For once and to change the editorial line a little because it feels good, let’s talk this morning about another part of the sporting rivalry between France and Spain. We leave the parquet aside for a few minutes for… the lawn, the opportunity to dive back into 2006, in Germany, already, at a time when the Spain of football saw fit to trashtalk the French team. Delicious.
“Vamos a jubilar a Zidane”. Here is the front page of the Spanish daily Marca on June 27, 2006. The context? France face Spain in Hanover, in the round of 16 of the Futbol World Cup. A year earlier Zinédine Zidane, Claude Makélélé and Lilian Thuram made the choice of a last dance with the EDF, to help a coach (Raymond Domenech) who – let us remember – then chose his players according to their astrological sign but hey, let’s move on. Six days after the start of the summer, therefore, football Spain indulges in a little trashtalking session by announcing loud and clear that its ambition is to send the divine No. 10 back to retirement… except that the things are absolutely not going to happen as Marca had imagined.
The game ? A pinnacle of world football. Raul, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and David Villa are part of the Roja eleven, Titi Henry, Zizou, Patrick Vieira and Fabien Barthez form the backbone of an EDF aging and hardworking, and on the bench Vikash Dhorasoo films all this with his Nokia.
A rather badly started match since in the 28th minute David Villa opened the scoring on penaltoche and put France on the ropes. The moment chosen by… Franck Ribéry to officially present himself to the football world. Oh, the 23-year-old is not far from unknown, but the then Marseillais scored his first national goal in any case, equalizing for the Blues before half-time and at the same time offering us a wonderful commentary from the late Thierry Gilardi
Go ahead my child! He’s awesome kid!
The following ? A match to fight back and, finally, Patrick Vieira who will find the fault at the end of the match before, well, Zinedine Zidane in person puts an end to the suspense in stoppage time. 3-1 victory for the French, retirement will wait… a few days. Only a few days since Marco Materrazzi will whisper in Zizou’s ear a few days later, in the middle of the final, that the latter’s sister earned her living in an un-Catholic way. A good ram-like whim between the two lungs of the bastard, a defeat on penalties, in short you all know the story but one thing is certain, the Spaniards had nothing to do with it.
In football too, the French and the Spaniards have therefore had trouble leaving in the past, and yet we do not even speak to you of the word “remontada” which must necessarily mean something to you. That was the football quarter of an hour on TrashTalk, see you in six years for the next article, and see you tonight for France – Spain.