Live The Pitch

The French national team took the pitch today for training one day after the players refused to train after the French Football Federation sent home star striker Nicolas Anelka. During halftime of France’s last match Anelka and coach Raymond Demenech were involved in a heated exchange with Anelka apparently going too far.

Apparently Anelka told Demenech to go “Fuck Himself” in the locker room at the half. Players were clearly not on the same page throughout the Mexico match at times being drastically outplayed.

“I tried to convince the players for 45 minutes that what they were trying to do was stupid, that it was an imbecility,” Demenech said. I’m not too sure calling your players imbeciles with a chance to advance to the next round on the line is a good idea. On paper this team is still loaded with talent but seem to not mesh well together.

With captain Patrice Evra in the middle of all the drama it is still unsure who will start in their last match. Evra was not in attendance at the French press conference today which FIFA will now investigate.

When asked about Evra remaining captain Demenech said: “There will be a discussion tonight, we’ll see. Again, this is not a problem of trust, but rather a question of psychological and physical condition to play the game.”