And so, the French World Cup campaign finishes much as it started. Ignominy, disgrace, ridicule and polemic: none are in short supply in France. Opinion is roughly equally divided as to who is to blame: the players, the coach, the French football federation. The fallout in French public life has been astonishing and over the top. Maybe it all goes back to that day in November last year, when an infamous handball wasn't spotted by the referee, the Irish nation felt cheated out of a place at the World Cup, and a little green man bent on mischief-making put a curse on the French team.
What seems sure is that the repercussions will be felt in France for months, nay years to come…
