First opponent of the Blues at the next World Cup, Australia is synonymous with very bad memories for Christophe Dugarry.
Five months after losing to Australia in the Confederations Cup, the French team is back with the Socceroos for a friendly match played in the Antipodes. And this time, while Roger Lemerre had lined up a second team five months earlier, offering their only career selection to Zoumana Camara, Nicolas Gillet or Frédéric Née, the Blues look great with no less than ten world champions at the start. ‘mail.
Dugarry cut out
Alongside Zinedine Zidane and Robert Pirès, Christophe Dugarry is one of the starters. The Bordelais, who had his first selection against Australia during the Kirin Cup in 1994, will retain a painful memory of this so-called friendly meeting. The tricolor No. 21 is indeed the victim of a terrible tackle from Kevin Muscat. After trying to strangle Robert Pirès in the first period, the former Crystal Palace player cuts the world champion at the knee.
It’s a shame
The results are terrible for Christophe Dugarry. Victim of a sprained knee, the Girondin is out for two months off. “Playing like that is pathetic. This is a gesture of complete disrespect. He could break my leg, launches the Girondin at the end of the meeting. This guy, I don’t know him, I had never seen him before. He’ll never win anything playing like that.”, he says after the meeting. Roger Lemerre is even more severe, evoking “an act of brutality”.
The most hated man in football
Kevin Muscat is not at his first attempt. It is indeed presented in England as ‘the most hated man in football’as Birmingham City player Martin Grainger called it after the Australian defender tackled his team-mate (and compatriot) Stan Lazaridis.