French soccer team helped elect Chirac

Thank goodness for the sensibility of the French. They did the sports fans of the world a great favor Sunday.

Sunday, while Trot Nixon was accidentally on purpose throwing his bat at Tampa Bay pitcher Ryan Rupe, the French had already been to the polls and re-elected Jacques Chirac as president of that country.

Now just what does that mean to Joe Sportsfan? Not much if your interests don’t extend beyond Red Sox nation and the Celtics playoff run. But fans of what the Brazilians call the “beautiful game” are likely applauding the French.

Had the election gone the other way, had Chirac lost, the soccer team that would have represented France in next month’s World Cup would likely have been only a shadow of itself.

The best team in the world, and perhaps the best of all time, for all intents and purposes, was prepared to go on strike if Jean-Marie Le Pen had defeated Chirac.

In their eyes, their cause was noble. The French team is multiracial. In addition to “true” Frenchmen, it is made up of immigrants and the children of immigrants.

It is the two latter who are not exactly on M. Le Pen’s National Front party Christmas mailing list.

Le Pen, by all accounts, is politically to the right of Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s faithful leader of the SS.

One of Le Pen’s major themes was that France belongs to the French. That immigration should cease. That immigrants should be chased from the country. He has been described as xenophobic. He prefers the tag of “Francophile.”

In an Associated Press story he went so far as to suggest that illegal immigrants should be loaded onto “special trains” and sent to “transit camps.”

He was quoted in Le Monde, a French daily newspaper, saying that some players are on the team because they were awarded special citizenship treatment. He included in the group stars such as Yuri Djorkaeff, a midfielder of Armenian descent who was born in France, and superstar Zinedine Zidane, who is of Algerian descent but also born in France.

Further, several years ago, Le Pen referred to the team as being made up of people who didn’t know the words to, or wouldn’t sing, France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”

The thought of Le Pen at the wheel of the French government and his remarks infuriated some members of the team.

Zidane, Djorkaeff, defender Marcel Desailly, and “true” Frenchmen (at least in the eyes of the National Front), Robert Pires and Bixente Lizerazu, denounced Le Pen. All declared that should Le Pen be elected they would quit the team, and urged voters to turn out and vote for Chirac.

That the players made the announcement at all is an indication of the seriousness of the situation. The World Cup is played only once every four years. While we Americans like to think that the Super Bowl or maybe the World Series is the biggest show in the world, the World Cup is truly played on the world’s stage.

Qualifying for the World Cup is not easy, and there are no guarantees that the Frenchmen willing to give up a spot on this year’s team to make a point would make it to the 2006 cup.

From afar it was terrible news. The 1998 World Cup champions appear to be an even stronger team going into the next month’s championship.

The French, going back to the days of the legendary Michel Platini, have been noted for their at-all-costs style of attack.

This French team attacks with speed on the wings, and precision in the midfield. It is an attack that employs both flair and creativity. It is an attractive style, even to fast-food Americans who can’t find beauty in a 1-0 match. For those who love the “beautiful game,” it is pure joy.

Le Pen collected 18 percent of the vote Sunday. The results will be looked at in a number of ways. Was it a vote for Chirac? A vote against Le Pen? How much impact did the French soccer team have on the election’s outcome?

Chirac won, but, politics aside, we were the real winners.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, (800) 310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net.