Sunday, teary Sunday

"I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song
How long, how long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight..." [by U2, the Irish rock band]

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At this time, 115.131 french fans have signed the petition requesting UEFA to repeat the final of the Euro 2016. The slogan of this campaign goes something like this:

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"The Portuguese cheat do not deserve such a trophy!"

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Let me see if I can understand this. The Portuguese team is a "cheat" because they play defensive and disgusting football, show no talent, barely defeating modest teams, almost miraculously, on their way to the final. This, in essence, was the gist of the infamous article in Le Point. Except for the "colorful" language, I agree to a degree with the premise of Le Point. Be they playful Gods or plain dumb Luck, the success of the Portuguese team in the Euro 2016 did come to most of us as somewhat of a surprise.
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So, basically, the Portuguese team was not worthy of making it to the finals because they don't play good, eye-pleasing football. What the French fans wanted was final with great football, with a worthy adversary!! A great match!!! But the Gods cheated them out of this destiny!! Instead, the Gods gave them Portugal. Oh mon Dieu!!!! Que se passe-t-il?!! "Was this the great adversary that our great national team would make history with?", thought the French!
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And then, to make things even worse, the Gods took Cristiano Ronaldo away from the game!! Payet, a mere puppet in the hands of these Gods, brutally pushed against the left knee of Cristiano Ronaldo!!! The world's best player, one of the greatest athletes of all time, a goal scoring machine!!! Gone from the game! Comment est-ce possible? Les dieux doivent etre fous!!! A gift from the Gods, you would think!! But no, not for this tribe of Gauls!! The "great match" just went from bad to worse!!! Basically, from that point on, things just went south. Literally, the goal, the victory, the title, and the EURO 2016 cup all went south, to Portugal, no less!!! 
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Why did the game go south?? Facing such a poor side, why didn't the French team delight their fans with a memorable night of adversary crushing football? And show the soccer world how it is done!? Why didn't the French team win by 4 or 5 or 6 goals? That's the only thing the fans wanted!!! The Gods took care of CR7, and the referee ...  and the game was still left with one really great team on the pitch - the French, or course - ... and it seamed easy, in reach ... and yet ... the French just could not deliver ... because in fact the French team was just a cheap cheat itself. Playing at home, against a weak, talent-less team, and cowardly eliminating Cristiano Ronaldo at the very beginning, the French team was incapable of playing the game we all expected. They could have, should have, crushed Portugal, and won by many. But they lost miserably. The French team of Euro 2016 turned out to be the one and only cheat of the tournament. Portugal was clearly, from the beginning, an underdog. Even more so, once they took out Cristiano Ronaldo.

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And, as a result, this tribe of Gauls decided to project their frustration on the Portuguese team.
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This petition reaction is just a reflection of that; that deep down, the French know that their team is a fraud, a cheat. What they are really saying is "The French cheat did not deserve such a trophy!"

Clair et simple, mes amis.