Pride at stake for SA, France
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Bloemfontein - France and South Africa head into their final Soccer World Cup group game on Tuesday desperately trying to save national pride, and with only an outside chance of qualifying for the next round.
Neither has won a game yet, and both have the weight of their nations on their shoulders.
South Africa's 3-0 loss to Uruguay in its previous game disappointed home fans and left the team staring at the very real prospect of being the first ever host nation not to get out of the group stages at a World Cup.
As deep as Bafana Bafana's problems are, they are insignificant compared to the strife in the French camp.
A listless draw against Uruguay was followed by defeat by Mexico. Striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home for publicly criticizing coach Raymond Domenech, and the squad then went on strike, refusing to train on Sunday in protest.
"I should be in my room relaxing, but it's not at all like that. That's why I'm sad," France captain Patrice Evra said. "You're a top level player and you can't qualify for the second round of a major tournament? It's unacceptable."
Both teams must win to stand a chance of qualifying, while hoping that Mexico and Uruguay do not draw Group A's simultaneous other game.
Victory is perhaps even more paramount for France, whose reputation has been stained by two days of turmoil which exposed huge rifts within the squad.
"There is no authority left in the French team. There's no pilot in the airplane," former France defender Bixente Lizarazu said in a scathing assessment of Domenech on French television. "We're in a lunatic asylum at the moment, I can't wait to be done with the French team so that we can look ahead to the real World Cup, the one which interests us."
The tension is so unbearable between the players, Domenech, team officials, politicians and media, that only a win can save any face. The squabbling has even brought to the attention of President Nicolas Sarkozy, and could yet continue.
Domenech has to decide whether or not to keep Evra as his captain after he led Sunday's boycott of training, and how to motivate a team which had little confidence in him before the fracas erupted, and none whatsoever now.
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