World Cup Day 12: The Axe Falls

Well today is the day that the French Farce was officially put to bed...from the South African standpoint.  Les Bleus have returned home, not even staying one more night in their palatial hotel on the coast.  To top it off the French government flew them home...*gulp*...coach!
Now the inquisition will begin, with Torquemada giving each player a public auto da fe..."Were you involved wis zis plot to shame our COUNTRY?" *lights fire*

The French public have already removed themselves from the whole nasty affair.  Today during the match with South Africa, the crowd watching across from the Eiffel Tower were booing their team and cheering for Bafana Bafana. 
Patrice Evra, who was the anointed captain (although he didn't play today), had this to say:

"France will know the truth. There is a cause for all this failure; several things will come out. Then, if people don't want to forgive, at least they will know the truth."

Evra then said the whole squad will "give up all the bonuses. We won't accept a single cent from the World Cup out of shame."

Maybe the preening, overpaid, poor excuses for patriots should repay the amount it took to care for them during their qualifying and shameful display in South Africa. 
I don't want to give the impression that I am dissing the entire team.  As was stated in the last few days, a few members lead the coup.  The other members basically became sheep; comply or we won't pass to you during the matches (Gourcuff for example), or when we become leaders of France you won't get cabinet positions and we'll make you eat cake.
Who knows how long this has been a problem.  Domenech certainly has been a firebrand during the qualification process.  His complete cluelessness has only been magnified in the fishbowl that is the World Cup.  Would we ever have been privy to the discord if some "traitor" had not alerted the French press?
Well, as awful as the revelation was, at least it gave us an answer as to why the runners-up in 2006 could barely muster enough energy to take a few shots on goal. 
Domenech will be crucified (although I'm sure he won't care as he knew long ago he would not be returning), but the team has acted dishonorably too.  Who in their right mind would think that staging a coup against ones own manager during the World Cup was a good idea?  I'm not seeing any hands.
Can they really blame their poor play on their manager?  Their bad passing, pathetic shots, and "selective passing," (Anelka and Ribery) can't be blamed on the man who isn't wearing boots.  These are highly-paid, well-trained footballers, who play and have played for the biggest clubs in the world.
Patrice Evra (whom I'm hoping gets a stern talking to from Sir Alex), was more concerned with "finding the traitor" who spilled the beans about the Anelka bustup.  Maybe Patrice should have put more effort into finding his game.
French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot called an emergency meeting Monday with the team to give them a little tough love.  Her words:

“It’s your kids, our children, for whom perhaps you will no longer be heroes. It is the dreams of your partners, your friends, your fans that you have perhaps broken. You have tarnished the image of France.

“French soccer is facing a disaster, not because it lost a match but because this disaster is a moral disaster,” Bachelot said. “The reality of the situation must be faced head-on. It is not merely just a bad period that must be gotten through, nothing will be like it was before."

Bachelot said the team were crying and applauding her words. 
They lost today 2-1, scoring their only goal of the tournament.  It didn't matter though, as it was obvious to the rest of us that they never had their hearts in it. 
Besides public apologies to their countrymen, they should also send a letter of apology to Ireland's National Team, for taking their chance to shine away from them...and through their own selfishness...wasting it.

Laurent Blanc.  It's your turn.