In October 2011, with France trailing by a goal in the final Group D qualification game for Euro 2012 and with only 14 minutes left, it seemed the Les Blues were in danger of having to go through the playoffs to qualify for the tournament.

As France upped their game in search of the equalizer, Nasri pulled the strings from midfield, won a penalty and converted it, ensuring automatic qualification and promising the beginning of a new era. More importantly, of the eleven players on the pitch when the equalizer was scored, only one player – Patrice Evra, was part of the “tainted” World Cup 2010 squad, which brought much disrepute to this proud footballing nation. As relief and joy greeted the national team’s qualification for the Euros, it was also considered a small but important step towards restoring the faith of the public in their team after the shambolic World Cup campaign. Kynska 2010 was still not forgotten, but a new page was being turned. And to make things better, it was Samir Nasri – left out of the World Cup squad and consequently free of the ‘taint’, who applied the Coup de Grace.

Samir Nasri

Fast forward to June,2012. After a disappointing yet expected 2-0 defeat at the hands of Spain, Nasri was asked for his opinion on the team’s performance in the tournament. His reaction: “You are looking for s***, you are looking for trouble“. When the journalist in question told Nasri to “get lost”, the midfielder continued his abusive rant and said “f*** you” before inviting him to settle scores. His surly reaction invoked disbelief and anger among the French public.

Samir Nasri : In The Centre Of A Storm

In reality, it was the culmination of a simmering confrontation between the French media and the Manchester City midfielder. After scoring the equalizer in France’s first group game against England, he unleashed a torrent of abuse in the direction of the French press. This was in reaction to the criticism of his performances in the pre-tournament friendlies. But it was after the 2-0 defeat to Sweden that things came to a halt in the French camp. After the game, which also brought France’s 24-game unbeaten streak to a screeching halt, Blanc admitted that things got heated up in the dressing room. Florent Malouda, one of the survivors of WC 2010, spoke of how the dressing room atmosphere rekindled the “ghosts” of the past.

The following day, L’Equipe ran a blow-by-blow account of what transpired post-game. Alou Diarra, one of the experienced campaigners of the team, accused the players of being selfish and dwelling too much time on the ball. It was reported that Nasri took offense to this observation, as he thought that it was directed at him. Karim Benzema too accused Nasri of being selfish. It was also reported that Hatem Ben Arfa had a verbal sparring with Laurent Blanc. While one will never get to know the full extent of the truth in this story, Nasri soon turned into public enemy number one in France.

L’Equipe ran a poll asking its readers to vote whether Nasri should be included in the starting eleven against Spain. The result, unsurprisingly, was a resounding NO. Television and radio phone-in shows centered around Nasri’s boorish behaviour and public opinion was overwhelmingly against him. Blanc, fielding an ultra-defensive formation against Spain, dropped his best player of the tournament for a knock-out game. But this is not Nasri’s first disciplinary indiscretion.

A target of frequent abuse for Arsenal fans on Twitter, he rubbed them the wrong way after his transfer to Man City by saying that Arsenal fans were good but Man City had better fans. After winning the League title with them, he took another dig at Arsenal by claiming that he left the club to win trophies, something which he thought was not possible in North London. He also spoke in a derisory tone about Arsenal and how the title win had vindicated his transfer. This, came from a man who spoke of how Arsenal do not get credit for playing an attractive brand of football and that the English media focuses too much on the lack of trophies after a Carling Cup win over Tottenham in 2010.

His move to Manchester City too has not been a roaring success. While he has made crucial contributions, he was an understudy to David Silva and made the starting eleven not too frequently. Roberto Mancini, too, sought more from Nasri asking him to track back and help his defence.

While all these are not major misdemeanors, they all point to a man who fails to keep his ego in check and gets provoked quite easily. A couple of days ago, Nasri took to Twitter to express regrets over his behaviour.

His abusive outburst has not gone down well with the French Football Federation, which is still wriggling itself from the embarrassment caused two years ago. According to L’Equipe, the governing body wants to set an example by freezing out Nasri from the national team. “You can do what you want when you play for Manchester City but not when you wear the France team shirt,” FFF president Noel le Graet reportedly told the paper. According to the newspaper, Laurent Blanc whose contract renewal itself is in a limbo, wants to continue with the national team but is ready to dump Nasri from the national setup. With qualification for Brazil 2014 and the next Euros at home (France 2016), the FFF would be keen to get its act together and may take Nasri as an example of how to deal with such things properly.

In an interview with France Foot pre-Euros he said “I’ve matured, I’m now a champion in England & can handle these pressure situations.“. He was also quoted as saying that his motto in life is to “Treat others as you would like to get treated“. Surely, this was not what he had on his mind.

Ai??

***

~ Written by Chaitanya Lakkapragada ~

Tags: France Samir Nasri

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