A sport having the planetary following that soccer does, inevitably draws comments from public figures who wish to impress a large portion of the population. That is, in countries where a passion for the game is deeply-embedded in the national psyche. Like Argentina, say, or Brazil.
I can’t imagine George W. Bush suggesting that Landon Donovan would be better employed as a striker than as an attacking midfielder, or that DaMarcus Beasley should be used on the left, not the right wing. But then it seems to me that George doesn’t think too deeply about anything, let alone something as important to the world as soccer. In France, however, a candidate for president ought to say something about the national team, Les Bleus (The Blues).
Jean-Marie Le Pen is the leader of the far-right anti-immigrant National Front, and came second to Jacques Chirac in the presidential election of 2002. He will run again in 2007; he has to be heard.
So it was no surprise that last week he made some comments about the French team. But what he said should make any soccer fan shudder.
Not for the first time, Le Pen insisted that France “…cannot recognize itself in the national side…” because “…the coach exaggerated the proportion of players of color and should have been a bit more careful”. After the victory in the World Cup of 1998, Le Pen had said that the champions were “…artificial…” and not reflective of French society.
After hearing of Le Pen’s latest comments before their game in Hanover on June 27, the present team, with 16 non-white players in a roster of 23, promptly went out and thumped Spain 3-1. Perhaps the odious Monsieur Le Pen was motivating them, as a good coach should.
A response came from France’s most-capped player, Lilian Thuram from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. A center-back, he has 118 appearances in the national team. “When we take to the field,” he said, “we do so as Frenchmen. All of us. When people were celebrating our win, they were celebrating us as Frenchmen, not black men or white men… So Vive la France, but the true France. Not the France that he wants.”
After Le Pen’s nasty outpourings, it was a pleasure to read the comments of Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of the World Cup organizing committee. Speaking of the success of this year’s tournament he said: “…the legacy it leaves behind will be, I hope, that the thousands of people who have met in the Fan Miles and exchanged emails and phone numbers stay in touch and remain friends.
“This is the way God wanted the world to be, thousands of people in peace, no matter what their race, creed or color. This is what humanity should all be about.”
Yes, I know, some cynics will say that Beckenbauer too, is a politician running for office—president of UEFA, the European Union—and so he has to come out with something warm and fuzzy for the electorate. But since I have had the privilege of being on the field with him more than once, and since he was nothing but an elegant player and an (almost*) perfect gentleman, I prefer to think that he has a view of soccer as a beautiful game, a cause for peace, and a repudiation of the words and opinions of Le Pen.

*After I gave him a caution for a professional foul, he held his cupped hands up to his eyes as though to suggest I needed binoculars. I smiled, he smiled, and we shook hands at the end of the game.