Into the Blue

By | July 13, 2011

A tremendous game today: the polar opposite of U.S.-Brazil, and indeed of France-England, but as riveting in it’s way. That was a relief, since I’m not sure I could have handled the kinds of emotional ups and downs that this past weekend delivered. Tonight, instead of the drama of confusing calls and the absurdity of penalty kicks, we had a clean, flowing game, one won through determined and brilliant play-making by the U.S. France played well, and indeed dominated possession, but in the end couldn’t convert their technical brilliance into goals. We’ll get to see them play once more, against Sweden, this Saturday, where they’ll battle for third place.

France go brought a dynamic and exciting kind of play to the pitch that no other team in the tournament really did. My hope — and I realize it’s a somewhat utopian one — is that the success of the French team in this World Cup will help prod the French Football Federation to do more to train and support women’s players, and will help the expansion of the women’s professional leagues as well. The players on the team have, for a moment, become celebrities in France, drawing many people disgusted and alienated by the problems with the men’s team back to football. As I told Marco Werman on “The World” today, that will only be meaningful in the long-term, of course, if it helps spur on institutional and cultural changes that open more doors for the women’s game. I’m rather pessimistic about how much the leadership French Football Federation — which has shown itself to be remarkably sclerotic institutionally, and indeed prone to bouts of blame-the-victim racist delirium — will actually respond to that call. But one can hope that, as was the case in the U.S. after 1999, the grassroots support and development of French football — coupled with a furthering commitment on the part of the fine French academy system — will contribute to the continuing rise of French women’s football.

More broadly, in a France shaken up by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal, which raises profound questions about gender, power and politics in the country, the symbolism surrounding the French women’s team is important. The question of gender equality in France is a fascinating one: while socialized medicine and excellent state-subsidized childcare provide an advantage for women, in terms of the division of domestic labor, salaries, and workplace politics, the country actually lags behind the U.S. and many other Western European countries. This could well be the time for younger women in France to begin to take on a political and social that remains oddly patriarchal. The players on the French women’s team have not, so far, taken political positions of the kind for which Lilian Thuram is famous. Yet it was significant that today, as Jennifer Doyle pointed out, the anti-discrimination statement read by the French team included a mention of homophobia — which the English-language statement read by the U.S. team didn’t explicitly. I’m not sure who wrote that statement, and whether the players or the coach were at all involved — it may simply be a federation product — but it’s intriguing. In addition to the question of whether this team’s run might help push women’s football ahead in France, there is also an interesting question about how the players who have gained some notoriety this summer may end up acting as public figures, media symbols, and perhaps even political voices. France is in desperate need of fresh thinking right now, and it would be interesting if women’s sport could at least contribute to a shift in cultural mores and public discourse around gender.

Whether any of this comes to pass, we are left with the tremendous the joy of watching players like Delie, Necib, Abily, Thiney and Bompastor, of seeing French football at it’s best, for once. For that, we have those players — and their poetic, and slightly hazy coach Bini — to thank. We will get to see them once more, in the third place match, before they head home.

 

In this game, though, the U.S. certainly proved itself superior, not always in technical skill but in the overall handling of the game, and of course in finishing those goals. Sometimes semi-final matches in World Cups are a disappointment, but this wasn’t. And now the U.S. will face another blue-clad team, Japan, the revelation of the tournament and clearly a daunting foe, as Germany and Sweden have already learned. It promises to be one more fascinating match. Already, though, I feel a twinge of regret that, after today, there will only be one more game left in this transporting World Cup.

Category: France United States Women's Soccer World Cup

About Laurent Dubois

I am Professor of Romance Studies and History and the Director of the Forum for Scholars & Publics at Duke University. I founded the Soccer Politics blog in 2009 as part of a course on "World Cup and World Politics" taught at Duke University. I'm currently teaching the course under the title "Soccer Politics" here at Duke. My books include Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France (University of California Press, 2010) and The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer (Basic Books, 2018)

3 thoughts on “Into the Blue

  1. Dave

    Great classic rivalry between these two great organizations. I can’t wait to see how it pans out in the upcoming Euro. I find that the groups are somewhat uneven but I am sure it will work out anyways. Great post! Fantastic post! Politics

    Reply
  2. Laurent Dubois Post author

    You’re very right, Jamie, about the group matches. The next struggle will be to get more Latin American and African teams further through the tournament, though certainly the run of Japan can serve as an inspiration and example. Thanks for your comment!

    Reply
  3. Jamie Howell

    I share in your regret (that the cup is almost over) … and agree we are begining to see more parity in the world women’s game … yet, I do want to point out, that after seeing all the games, that only 9 or 10 teams had any real chance of advancing to the quarters and most of the advancers from the group stages seemed pre-ordanined, leaving only two or three group matches as riveting as the quarters or semis …. I’m waiting for a second Comebol team or a first African team to emerge ….

    Reply

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