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The French Football Federation has handed down a stiff punishment to the leaders of the French National team who were  blamed for the inappropriate behavior at the World Cup.  The FFF suspended striker Nicolas Anelka for 18 matches, former captain Patrice Evra for five matches, Franck Ribery for three matches and Jeremy Toulalan for one match.

Sources say Anelka and former coach Raymond Domenech were involved in a heated exchange in the locker room at halftime of the 2-0 loss to Mexico.  Domenech and the FFF decided to send Anelka home while the majority of the players disagreed with the move.  The French players chose to skip the following day of training in protest and were sent home after the knockout stages from the Cup.

New French manager Laurent Blanc, dropped all 23 players from the World Cup roster in a friendly against Norway, which they lost 2-1.  Blanc has extremely talented players at his disposal in France but needs to get his players on the same page. Only time will tell if this overhaul of the national team will do any good.

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