To many Westerners, the French are often viewed as rude and pretentious
- and their personal hygiene has been known to raise eyebrows and flare
nostrils. Without looking too much into the cultural differences and
stereotypes, French international, Patrice Evra’s scratch-and-sniff idée fixe left me scratching something
which smelled all but floral. While sitting on the bench during last week’s
friendly against Serbia, Les Bleus fullback was caught wiping his derrière with
fellow teammate, Mathieu Valbueno's jersey, then following it up with a whiff.
The peculiar, percolated gesture seemed to garner laughs though, as both Franck Ribery and
Karim Benzema shared some chuckles: an inside joke that I don’t even know
if I want to get.
Now it has been known for some time that the French don’t think too
kindly of Americans – and vice versa – but if an American was caught desecrating their own national ensign in any way, shape or form, it would warrant the death
penalty.
Heading into Euro 2012, the expectations
for Les Bleus are at an all time high, especially following two deplorable
campaigns at the last two major championships.
On paper, the French are in the upper echelon of countries vying for this years Euro hardware; but is that 1 ply or 2 ply? Infamous for allowing
their ego and amour-propre get the best
of them, Les Bleus have consistently underachieved since their runner-up
performance in Germany at the World Cup in 2006 – and we all know how that
ended. Now I haven’t really been one to
analyze ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘headbutts’, but if the Coq Gaulois fail to reach the semi-finals, I can almost guarantee they’ll be on the
first cargo plane back to Paris, sharing the oxygen with a shipment of Eastern
European knock-off eau de toilette. Now if they happen to reek [sic] havoc, and
reach the finals, I’m kind of curious as to how the end-of-game-jersey-exchange
with the opposition will transpire, shall they finish number 2.
