[Global Times comprehensive report] in the just-concluded World Cup, the French team's every goal and loss may affect the president's nerves, because the master of the Elysée Palace knows that "my support is closely related to the performance of the national soccer team". The French press summarized it pithily: the President of the Republic must be the national team, whether he wants to be or not. "Fan number one".
It is no exaggeration to say that every time the French team has participated in an international tournament since they first won the Hercules Cup in 1998, it has become a high-profile political event. Chirac has played a key role in soccer's magic from sport to politics. Vidroux, a famous French sports journalist, even said, "Winning the World Cup in 1998 indirectly helped Chirac to succeed in his re-election."
Chirac was narrowly elected president in 1995 and dissolved parliament in 1997. Left-wing politician Jospin led the Socialist Party to win parliamentary elections and became prime minister. Co-governance left Chirac out of power. He desperately needed a breakthrough to boost support. Although he knew nothing about soccer, Chirac was unique in his understanding of the impact of the "world's number one sport." In January 1998, Chirac completed the ribbon-cutting of a new French stadium. Although France had earned the right to host the World Cup, people were generally pessimistic about the national soccer team, and some media outlets even openly attacked coach Jacquet. Jacquet was encouraged by Chirac, who came to the national soccer training base, saying, "Three years ago no one favored me to win the election, but what happened?" After beating Romania in the group stage, Chirac personally went to the locker room to cheer the players and made the prediction "On July 12, I will award the Hercules Cup to the French team and I will rehearse it in advance." .
On the night of the final, Jacques Chirac's prediction came true: France beat Brazil 3-0. Chirac awarded the French team the Copa del Rey. The Parisian street carnival continued until July 14th, the National Day. But the attentive eye could see the flaws of the "pseudo-fan" president. When the host called out the names of the players one by one during the celebrations at the Stade de France, Jacques Chirac applauded and cheered along with the 80,000 fans, but the shape of his mouth was clearly not right: in fact, he didn't know the names of the players. Chirac later made a slip of the tongue in the presidential palace and described the World Cup as the "Coupe de France". Nonetheless, the documentary on the French team and the presidency said that the day the French won the championship was definitely the most important day of Chirac's term in office. In this game "national team No. 1 fan" in the inside, kill, laymen are trying to play their roles. The French team won the championship, which allowed Chirac to crush Prime Minister Jospin, who went out in the first round of the next presidential election. Immigrant stars, including Zinedine Zidane, have also made France's "multiple identities" visible. In order to promote integration, diversity and solidarity in France.
The prosperity of French soccer cannot be separated from the "foundation" laid by the president 40 years ago. As we all know, the youth training system at the Claret Vendôme training base has trained countless French stars such as Henry, Trezeguet and Mbappe. In this year's World Cup, the French team has emblazoned their national team uniforms with Clay-Vendôme and the Arc de Triomphe. The official name of the Clay-Vendôme training base is the French Football Federation's National Technical Training Center, which was approved and established during the presidency of François Mitterrand. Mitterrand was President of France in the 1980s and 1990s. Mitterrand was a soccer fan. It was the Clay-Vendôme training base that "laid the foundations" for modern French soccer and, in 1988, President Mitterrand cut the colors for the completion of this "mecca" for French soccer. During Mitterrand's time, he was also a famous French star. Later, when Platini was at the top of his game as President of UEFA, they had a good personal relationship and crossed paths on several occasions, and in 1986, President Mitterrand awarded Platini a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Honneurs in recognition of his great service to the French people.
Nowadays, the French team has a lot of blacks, more like the African team than the African team "Terriers", which is also related to another president. Whether the French team is registered players or stadium players, black players accounted for a considerable proportion, which is closely related to the decision of President de Gaulle. In World War II, when France was occupied by Nazi Germany, General de Gaulle launched the "Free France" movement, which called on all French and colonial troops not under German control to continue resisting the fascist armed forces. "In the army, the French colonies in Africa provided nearly 300,000 soldiers, most of whom were black. After the Second World War, these heroic colonial soldiers received French citizenship directly. Now, many black players from France came to France.
