YOANN GOURCUFF could be forgiven for thinking the whole world is against him. Having been ignored by many of his team-mates for the past three weeks, France’s mercurial misfit saw his unhappy World Cup come to an end even more prematurely than that of his colleagues when he was sent off for an elbow in the first half against South Africa yesterday.
Trudging down the tunnel, Bordeaux’s talented playmaker looked dejected, but he must also have felt some relief his personal trials in South Africa were over.
The rift between Gourcuff and several high-profile players, including Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribery, was the trigger to Les Bleus’ dramatic implosion over the last few days.
Gourcuff is seemingly from a different mould to the others. Intelligent, polite and well-spoken, the 23-year-old does not fit in with what many in France are calling the “spoilt brat” generation. He enjoyed a comfortable childhood in Brittany where his father, Christian, the respected coach of Lorient, ensured he received a rounded education. Clean-cut and good-looking, he is an excellent tennis player, and counts the former Olympic swimming star turned celebrity Laure Manaudou in his social circle.
Most of France’s squad grew up in much tougher conditions in the poorest suburbs. Ribery was raised in a run-down council estate in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Eric Abidal lived in one of Lyon’s most deprived areas, while Thierry Henry, William Gallas and Anelka all spent their childhoods in so-called quartiers difficiles outside Paris.
It is no coincidence these are the players who have frozen Gourcuff out in South Africa. They resent the way the French press builds Gourcuff up as Zinedine Zidane’s successor. They envy the positive attention he receives from the media. They regard him as arrogant and pretentious because he reads books and expresses himself eloquently when analysing a game.
Raymond Domenech wanted to build his attack around the 2008/09 French Player of the Year, but several senior players objected, pressurising the coach to restore Henry or Florent Malouda to the line-up. In the opening game against Uruguay, Anelka and Ribery made their stance abundantly clear by refusing to pass to Gourcuff.