No country is perfect, but then again, not every country has a head coach who can call a black player 'black shit' and get away with it - even receive not-so-thinly-veiled approval for it. Spain is that country, with their leading man being Aragones.
We told you about Aragones, here. Though we'd like to believe this game of France vs. Spain was a match of good vs. evil, modernity vs. barbarity, multiculturalism vs. racism - it was more just a good soccer match. There were racial overtones, of course, with most/all of the Spanish players being white-ish, and most of the French players being black, but if anything it turned into a moral lesson for all who watched - what goes around comes around.
About midway through the first half, a French defender made contact with a Spanish offensive player in the French penalty area - the Spaniard dove to the ground, as could be expected of any national team without honor. The Spaniards scored the penalty and probably felt confident. The French managed to equalize on a brilliant goal before half, and the stage was set for the moral lesson to play out for all of us in the second half.
The picture is of the racist Spanish coach, Aragones, as he argues with the referee - possibly about a call where Henry did a little playacting to get a call of his own - late in the game, and not in the penalty area. He may have been fouled, as the Spanish player may have been fouled, but what is certain is that he did some playacting, as did his Spanish predecessor. Henry decided to show the Spaniards that 'what comes around goes around'. France were awarded a free kick about 35 yards out, which Zidane took, and within a few more touches was in the back of the Spanish net.
We like to think that Aragones' racism and the Spanish players', fans', and federation's seeming approval of that racism is what offered the French some karma with which to work.
The moral of the story? If you want to reach the World Cup quarterfinals and not exit the tournament early to face violence in the streets from fellow racists, don't be a racist in the first place.
This World Cup thus far has been a disaster for Team USA and for decency and honor and the game of soccer, in general, but this result was the right one. All is now well in the world. Good thing the referee wasn't black, else we could have *really* had fireworks from the racist Spaniards.
UPDATE: ESPN exposé on Euro racism, including Aragones:
UPDATE: Racists taunted French before match.
2 comments:
I just got to your blog from Techcrunch.
I know this post is pretty old, but I couldn't resist.
Have you lived in France or in Spain? I guess you haven't and you don't have any understanding of any of the two countries. Before saying France is so multicultural and open you should check what happened in the last elections, where a very well known racist party scored better than the socialists, with 16,9 % of the votes. I am not sayin that France is racist or that it isn't, I am just showing facts that seem to indicate France is not so multicultural,
And so you know, it is not the words but the facts that matter, It is not that I like Aragones, because I don't, but he has defended black people with words and FACTS, and what he said must be understood in its context. I don't know if you would have the chance, but you should read what Etoo, a black player, has to say about him.
Anyway, generalizing about such a fact (apparently, the fact that Aragones said "Black shit" automatically means Spain is racist: France vs. Spain was a match of good vs. evil, modernity vs. barbarity, multiculturalism vs. racism) just shows how narrow-minded and ignorant you are.
You might thing I am Spanish, well, I am actually not, I am Catalan, but this might be just to difficult for you to understand, so don't bother if you don't get it.
Before saying France is so multicultural and open
Instead of accusing me of saying things I never said or implied, why don't your stick to your much-ballyhooed 'facts'?
Don't waste my time, or the time of the people who read this blog. If you have serious criticism, by all means, let's have at it, but don't just make shit up. It's amateur and childish.
I'm going easy on you because you're Catalan, and may have some good anarchist values hiding underneath that veneer of deceit, pomposity, self-importance, and ignorance.
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