watching the game, you might have noticed there was no way the Aussies were going to win. They didn’t look threatening and were nowhere near scoring, even a man up. The penalty just hastened the inevitable.And it’s nice that you’re not carrying hate, but you did come stomping onto an Italian football blog and announce that our team are dirty cheats, so you can hardly complain if people respond in kind.
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Lisa
With all respect you know and I know how much hate were against France and the French team…there is absolutely no hate in me… Cheats yes …Dirty I would not go that far…Posted from
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paolo that was the greatest thing i have read all day! hahaha i have been trying to explain exactly that to people since that game happened and no one believes me so thank you very much for that.
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No Problem Sofia! I can understand why Australians would be upset about losing but its no one’s problem that they do not understand why the penalty was called or how they thought they would eventually win a game they were getting schooled in. They lost fair and square. And if you look at the highlight, Materazzi got a red card in that game for Tackling Zambrotta… A yellow sure but not a stright red for that… you hear us complain?
It gets very annoying that everytime an Italian team does well at International competitions, whether it be the National Team or a Club Team, people always try to discredit them. Its no fluke to be that good that often. Italy’s perfromance was World Class at the World Cup, nothing was easy for them, they simply played the best football and won.
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United States -
Dominique, what judge or court in any major footballing nation would ever take the risk to put any major club out of business? Its always about the Italians with everyone. Every league is influenced by corruption which I will not get into detail about. we fully understand how important football is to people in Italy. I have sat in the stadiums there, and have tons of family there. I know what it means to the supporters.
Everyone is always quick to point the finger but never really understands, knows or is willing to admit what goes on in other Associations. Its always the Italians.
Never mind Spike Lee’s conspiacy theories, he has enough to worry about with the Knicks. Zidane controls his own actions. A set up? Geez, I am just not going to say anything…..
No one here hates anyone else, its just very annoying that every time an Italian team does well at an International competiton, there is so much effort that goes into discrediting them… There is no proof that an Italian Team, national or club, has ever cheated to win anything in International play. There was that whole calciopoli thing that was the doing of a few corrupt individuals, but why does the national team have to get attacked all the time?
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paolo is right. the australians lost fair and square we were the better team and people need to get over it. italy is contantly being questioned and discredited because of assholes like Luciano Moggi and being a Juve fan i am definately not proud of that. however, zidane chose his own fate. i play soccer and its non-competitive soccer and i hear A LOT of trash talking on the field but i dont turn around and headbutt anyone. his actions will never be justified no matter what materrazzi said to him. the italian teams club and national are always having to prove themselves to the world because everyone thinks we are cheats but really get over the fact that our team is good. i dont mean to sound rude but italy has a history of great football dating back to the 1930’s. we have won the world cup 4 times once less then brasil and no one ever accuses brasil of cheating. and if you wanna talk about italian math fixing but i dont know if you have heard but portugal’s club teams i am not sure which ones but they are being accused of match fixing now too but i bet you their national team wont be questioned because for some reason that i cant understand everyone hates italy. zidane should be ashamed of his actions which were uncalled for and idiotic. i think that no matter what happens italy will always be forced to prove themselves a really good side because the rest of the world thinks we are cheats. i dont mind honestly i just wish it would stop because its childish and stupid and completely undeserving seeing as the match fixing that went on in italy was at the club level and the most of the people involved arent part of football anymore….
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Paolo is completely right. And remember this isn’t Zidane’s first time to lose his temper and headbutt someone. You’ve got to admit that Italy was playing better than France. And I’ve got to say that France is a good team, I’m not going to say they aren’t, but Italy has a better team and the stars on their jerseys prove it. Hey, Luca Toni even scored, but it was nullified. De Rossi was in the offside position, but not by a lot. And the only goal that France could score was a penalty. Just get over that fact that they lost, I’m sure there’ll be other chances for France to win a World Cup.
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United States -
I understand how the penalty that Italy received against Australia may have been highly debated but I can say honestly that the penalties that we had been rewarded were also highly dubious. The fact remains every team is subject to good and bad calls but Italy is NOT allowed to get good calls for some reason. It’s black and white with Italy in the soccer world, If they get a bad call it’s just if they get a good call the ref has been payed off while France always gets the benefit of the doubt in these situations. You’re in a tough spot if you lose you will be ridiculed by French fans because we are the best in the world at it and if you win you will still be ridiculed by French fans because many of us are not graceful in defeat especially our coach. So I just think he’s setting up the excuse beforehand in case we lose much the way Oliver Kahn did in 2002 before Germany played Korea..very smart tactic but very dangerous. I don’t think there has ever been any concrete evidence of match-fixing ever and believe me it would be hard to hide a rigged match since you would need to pay off more than a ref to fix a match. you would also have to pay off certain individuals of the opposing team to help throw the match, a ref alone is not a match winning certainty. So nice try Raymond.
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[...] into a suspension for his team’s upcoming match against the Azzurri. After very specifically accusing Italy of buying the referees for an Olympic qualifier against France in 2000, he was sadly unable to come up with the [...]
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Typical French attitude. This coach, Domenech, is a real idiot. He is making excuses for his team losing before the game is played. He figures, if France wins then they overcame the cheating. If France loses, then they lost unfairly. I’m looking forward to a great game. Both teams are world-class. I’m rooting for Italy but want to see a close well played game.
Domenech, go back to bad french acting….Posted from
United States -
I think Ray’s a legend. He’s made a fan of me!
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United Kingdom -
[...] you thought it was only everything about Italy that roused Raymond Domenech to do a bit of rabble rousing, think again. The France [...]
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